We Are Still Doing The Boards+Population In The Usa, But It Looks Like

[second exodous]

When I say 'we' I don't mean like Ed sitting by himself in his living room building hundreds of units.

That made me LOL, poor ED.

Craig, does it bug you that people have been reading your replies all this time? Good thing you don't twitter prostitutes or drug dealers, not saying that I thought talked to those sorts of people anyway.

 

[Nova]

I didn't even know you could see my replies to other people on twitter.

When I say 'we' I don't mean like Ed sitting by himself in his living room building hundreds of units.

I mean our own assembly line in the UK with several (probably 8) people, and yes, the whole team will be there at least for the start of it.

This gives us far more control over the quality and other aspects of the final Pandora.

This is a small benefit yes, but it is probably not the reason you aren't going to have many people assembling as initially planned.

So what's the deal?

 

[Mjlink]

Thanks Craig, good to see you get in and explain something in detail before all kinds of BS starts flying! I really don't see this as a huge problem. I actually think it is best overall! This way the main team can be present, and we no longer have to worry about who, what, where, and when happening in texas!

All the final cases should just go straight to the UK, and the boards can start shipping now, and everything can meet all nice and friendly at Craigs UK spot. No more worries of shipping what to where!

I really don't see how this can delay things any further. The cases, and all the other parts just need to go to the UK, and if they start right now, the final cases will still be the only wait! A better idea in mu opinion!


Chris

I agree here 100%.
It will also save you on shipping and labor if you do this in-house as well as increase quality. Can't see it holding things up either.
Hope China has their Monday morning coffee or opium or both if thats the preference these days...

Peace & Opium wars,

Link

 

[MrBlais]

I don't think opium's a good idea. No more delays, right?

I think I'm just getting more anxious because I'm approaching my 1 year anniversary of my purchase date (Yeah, I know a lot of you have already breached that point sometime ago). If there was any possibility of me aiding the team in assembly to make the process faster, I'd do it at the drop of a hat..

 

[Trey]

That's kind of a shame for those of us in Texas who thought we would get our's sooner. Although having craigix and ED closer to the final assembly isn't a bad thing either.

Also just an off the wall. If we wanted to do the final assembly ourselves would that be possible?

 

[MrBlais]

I don't think so, because they don't want to risk people tearing the LCD ribbon as stated before.

 

[VRAndy]

Now that it appears that it's the Texas factory that has introduced a delay, can we fill the thread with a bunch of almost, but not quite, but definitely hinting at it, racist comments about Texans?

(Is "Texan" a race? No, they just wish it was.)

 

[MrBlais]

Im pretty sure you could pull it off.. With evidence even! Just go to peopleofwalmart.com and look at the Texan shoppers. Classic.

 

[Sphinxter]

Now that it appears that it's the Texas factory that has introduced a delay, can we fill the thread with a bunch of almost, but not quite, but definitely hinting at it, racist comments about Texans?

(Is "Texan" a race? No, they just wish it was.)

Go ahead, it's different enough from the rest of the US to be considered it's own country.

 

[second exodous]

Well, when you get your Pandora it will be a Texan device anyway, lets keep in mind Ti stand for Texas Instruments. Is every thing Ti made in Texas? If so I admire the company, they haven't sold out to cheap labor. Or is Texas third world to being with?

EDIT: Wait, id is in Texas, the land on which the FPS was born truly is superior to all other lands.

 

[Poem58]

So with ALL THE PARTS having been reported as being sent to the factory for assembly, now these parts are going to be returned and will be assembled instead in the UK and shipped from there which would likely introduce an import fee. So what happened then? I see now why my many inquiries of whether or not they would ship from Texas or not were unable to be answered. Seems a bit odd to be told everything was in Texas waiting on cases only to be told they are now going to be made in the UK. Have they shipped everything back then? Are they making any of them? None of them? I'm afraid I need some kind of satisfactory explanation as to what the %^* is going on now. If I'm likely going to be paying more (for importing), I want to know why. Why is it when you finally think you know what's going on, it always changes!? I've been patient, I've resisted as much as possible on saying anything. I think we need an official update on what has happened here. I'm no longer in the mood for speculation. I just want to understand what is going on.

 

[Sphinxter]

Well, when you get your Pandora it will be a Texan device anyway, lets keep in mind Ti stand for Texas Instruments. Is every thing Ti made in Texas? If so I admire the company, they haven't sold out to cheap labor. Or is Texas third world to being with?

Well, when I lived there we did not have indoor plumbing.

 

[second exodous]

The people in Texas are nice though. I hate airports because everyone are jerks and make you feel like a terrorist when searching your bags but in the Dallas Fortworth airport it's all smiles and light chat even when they look through your stuff. Sometimes I think 'Am I still in the US?'

 

[second exodous]

So with ALL THE PARTS having been reported as being sent to the factory for assembly, now these parts are going to be returned and will be assembled instead in the UK and shipped from there which would likely introduce an import fee. So what happened then? I see now why my many inquiries of whether or not they would ship from Texas or not were unable to be answered. Seems a bit odd to be told everything was in Texas waiting on cases only to be told they are now going to be made in the UK. Have they shipped everything back then? Are they making any of them? None of them? I'm afraid I need some kind of satisfactory explanation as to what the %^* is going on now. If I'm likely going to be paying more (for importing), I want to know why. Why is it when you finally think you know what's going on, it always changes!? I've been patient, I've resisted as much as possible on saying anything. I think we need an official update on what has happened here. I'm no longer in the mood for speculation. I just want to understand what is going on.

Wait, import tax, is there an import tax on things from the UK? I ordered things from there before and never had problems. It never has been electronics though.

 

[Poem58]

So with ALL THE PARTS having been reported as being sent to the factory for assembly, now these parts are going to be returned and will be assembled instead in the UK and shipped from there which would likely introduce an import fee. So what happened then? I see now why my many inquiries of whether or not they would ship from Texas or not were unable to be answered. Seems a bit odd to be told everything was in Texas waiting on cases only to be told they are now going to be made in the UK. Have they shipped everything back then? Are they making any of them? None of them? I'm afraid I need some kind of satisfactory explanation as to what the %^* is going on now. If I'm likely going to be paying more (for importing), I want to know why. Why is it when you finally think you know what's going on, it always changes!? I've been patient, I've resisted as much as possible on saying anything. I think we need an official update on what has happened here. I'm no longer in the mood for speculation. I just want to understand what is going on.

Wait, import tax, is there an import tax on things from the UK? I ordered things from there before and never had problems. It never has been electronics though.

No one has been able to confirm or deny if there will be one, it may not, it may, I have read in other threads of a charge that could be even as high as $150. May never happen. I'm just to a point now where if there is something that changes, when we are supposed to be nearly done. I want to know why. If all the parts where sitting there. Did they ship them back? Will be waiting for them to ship them back? Will there be a wait for the boards as they said they would make them as they assembled and used up what they already produced due to storage issues, etc. Seems like a Massive change so far into the final stretch. It introduces new concerns, and for me the added cost of import tax is something I have been asking about since it came up right after I ordered. I was about to cancel not willing to spend up to $150 dollars more I don't have, but that was eliminated by the Texas factory doing production. It was said that batch 2 might be made in the UK but batch 1 was definitely in Texas, now after all this wait, and right at the end, the whole import tax issue (customs fee, whatever it is) is now a concern again. If there is a good reason, no further delay etc. (parts are back in UK or on route now) then I may be willing to wait and take my chances on seeing if the first order's are shipped with no fee. But I still am bugged by this 11th hour revelation. Seems every time we get one of these 11th hour things we wait another 3 months...not a criticism, just an observation. I want my Panda enough to chance the customs thing, but I want to know why, not just some passing statement of more control over construction. Supposedly this was a top notch facility, I'm sure they could have handled it right? So what went wrong? That's all. I just thought we might finally be past all the surprises and ready to roll. It's been a rough ride, and now every bump in the road hurts more and more.

 

[spikeyxx]

if you're assembling in the north east, I would gladly volunteer to help out depending on availability

 

[Monk]

^I know that, I never thought anyone should assemble their own, but telling people there is soldering will deter more people than a ribbon cable.

Personally, I'd rather solder a couple of speaker wires than fiddle about with a ribbon cable of the ilk I suspect these are - some of those "auto-shred" ribbon cables can be a bit fussy, whereas soldering a couple of speakers up is a doddle.

But then, anyonw who has no soldering experience would probably think exactly the opposite. Never a serious suggestion (even when Craig offers it on the forum) but I just find it interesting how different people have such wildly different points of view on the same topics.

I really don't see how this can delay things any further.

Oh thanks - like we needed another jinx!


@Poem58 Best of luck getting all the answers you want, and not angry letters to The Evening Standard about people with a "sense of entitlement". I'm curious about how the populated boards - the ones that couldn't be left lying around the Texas factory waiting for the cases because they would be vulnerable - are being packaged safely to be shipped to the UK. Maybe they could put them in some nice boxes? We could get some black plastic ones made up for the very purpose...

It's always been the 11th hour. It's been the 11th hour since preorders opened, September/October 2008. So funny that Craig says he didn't realise we could read those replies. I can't tell if he's joking or not, or which would be funnier. Given how often his abusive behaviour here has been put down to his heavy drinking, I'm not sure what to make of this concept of his having tighter control over QA though - I thought MWeston was going to be on-site in Texas, and he strikes me as a more sober fellow.

Haha, I think I've caught delerium. Can you catch that off your keyboard?

In theory an import tax can be levvied against almost anything that you order from another country. Most people order and ignore the possibility until they get stung for it by a dilligent import agent or - more often than not - by an over-eager courier who will charge you the tax plus a hefty fee for collecting said tax, or refuse to deliver (this is importing into the UK - hopefully our US cousins have an easier time of it).

 

[EvilDragon]

It's just the ASSEMBLY taking place in UK. So basically, all parts are shipped to UK (populated boards, cases) and we'll assemble there.
We'll create a production line as planned so everyone does the same thing over and over again. After a while, things'll get really fast.
Michael did send Craig a shopping list so we can make sure we got everything we need (ESD, etc.) to properly build them.

This has basically two reasons:
One is more control over it, as Craig said above (i.e. we don't have to wait until 1000 units are finished, they can be shipped right away when they are built) and the other reason is the costs.
The company does want an incredible high amount (about 100USD per unit, AFAIR) just for assembling.
That would be a whopping 400.000 USD!

So for those two reasons, we all meet up and build your Pandoras. Yep, you read right, Craig, Fatih, Michael and me and probably other helpers too are assembling them.
Maybe we'll set up a webcam so you can watch us

 

[TrashyMG]

Maybe we'll set up a webcam so you can watch us

Add a remote controlled whipping and taunting robot...

 

[Monk]

The company does want an incredible high amount (about 100USD per unit, AFAIR) just for assembling.
That would be a whopping 400.000 USD!

Wow. They were charging $100 USD per Pandora? It's amazing that you charged so little for the Pandora in the first place! I am having real trouble seeing how TI were being paid anything for the SOC. It's great that you are making huge savings on the cost by moving PCB manufactuing to China, and assembly to the UK, and so on. Will this affect the cost to end users at all or just to OpenPandora Ltd?