Tales of a Pandora user

[milkshake]

I was sat on the train to work today (Sheffield to Leeds) whipped out my Pandora, plugged in my 32gb usb memory stick, stuck on my Sony MDR-V150 headphones and proceeded to watch star trek TNG season 2 episode 8 A Matter of Honour.


About 15 mins into the episode, the gentleman next to me asked if it was a Pandora, I was surprised that someone else knew what it was since our demographic is still quite niche, I was even more surprised when said gentleman told me he also had a Pandora but had not much chance to use it yet.


I didn't really know what to say after this point as I was caught off guard and in the middle of a star trek episode so smiled with a nod and continued to watch star trek.


I would just like to say sorry to the gent if he reads this as it might have seemed a little rude.

 

[Binky]

One of those magic moments


Market penetration, micrometre by micrometre until soon...


All of the linux/retrogamer obsessives will have heard of pandora!

 

[FaeMinx]

Price is probably still our biggest hurdle.


Surprisingly quite a few techy people I've spoken to about the Pandora have actually heard of it before.


All of them have trouble justifying the price... and as they all knew more about computers than I do, I didn't stand much of a chance winning them over.


EDIT: As far as I am aware - I'm still the only person in this country with a Pandora.


.... I seem to remember another South African was waiting for One *I think*.... but that was a long time ago and I could be mistaken.

 

[dgame]

No one has recognized my Pandora the wild. It is still a Game Boy. B)

 

[Binky]

Mine's a DS with a keyboard which make it worse!

 

[Scntrblob]

Surprisingly quite a few techy people I've spoken to about the Pandora have actually heard of it before.


All of them have trouble justifying the price... and as they all knew more about computers than I do, I didn't stand much of a chance winning them over.

I actually would know quite a few people being interested... It always comes back to the price, sadly.

 

[dgame]

Quite honestly I cannot justify the price to the average person.


The Pandora offers a lot, but as Apple has proven most people are content without getting a lot.


The Pandora may also be timing itself out by taking so long to reach market.


Smart phones are a big threat. ICP2 + Smart Phone = ?


I don't have a smart phone so the Pandora is my portable 'Smart' device.


However, if I were a smart phone user and wanted to play some games I would probably get an ICP2 and be done with it.


These Android things are also coming along.


We are a niche group and I sometimes wonder about the endgame.

 

[PowerGod]

Smart phones are a big threat. ICP2 + Smart Phone = ?


I don't have a smart phone so the Pandora is my portable 'Smart' device.


However, if I were a smart phone user and wanted to play some games I would probably get an ICP2 and be done with it.

I think that smartphones can be good only for "casual gaming" (at least on the go)... the battery is an issue there, you can't leave a phone without power...


If someone wants to play "serious" (see also "longer") games then a dedicated device is needed...


Anyway no Android thing can be considered "a computer" for me, so all depends on what a person want to do with a device, if someone just wants to play maybe the Pandora is not for him.

 

[ekianjo]

We are a niche group and I sometimes wonder about the endgame.

Apple used to be a niche group before (in computers), and they grew quite remarkably while pricing their products very high. Of course Pandora is very different, don't get me wrong, but there are many examples out there of "niche" companies growing over time.

 

[traylorpark]

Quite honestly I cannot justify the price to the average person.

Items that service a unique audience will always carry a higher price tag. It's hard to justify an expensive Coffee Burr Grinder to the average person who just buy the powdered stuff. It's hard to justify paying 300 dollar for a one of a kind shirt designed by a famous fashion artist/designer to the average person who buys all there clothes from a department store.


The lower the common denominator, the larger the market appeal, and that is not the goal here. The Pandora has value that we understand just as 500 dollar shoes has value to somebody else.


If anything, you can tell people about the versatility of the Pandora. That is really makes it a special device ... it can empower it's user. Granted, they want to put in the time to learn how. Not everybody has the time or is interested in versatility in their devices.

 

[SoulFire9001]

Mine's a DS with a keyboard which make it worse!

Mine's a DS rip-off that Nintendo can file a lawsuit over. Seriously, someone I know said that. Luckily, his gf (the smarter of the two), explained why that would be impossible.

 

[00001111]

My nephew keeps asking if I'm playing with my DS. For me getting a Pandora was no so much about the price. I waited years to get one because I didn't want to be stuck on some cue.

 

[thatgui]

Quite different user story


Sat in the train yesterday, backpack on my lap, lid-closed Pandora on top of it, listening to a podcast. Train halts a construction worker takes the seat next to me, looks at me and says "still having a walkman ?".

 

[meandu229]

Mine has sat on my desk last 3 days (doesnt normally come in with me) and I work in a software company and everyone picked it up in confusion , it was fun watching their face as they opened it.


I left it in standby all day with mupen open on mario 64 so people could have a quick play.


I think id be able to sell a few at the £100 but most people I know would much prefer a nexus tablet and change than the pandora, I dont blame them it is a small niche

 

[craigix]

Mine's a DS with a keyboard which make it worse!

Mine's a DS rip-off that Nintendo can file a lawsuit over. Seriously, someone I know said that. Luckily, his gf (the smarter of the two), explained why that would be impossible.

When we were at the TI conference we were told that by people in the industry.


I did point out it was actually just a small laptop.

 

[dgame]

Don't get me wrong guys. I get why the Pandora costs what it does.


I just came back from an overseas trip and my Pandora was like a Swiss army knife.


It did everything I wanted.


I played halfway through Goldeneye.


The place I was at had WiFi so I checked my US bank account to see what that ATM was really charging me.


Checked my email. Checked the forums. Checked the news sites. Watched some streaming live sports games.


At night I would just leave some ESPN radio show streaming until I fell asleep.


To do all this (and more) in such a small form factor is a dream come true for me, and thus worth the premium price.


I merely ponder if the general public also finds premium value in that.


Or maybe there are already enough of us computer nerds to sustain the market.


Is the Pandora a mainstream product?

 

[ExquisiteCorpse]

It's not. It's so much money. That might be OK if you are good for money but if you earn less than 25k and live on your own it's no way justifiable.


And I say this as a massive fan of the project, a big linux geek and part time coder who's followed it since it's inception.


If they were able to stick to their £290 price I would jump back in but I tried to buy one the other day (thinking it was £350 and it was a spur of the moment madness to justify 350) but when I checked out with shipping and tax it was £395.


Noped out. Big shame.


Think I might just get a stupid wiz and that way at least I can code small games for it or will just keep an eye out on the trading section I guess

 

[ibisum]

If it were a little smaller and slightly better case-design, for around $300, it'd work. Beyond that, its sort of cocktail.


I do admit though, the look on peoples faces' when I show them an edit/compile/run session *on* the device itself .. is awesome. Can't get that on a Nintendo!

 

[ekianjo]

Agree with the 300 dollars price point - that's definitely where you would reach a much larger audience all of a sudden. Price is not everything but it is well known that below a certain threshold it's much easier to convince people.

 

[BaDToaD]

IMO the price is only a part of the problem. The main issue is the spec for the price you have to pay. For me the Pandora is totally worth it and if my CC256MB broke I'd buy a rebirth as soon as I had the cash but to the average punter the Pandora is just old tech.


If the Pandora 2 ships with better or even comparable specs to the then current smartphones I would expect it to shift in higher quantities than the Pandora. CC really did screw over OP in more ways than one when they couldn't deliver on the boards...