Someone Kill Me Now

[Exophase]

EDIT: Wait, you didn't preorder?!

Nope! I was inbetween jobs last September and spending $330 on something craigix said he'd give me anyway seemed like a financially irresponsible move. I did have a dev board since then but I sent it to someone else who promised to actually do something on it.

 

[VRAndy]

You were willing to dump your 'extra cash' into something you knew wouldn't arrive soon, didn't you?

Not really ... no.

We put our money into something that was coming in November '08. A mere two months away. That's an easy decision. Two months is nothing.

If I had known the *REAL* wait time (Haha! I still don't know the real wait time!) I would not have been willing to purchase it.

Since it is blatantly obvious that there was never even a possibility of a two month turn-around, I feel that I was lied to in order to get me to commit. If I decide to cancel, I will do so 100% guilt-free.

I must admit that I have repeatedly thought of myself as "in it for the long run". But recently I am questioning that more and more. I have a feeling that Christmas may be my cut-off-point (and by Christmas I don't mean "an official launch but no customers receiving product" or even "units going out to customers but not me" I mean actually receiving MY unit, myself. So no, you're not alone - I'm royally fed up with this circus.

At one point I thought that the 1-year anniversary in September would be my cut-off point, but I couldn't find another device I'd rather have.
Now, however those new android based phones are looking better and better to me.

 

[WizardStan]

If I had known the *REAL* wait time (Haha! I still don't know the real wait time!) I would not have been willing to purchase it.

If I had known it was going to be a year wait, I still would have handed over the money, but I wouldn't have passed over so many other things expecting the Pandora to arrive and be the be-all-end-all.

On the other hand,

Since it is blatantly obvious that there was never even a possibility of a two month turn-around, I feel that I was lied to in order to get me to commit. If I decide to cancel, I will do so 100% guilt-free.

this. Looking back, even if everything had gone exactly as planned, I don't see how they could have gotten things out in 2 months. I think the cake analogy that came up a while ago explains this pretty well: "Box says it'll take an hour, therefore we'll have cake in about an hour. We just need to buy some ingredients, back in 20 minutes. Need to mix ingredients, 10 more minutes. Need to preheat oven (oops), 15 minutes. etc..."
All part of the learning experience, unfortunately. Should I ever come up with a great idea, I know I've learned a lot along side the OP team about processes.

 

[juniorm33]

When was lead time for parts ever 6 weeks, maybe I missed that. Eitherway they always stated their intention not to ship the 2nd batch prior to summer 2010. Which was to have a bit of a break.

"Always" is a strong word. They used to say that Batch #2 might go out as early as January '09.

As early as Jan 2010 when first batch was due August probably hahaha.

@Poem58
So the second batch timeline has to move in line with the 1st. The reason I pri-ordered last year, is because how long it was to the second batch. Even if it was 6 weeks before, we have been told that the lead time is from TI, maybe a year ago they never had such a long lead time, so the circumstances around them has changed and they've told us.

The pandora nubs hasn't changed therefore if the icontrol has, it's still using the current set of nubs. Thats my point. So I still think it's a pretty big assumption that the redesign of the iControl impacted on the Pandora, and in the end I really don't think they would've allowed it to, it would've just happened on the second batch. I just believe your assumption is bigger than mine, but either could be wrong I guess. They've said it themselves it's even more niche than the Pandora, well actually said no idea how it will sell. The longer Pandora takes the less people will take a risk on iControl, even when it is released as their track record isn't great at the moment, and something that needs to be worked on.
Pandora has been seriously delayed, and a lot of people has waited but OP know it's not doing themselves any good.
Personally I think most of the delays have been accounted for (lots are plain old bad estimation), There's some delays that I don't feel has truly been accounted for, I just happen to think the ones you have chosen to highlight aren't them.

Would I say I'm in it for the long haul, I would like to but I can see myself getting a refund if I don't get it this year, then just order a 2nd batch IF I order again. No telling what I'm going to do to be honest.

Not because I think it's a scam, but because I think I've been more than fair waiting. Sure maybe nothing else like it on the horizan at the moment but never know what the new year will bring, so I may just change my priorities to fit what's out there.

It's just I've started to realize that I too was rationalizing everything about this project and when I sat down and asked myself, there were too many things I just couldn't answer. Shouldn't be that way for something so close to completion and something I have followed so long.

Can totally see where your coming from here, although I wouldn't say I'm rationalising it the way you mean.
I've been working on something for close to 8 months which should've taken a month tops. Nothing to do with me the delays and it's doing my head in, so yea I can see how things can get severaly delayed and any reason you give starts sounding like an excuse, just glad the bosses are seeing it all with their own eyes But it's really doing my head in


Considering this is kinda a general thread slightly off topic.
How did the job interviews go guys? Few people from last week.

Edit Spelling

 

[droneb]

well, thats somehow why im pissed off, they said the release date would be around september, now its september and still running,

if they handnt lied in that term i would be thinking it twice, now i believe it goes period.

 

[Exophase]

Going past Christmas could be a problem, if people are waiting on it as a Christmas gift, plus the whole bit of "2009 will be the year of Pandora." Hopefully no more than a few percent want refunds then, because I don't think it'd take an awful large percentage to spell massive problems for OP.

 

[may88]

I signed up tail end of March and knew it was not going to show up just yet.
I bought into the project. And I am a part of that project. I looked at the specs at the time and I wanted a Pandora.
There is nothing quite like it and never will be. I still want a Pandora.

Hang on in there guys. It's not so long to wait now. Only wish we had an update on those cases.

I have two dates in my head. And optimistic one, Dec 17th and a pessimistic one, which just so happens to be two months from now.

 

[PoisonedV]

O come all ye faithful:

Well,

I found out about OP after my brother bought his GP2X. I have been following (a bit) these forums (actually these and the older forums, older OP website etc.)for more than a year. I was cautious on hopping onto the bandwagon last year. It seemed too good to be true (it was, then). I remember the hullabaloo over payments/refunds, bank issues etc. I stayed as an unregistered forum observer/spy/lurker, hoping, hoping, that one day this dream will come true. This year, to save me from tears, (why am I quoting Wham?) I read and read and then read some more. It seemed that finally the dream could happen. I read some more. I subscribed to the one-time announcement mailing list. I got an email. I registered. I ordered. I paid. My order was confirmed. I am now living in the dream myself but I need to wake up because the dream is taking too long and I need it to end. The end is near. There will be a new beginning. I will one day have my own Pandy. Don't somebody even dare mention a refund. I accept failure. I can't accept a refund unless accompanied by whatever components are ready. I'll put them in a case myself. I'll buy a milling machine and mill out my own aluminum Pandy box. I'll assemble my own Pandora. I don't care. This gadget must/will be mine. I can't believe that there are still people out there with the same spirit that Steve and Wozniac had when they started building their own Apples in that garage. This team is one of them. They are doing what only an elite few in the world have ever done. Everyone please stop complaining. Especially you, who can only order and grumble. Start doing something. Learn what Linux is. Do some development on an x86 box for now. Then re-compile when the Pandora comes along so we'll have more software to run. STFU and learn to be patient. We might be witnessing history here. I wish these people a billion bucks of sold Pandies. They deserve to make it. They are working against worst odds today then yesteryear because today any big commercial giant can steal the idea, patent it and make it a commercial success, destroying anyone's spirit because they have the resources. This team is going to do what could normally be done only by big multi-nationals with big budgets. We have only contributed with our meager payment. I am jealous I don't have the knowledge they have to produce something this beautiful because I would have contributed more. But I paid. Even the dev fund. Have you done the same? The developers deserve help too. They are working round the clock for you and your miserly financial contribution to make a dream happen. They are doing it for free. The dev fund is not obligatory but it helps. So, please bear with the team, and, once again WAIT! It will come.

Amen.

Edit: Hey! Sorry for the long post. I got caught up in the moment and thought I had become a preacher or something

ugh nevermind. it's too obvious. it's too over the top, i refuse to accept that someone really made that post in earnest.

 

[juniorm33]

I signed up tail end of March and knew it was not going to show up just yet.
I bought into the project. And I am a part of that project. I looked at the specs at the time and I wanted a Pandora.
There is nothing quite like it and never will be. I still want a Pandora.

Hang on in there guys. It's not so long to wait now. Only wish we had an update on those cases.

I have two dates in my head. And optimistic one, Dec 17th and a pessimistic one, which just so happens to be two months from now.

Don't get me wrong I'm part of the project and until I decide to get a refund I'm not going to throw a massive barny over it, hopefully it never read that way as I'm still positive about it for now. But that can all change on Jan 2010, and even then I'll not bad mouth it, it'll just be one of those things.
Saying there'll never be anything like it, well others have tried and just not got it right, maybe they'll see Pandora and say this is how it should've been done and get it to market. Or it could end up being a good idea that just missed it's time.

 

[WizardStan]

ugh nevermind. it's too obvious. it's too over the top, i refuse to accept that someone really made that post in earnest.

You actually read it? I'm either giving you too much, or not enough credit.

 

[Monk]

Saying there'll never be anything like it, well others have tried and just not got it right, maybe they'll see Pandora and say this is how it should've been done and get it to market. Or it could end up being a good idea that just missed it's time.

What's gnawing at me lately is that OpenPandora have proven to, mmm, have needed to learn a lot about the business they are in (in a number of areas), learning as they go sort of thing. They've failed to estimate the degree of readiness to market and so on and so forth, even pouring scorn (often mild but still scorn) on anyone suggesting being more cautious with time estimates and projections - and then taking longer than even the "cautious" advisors have suggested. ED and sometimes MWeston do some good PR by simply giving some of the clearer and seemingly more accurate facts - but there are some real PR foulups out there too. It's been making me wonder, if they've managed to do so badly in the areas of the business that I've seen (like "public relations" and "project management") might they also have screwed up the Pandora itself as well? Could I get a cheap, nasty, flaky bit of electronics at the end of the day either because it's rushed to beat a Christmas "deadline" or because they've simply bitten off more than they can chew and the Pandora concept is simply beyond their ability to manufacture at this stage?

I'm having visions of cancelling my order and requesting a refund, only to find out that I'm too late as they've run out of money to refund me - too many other customers beat me to it. With the constant stream of new orders, it SEEMS as if there must also be a constant stream of cancellations if everything is on the up-and-up. It's... nagging me. I might do well to take a day or two off from the board, perhaps.

 

[droneb]

im so sorry to hear that much people thinking on the refund (even me)

really, OP Team requires an urgent explanation or reestimation on time calculations plus adding the silkscreening to the list (not seen anywhere)

hope they make it before a bank run comes and finish the comunity like it happened for those who put their money on pyramids

 

[rmm2131]

im so sorry to hear that much people thinking on the refund (even me)

really, OP Team requires an urgent explanation or reestimation on time calculations plus adding the silkscreening to the list (not seen anywhere)

hope they make it before a bank run comes and finish the comunity like it happened for those who put their money on pyramids

I sometimes have the same doubts about when i'll receive the Pandora but then I look at the pictures of it and am brought back to why my waiting is worth it:

 

[Sphinxter]

To be fair I think we should define as shipped one, complete with all current production parts in pristine condition fully usable out of the box pandora arriving somewhere to someone in the queue who creates and posts an un-boxing video.

EDIT;

I sometimes have the same doubts about when i'll receive the Pandora but then I look at the pictures of it and am brought back to why my waiting is worth it:

Oh hell yeah! Thanks for reminding me.

 

[Tensuke]

To everyone talking about refunding and wanting more information--just wait a bit! New case mold samples are supposed to get to MWeston sometime this week or early next week. There is nothing more OP can, or even needs, to do. The boards are finished, the software will be ready, all the rest of the hardware is done(besides maybe PSUs? Though I HIGHLY doubt these will be much of a problem). Right now they need to get the case finished. Of course estimates for case completion were due months ago, but it appears that they're actually just about ready. Even if they don't ship by Christmas, barring some huge problem, January is still quite realistic. Probably the most realistic date yet. HOWEVER, I do understand that if it had to go to January, then it's just another one of the delays, and who's to say it won't get pushed back again, and again, and again. Also, asking you why refund now when it's so close is also akin to when it was estimated to come out much earlier and people became restless. So, I do understand why you'd want a refund if it gets moved back to next year, but I do feel strongly that it really IS close to completion this time. I guess all I can say is to hold in there just a little bit longer! B)

 

[PoisonedV]

To everyone talking about refunding and wanting more information--just wait a bit!

insightful advice, i hadn't considered that in the past year since we all ordered it!

 

[juniorm33]

I've said many times that I personally feel pretty well informed, but like many I've put buying other gadgets on hold due to overlap in functionality for a year. 80%+ off people must have a point that they feel they must move on, or should I not ever consider buying something else, and no I can't/don't want to buy multiple stuff.
Anyway until I reach that point I'm a supporter and not thinking about refund, I just wanted to make it clear that although I don't knock and seem to defend OP all the time it doesn't mean I'll be here in 6 months if nothing has been delivered. I just don't find it very helpful to have a go(can leave that to others lol) as I believe their trying their best so I'm relatively happy.
see

 

[El Jefe]

PROTIP:
Ignore these forums. Clear pandorapress.net from your rss feed. Forget about the project.
Wake up sometime in January, walk outside fully expecting to not see a box. See a box. Go apeshit.
HINT: this is impossible, but if it weren't, it would probably be the best thing to do.
also, three words come to mind in addition to those above:
INTERNET: SERIOUS BUSINESS

 

[MrBlais]

It just makes me think...

1)You preorder the Pandora.

2)You wait.

3)You get sick of waiting and demand a refund.

4)You Aquire refund.

5)Pandora releases and now you want one again.

I see some counteractivity. Deny it all you want, but even if you get your refund, in the back of your mind you'll wish you didn't when it arrives.

 

[juniorm33]

It just makes me think...

1)You preorder the Pandora.

2)You wait.

3)You get sick of waiting and demand a refund.

4)You Aquire refund.

5)Pandora releases and now you want one again.

I see some counteractivity. Deny it all you want, but even if you get your refund, in the back of your mind you'll wish you didn't when it arrives.

Not sure if that was replying to me or not?