The following is based on a true story.


True or not. Even if they just f*cked up, that would be the story you really want to hear, not some excuse. It has similarities with parent child relation, you do not want to hear they failed, but that is preferable over any fake story.
 
yep, pics or it didn't happen ;D

brokencase.gif


'Humour is the courtesy of despair.'
Chris Marker
 
Oh, the irony.
If they did cover up their lateness, insert stereotypes about Greeks being slow here :oops:
I don't think they're lying though. Pretty much anything could have happened, and solid points have already been made here.

On a side note : I wasn't here during Pandora, what's with that volcano ?
 
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On a side note : I wasn't here during Pandora, what's with that volcano ?

I can't remember the details, but somewhere along the line there was also Hitler fighting a bear... on fire.
•or something like that•

My personal assessment Is that alcoholic Jaffa cakes were the root cause...
 
I'm not worried. I could cancel for a full refund, right? If that's the case, I have no reason whatsoever to believe we are being screwed over. Not that I believe that anyway, but it's always good to have an exit plan just in case :)
 
As always: "I need to see it right in front of me to fully believe that I'll get one as promised" :p
 
I'm not worried. I could cancel for a full refund, right? If that's the case, I have no reason whatsoever to believe we are being screwed over. Not that I believe that anyway, but it's always good to have an exit plan just in case :)

Indeed, if you look in the weekly stats thread you'll see that most weeks (apart from this past week) we usually have a couple of cancellations. Whether that's people cancelling to upgrade, or because they're getting cold feet (or for other reasons I've not really considered) we usually can't tell, but I've not heard anyone claiming they've cancelled and they didn't get their money back eventually yet.

A month or two back we had a week where the cancellations wiped out the positive preorders such that the total went down by 6 that week, but I think there ED had built up a small backlog of cancellations. Since then we'vre had small tranches of cancellations most weeks, so I think he's kept more on top of them since then.
 
Since then we'vre had small tranches of cancellations most weeks, so I think he's kept more on top of them since then.

The important message here, though, is that in total the pre-order list has continued to gradually grow through a year of gradual device development. It will be interesting to see what the rate of change becomes after ED does his assembly video of a working unit - and again after prototypes ship - and again as the first wave of production units ship. ED has hinted at the possibility of doing a Kickstarter in there somewhere as well.
 
The kickstarter could be awesome in order to low the price and give some public light to the project (because being honest, this project is still in a deep dark cavern).
exactly, this remains me Blackberry - good project, bad marketing
l´ve looked up on amazon and android phone (about 200 euro) has already 4GB rams ... every weak without device in production will affect income :(
 
The kickstarter could be awesome in order to low the price and give some public light to the project (because being honest, this project is still in a deep dark cavern).

That is actually the main reason -not- to do a Kickstarter. Kickstarter supporters have been conditioned to expect the product at a discount AND Kickstarter requires a cut of the revenue. ED is already cutting it very thin with the margins on the Pyra. To make up for Kickstarter's cut, he would potentially have to raise the price above what the pre-orders here have paid. That isn't such a bad thing though. The pre-orders to date have all been funding the project during a timeline with a higher risk. The Kickstarter participants would essentially be ordering a device with already existing and distributed prototypes - their risk would be much lower by comparison.

The counter argument is that the scale of the orders would allow the price to go down. To justify a lower (or even the same) price for Kickstarter participants, ED would need to make the funding threshold represent roughly 2500 to 5000+ units, so roughly 1 to 2 million Euros. If the Kickstarter price is lower than the DragonBox pre-order price, do those individuals demand a refund at DragonBox and then order on Kickstarter? That would be a mess too - with even more profit margins removed.

It is a bit of a conundrum. Additional sales and publicity are always a plus. Giving up ~20% or more of the purchase price - over half of the markup over production and support costs (profits) is a huge negative.

But - the main point is - doing a Kickstarter on this project would not necessarily mean lowering the price and may require a higher one for Kickstarter and future retail sales.

I'm sure ED understands these concepts and will follow a path that works for him and his company.
 
from what i can tell, ED wants to do some production runs apart from KS, then consider it (for publicity). mostly to get the kinks out first and devices in actual people's hands, then it won't be as long for impatient KS people...

it could also be a way to fund alternative colored pyras, etc.
 
I think it would be best to have revision boards in a kickstarter; sell the boards for one price and then full Pyra handhelds at another. He wouldn't be loosing any money on the full Pyra units but he could produce the upgrade boards cheaper in quantity. This way the existing community can upgrade cheaply, new Pyra owners will get full units quickly, and by that time the software will be more mature. It will also grow an already existing user base.

I don't think early Pyra as a kickstarter will be a good idea. Logically it goes More Pyra Users=Better Software for the Pyra. Well, for us geeks that know about it now, yes. Kickstarter will have a lot of 'noobs' complaining on the forums why this doesn't work or why this crashes or why isn't 'x' like 'y' in 'z' OS, ect. The software side of the Pyra needs to mature before it is unleashed to mass appeal. ED wouldn't need to worry about this if he had a company with 100 or so software developers working out the kinks before release but he only has us, the pre-orderer teckies.
 
I think it would be best to have revision boards in a kickstarter; sell the boards for one price and then full Pyra handhelds at another. He wouldn't be loosing any money on the full Pyra units but he could produce the upgrade boards cheaper in quantity. This way the existing community can upgrade cheaply, new Pyra owners will get full units quickly, and by that time the software will be more mature. It will also grow an already existing user base.

It is too early to be thinking about new SoC boards - assuming that newer/faster/updated SoC was what you were referring to. Much of the software that you're referring to maturing is directly related to specific hardware. I.e. a board revision would require two different versions of drivers and double the work in building and maintaining them. A new SoC would be more appropriate 1.5-2 years after the Pyra releases.

But - I could see where a Kickstarter might work for an alternate Pyra based product that would add publicity to the project and the current model.

*Pyramote
Handheld Pyra based bluetooth keyboard/game controller.
Uses Pyra keymat & nubs & shoulders.
Pyra main board with all of the underslung ports and slots unpopulated.

*Pyrathin
<20mm thick if possible
Pyra SoC board, keymat, screen, backlight. Relatively minor changes to main board to mount thinner peripheral connectors.
Half the battery, battery changeable with a screwdriver but not swapable (to save thickness of battery door clips).
Tall ports made thin. microUSB ports replace the USB 2 ports (at USB 2.0 connectivity) (Mainbord revision).
eSATA gone.
SD card slots changed to microSD card slots (Mainboard revision).
Case plastics made thinner - maybe even 'melted' to conform to contours of internal components.
No multi-layer screen lid insert. Just make the case plastic over the lid back LEDs so thin that they shine through.
Same underlying hardware and the same software as Pyra - just as thin as possible.
DOES NOT REPLACE THE PYRA. Just gives it a thinner sister device using the same technology.

I could see either or both of those working as Kickstarter programs. The Pyra itself is a provable prototype for either/both. They could be priced accordingly to account for the Kickstarter fees and discount. The Kickstarter audience would legitimately be funding the case plastics and board revisions to make them. They should popularlize the Pyra without stealing significant audience.
 
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