Today Is A Great Day!(Hopefully)


I think the thing that frustrates me the most is not the lack of information, its just how inaccurate most of the information seems to be. I can understand it would be even more frustrating for the OP team trying to co-ordinate certain things without the correct information. I empathise with the team but at the end of the day as a customer I have a right to complain when I think I am being lied to don't I?

I mean certain statements made are either out and out complete lies or the result of gross naivety and incompetence. There are too many examples to mention of this type of behaviour.

Good on you guys who are willing to wait forever, you are truly heroes and I wish I had customers like you, but in my line of work I don't and If I am a day late on a promise I get my arse chewed out.

End of the day I like the scene here, I like the members of the team and believe in the device and its eventual delivery, but like others I have a limit. Oh but how can I quit now when we are sooo close to the end? We have been close to the end since December 2008...

The other thing that grinds my gears is we were told many of the delays were because things had to be perfect, recent statements made by the team make it sound like the delay time wasn't actually used to perfect anything and was just out of their control delays. No silkscreen, less than perfect plastics, broken wifi etc.. and we are being told if we arent happy with a "less than perfect" product we should just cancel. This isn't apple or sony... I think that's pretty lame to say, this far into it.

If saying the above means craigix wants my order number then fine.

God's speed OP team, get it done and get it out there.
 
jb0yx said:
If you really need the couple hundred bones from over a year ago, you probably have more problems than not having a handheld when you want it.
I got a girlfriend, does that count as a problem? They're expensive, dude!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
WizardStan said:
jb0yx said:
If you really need the couple hundred bones from over a year ago, you probably have more problems than not having a handheld when you want it.
I got a girlfriend, does that count as a problem? They're expensive, dude!
get a cheaper one
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Kangal said:
Yes today is a great day.

Offtopic: Goto Design by Community to voice your opinions on what the next best Nokia phone should be.
This is round two, i think it would be awesome if the Pandora Community gave their insights.
You never know, maybe a Nokia Pandora could be made? :lol:

N-Gage 2.0?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
First off, I'm not canceling - I'm in this for the long run. I want a Pandora, and I'm going to wait until I get one.

My issue is with communications.

I'm not knocking ED - his posts in the forum here are always useful to read. Craig's are as well (if a bit cryptic at times)

I just don't want to have to dig to find this stuff out.

We have a blog. We have a status page. Neither of them is showing the latest situation, which seems to be that the cases won't ship until the 26th now.
We also don't know if the first batch of boards did ship from the factory today, or is likely to etc. It's still got 4 days to make it across the pond, so probably still ok there.

Please - if you can take the time to tweet, or to troll through the forums to reply to messages, take the extra minute to add a blog entry. This forum MMO is starting to turn into a bit of a grind.

All that being said, we (or at least I, I assume others as well) do appreciate the work that you're all putting in to make this real.

Dan.
 
I don't think those who are tired of waiting (to the point of wanting to cancel) understand the true nature of this project. Pandora isn't just "another handheld" that plays in the same playground as iPhones, Archos, N900, you name it. This is a unique device. Granted, it may have similar rivals, technologically speaking. But it will be as timeless and ageless as the tasks it was designed to do, be it emulation, media playback, web surfing, native homebrew, etc... For instance, in 10 years, if your Pandora is still in good phyisical working condition, it will still emulate the systems it did when it was released (and maybe even more).

Further rant. Flame bait warning.
If you want to cancel and just get another toy instead, then I'll bet your closet is filled with every toy from every handheld generation, ranging from Coleco Football all the way to every known variation of DS and PSP, not to mention you probably change cell phones every 6 months. If you think the Pandora is just another Gameboy, UMPC, DLNA or Bittorrent Server or iPod Touch, you've missed the point. You'd probably be happy with an iPod and its countless apps that all work perfectly, right out of the box.

If you're afraid that it will be obsolete by the time it is released, then perhaps you don't plan on playing any emulators on it. Most of the systems it will emulate have been technologically surpassed for years. Personally, I think the idea of vintage system emulation and software preservation is widely misunderstood. Look at how long the Commodore 64 was king, despite its 1MHz processor and composite TV resolution. Or the Spetrum, or MSX, for that matter. Look at the amount of software that came out for these platforms. By the time the Commodore 64 hit its 10-year anniversary (~1992) it had tens of millions units sold, despite being in a world where multi-megahertz machines 25 or 33 times faster in clock speeds were greatly increasing in numbers. The point is it did what it was meant to do and still did it well, and better than a lot of other stuff out there.

The Pandora is a serious machine, and it requires serious commitment. I'm not encouraging anyone to cancel their orders. Stick around. This box is going to rox your sox. But if the amount of time you're willing to wait is any indication of the amount of time you'll be using your Pandora after it arrives, perhaps you've chosen the wrong device. If you're expecting gigahertz, gigaflops, gigapolygons per second and the end-all, be-all machine that will emulate the Playstation 4 and be able to re-code BluRay, 3D or HVD video in real time (not to mention scale it to SVideo format) then you've wasted something. Time, money, whatever, it's your call. It always was your call to begin with.
 
EvilDragon said:
borgqueenx said:
So1e april only 500 will be made?
And the other 3500 a month later?

I want mine before summer holidays thats for sure. Im gonna be mad and cancel if mine aint shipped by then.

Those cancelling threats do nothing, they get a bit boring now... we all are aware of how close to edge we are and you can be sure we do everything to finish the units as soon as possible.
I nearly had a breakdown this weekend because I had too much stress and work at the moment, so it's no real fun for us, you know?

Anyways, that 500 for a start is nothing new, if you read the blog post, it's even stated there for over a week...
sorry sorry i didnt want you to hear this as a treat...
im just as sick as anyone else and i just want a new gadget to play with.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
The case company was sure that the 1000 cases would be done on the 22 also but now they are sure it will be the 26th? A few months ago we where told the company could spit out 10000 cases in a day or two.

If they are getting 500 boards by the 26th what happened to the first 103?
 
ED and co I hope that once you are in the UK you can get a good night sleep and some serious relaxation after work days. You could see it as a working holiday. I do hope times will lighten up for you when the pandora is out there. Maybe this whining is just the tip of the iceberg.
 
sverm said:
I don't think those who are tired of waiting (to the point of wanting to cancel) understand the true nature of this project.
I've heard this thing of, if you can't wait for whatever reason any longer, you didn't understand it.
Then a year and a bit later, their the ones who have to consider canciling. :D
Sometimes peoples priorities change, and sometimes they will have to give themselves a cut off.
Even being tired of waiting and the roller coaster that it has been is legitimate, they may even come back and order a second batch. Some people haven't even ordered a first batch but are still behind the project, just haven't been willing to put their money in for whatever reason, money doesn't grow on tree's could be reason enough.

sverm said:
Pandora isn't just "another handheld" that plays in the same playground as iPhones, Archos, N900, you name it. This is a unique device. Granted, it may have similar rivals, technologically speaking. But it will be as timeless and ageless as the tasks it was designed to do, be it emulation, media playback, web surfing, native homebrew, etc... For instance, in 10 years, if your Pandora is still in good phyisical working condition, it will still emulate the systems it did when it was released (and maybe even more).

Further rant. Flame bait warning.
Isn't that the same with the devices you mentioned, and pretty much any device though?
It will do what it was designed to do, even 10 years on?
iPhone will still make calls and use the app's that were designed for it, etc.

Sorry if there was more clarification in the "Flaim bait" section as I didn't read it.

I'm not having a go at you, just saying that I've heard these arguments every time it's been too close to cancel.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
sverm said:
I don't think those who are tired of waiting (to the point of wanting to cancel) understand the true nature of this project. Pandora isn't just "another handheld" that plays in the same playground as iPhones, Archos, N900, you name it. This is a unique device. Granted, it may have similar rivals, technologically speaking. But it will be as timeless and ageless as the tasks it was designed to do, be it emulation, media playback, web surfing, native homebrew, etc... For instance, in 10 years, if your Pandora is still in good phyisical working condition, it will still emulate the systems it did when it was released (and maybe even more).

Further rant. Flame bait warning.
If you want to cancel and just get another toy instead, then I'll bet your closet is filled with every toy from every handheld generation, ranging from Coleco Football all the way to every known variation of DS and PSP, not to mention you probably change cell phones every 6 months. If you think the Pandora is just another Gameboy, UMPC, DLNA or Bittorrent Server or iPod Touch, you've missed the point. You'd probably be happy with an iPod and its countless apps that all work perfectly, right out of the box.

If you're afraid that it will be obsolete by the time it is released, then perhaps you don't plan on playing any emulators on it. Most of the systems it will emulate have been technologically surpassed for years. Personally, I think the idea of vintage system emulation and software preservation is widely misunderstood. Look at how long the Commodore 64 was king, despite its 1MHz processor and composite TV resolution. Or the Spetrum, or MSX, for that matter. Look at the amount of software that came out for these platforms. By the time the Commodore 64 hit its 10-year anniversary (~1992) it had tens of millions units sold, despite being in a world where multi-megahertz machines 25 or 33 times faster in clock speeds were greatly increasing in numbers. The point is it did what it was meant to do and still did it well, and better than a lot of other stuff out there.

The Pandora is a serious machine, and it requires serious commitment. I'm not encouraging anyone to cancel their orders. Stick around. This box is going to rox your sox. But if the amount of time you're willing to wait is any indication of the amount of time you'll be using your Pandora after it arrives, perhaps you've chosen the wrong device. If you're expecting gigahertz, gigaflops, gigapolygons per second and the end-all, be-all machine that will emulate the Playstation 4 and be able to re-code BluRay, 3D or HVD video in real time (not to mention scale it to SVideo format) then you've wasted something. Time, money, whatever, it's your call. It always was your call to begin with.

I don't think you understand the true nature of this product and have humongous high hopes. There will always be a better machine around the corner that emulates more systems, faster and with more features. The pandora has a unique control layout and a decent amount of power for the moment. But something better could come out in six months or possibly two years, maybe even from the same team. Its not timeless or ageless if web standards change and it doesn't have the power to surf the net anymore, its already obsolete in the multimedia department lacking HD outputs and it will struggle to play some of the new HD formats which will eventually become the norm. I still use my gp32 from time to time to emulate certain things just because the emulators were so well written and I miss the sweet controls, but I wouldn't trade that in for more power and more possible systems for example. Please check the religious zealot attitude at the door, end of the day its just a gadget its not a religious experience, you sound like a nutter.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Well, here's a positive angle. I'm actually quite relieved. I head out to the UK tomorrow for just over a couple of weeks, and I actually entertained thoughts that it might get delivered while I was away, thus causing complications. Now I don't need to worry, and I'm glad. Ha.

No one else is making a device like this. No one. I hear how a professional company would have made this so much quicker, so if that were the case, we'd be seeing devices like this appearing by now. But we aren't, because no one else is making a device like this. Everyone else is just concerned with small steps; turning out slightly more powerful versions of the same shit they already do.

Once can cancel, take their money and buy another device, but it won't be anything like Pandora. It will be a phone or a PSP or something.
 
I'd wait 6 months to get mine with fully working WiFi since I can't send it back to devs if the fix is not software based.
 
Klarth said:
I'd wait 6 months to get mine with fully working WiFi since I can't send it back to devs if the fix is not software based.

The boards are all already made... just not populated. Time isnt going to fix anything if its wrong.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Klarth said:
I'd wait 6 months to get mine with fully working WiFi since I can't send it back to devs if the fix is not software based.
The only WiFi fix will be software. these boards are past the point of no return for hardware patches.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
As long as progress is being made, I am happy for now, I have put skin in this game (by ordering a Pandora) very late, so I am sure that my level of tolerance is much higher than an original orderer and I can understand their frustration.

Somebody made a point about keeping the blog updated on the main Pandora site and I think that is spot on, as entertaining and interesting as it is to (mostly) lurk the forums, a quick update on the main site would be most welcome.

OP team, thanks again for all of your hard work.
 
sverm said:
If you want to cancel and just get another toy instead, then I'll bet your closet is filled with every toy from every handheld generation, ranging from Coleco Football all the way to every known variation of DS and PSP, not to mention you probably change cell phones every 6 months. If you think the Pandora is just another Gameboy, UMPC, DLNA or Bittorrent Server or iPod Touch, you've missed the point. You'd probably be happy with an iPod and its countless apps that all work perfectly, right out of the box.

Someone who collects every new release and iteration of everything is probably the least likely to cancel their Pandora order. They might grow tired and get some other things in the mean time but I'm pretty sure they won't want to give their eventual Pandora to someone else. It's not like gadget addicts are too frugal to keep their money on it.

No, the people who are canceling are one of three types.

There are those that have limited income and want to use the money on something else (or worse, need the money for life expenses), and yes, as shocking as it might be to some there are many for whom $330 is not a trifling amount which can easily and carelessly be replaced with another $330.

There are those that are so frayed from the suspense and constant lingering that they want to forcibly remove themselves from it - for this just take a moment to imagine the sheer number of hours people have logged into this site following the project. Some probably just don't have time for it, but so long as they have a real stake in it they won't be able to lose interest. People really do turn to external methods to pry themselves away from something, willpower is not in very common quantities.

Finally, there are those who are so irritated with the Pandora team for whatever reason that they want to cancel as an affront to them and to make a public statement about how much they disapprove with how things have turned out.

I'm willing to bet that most people canceling fall into the first two categories.

But yeah, people are going to feel ripped off if devices that are like Pandora but better in every way start coming off. Who is going to say "but my Pandora is good enough" when they know that had they waited with their money they would have been able to get something better instead? That's just not human nature, people are going to feel played. I mean, consider that people were willing to pay what was presented as a price premium back in 2008, in order to get something really cutting edge. When the Pandora arrives now, it isn't going to be cutting edge (although it'll still be pretty good, relatively speaking). If they shouldn't care now why should they have cared then? Why shouldn't they have begged for a $100 cheaper Pandora with a terrible MMSP2+ SoC? You talk about technological cutoffs but where is the cutoff supposed to be exactly - with a better SoC maybe PSP, Dreamcast, and Nintendo DS emulation would be more feasible. Maybe N64 emulation would be more of a solid lock across the board. Do those not count as emulation?

OP is just lucky that no one with a lot more resources than them has capitalized on the delays and took the opportunity to push the concept themselves, because I think that would have spelled the end for sure.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Exophase said:
No, the people who are canceling are one of three types.

I think you are missing a type or two. One that seems to be quite common or at least very vocal are people not buying into the whole Pandora concept but just look at what's under the hood. People more interested in power and numbers then features. There are also people who I think can't wait any longer and buys something similar that they feel is good enough for them because they are also not into the whole Pandora concept.

The Pandora is the only device that blends good game controls with a good (for this for factor) keyboard and for me that's why I want a Pandora but not everybody want or care about both. And not everybody cares about it being open source or not, or all the old systems it can emulate.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Back
Top