When Am I Getting My Pandora?

[Sugar_Kane]

the flawed iphone 4 that you have to hold in a strange way to make a call or umm you will get a dropped call this is 4 genarations of iphones and still it cant make a call without dropping at some point.

I know, it's fashionable to hate the iphone, but here's the thing: if you actually own one then you will understand, there just isn't any other handset that comes close in terms of quality and stability of software. It's a completely contained package and it does everything that I expect of it, and it does it better than anything I've used previously, and that is a great deal. Also, I tested the signal drop and it doesn't affect me, in fact it doesn't affect anyone I know that currently owns one in this country, it may be that the UKs signal doesn't interrupt quite as badly as the US when the antennae gaps are bridged. In any case, if you slap a case on it (as most do anyway) it voids that issue.

Now I'm trying to avoid it but I'm sure you are all imaging that I am scooting around town on a segway, wearing salmon pink pedal pushers, sky blue espadrilles, and sporting a flock of seagulls haircut as I talk loudly about fashion and ugly betty into my new iphone.

 

[Eternalodyssey]

the flawed iphone 4 that you have to hold in a strange way to make a call or umm you will get a dropped call this is 4 genarations of iphones and still it cant make a call without dropping at some point.

I know, it's fashionable to hate the iphone, but here's the thing: if you actually own one then you will understand, there just isn't any other handset that comes close in terms of quality and stability of software. It's a completely contained package and it does everything that I expect of it, and it does it better than anything I've used previously, and that is a great deal. Also, I tested the signal drop and it doesn't affect me, in fact it doesn't affect anyone I know that currently owns one in this country, it may be that the UKs signal doesn't interrupt quite as badly as the US when the antennae gaps are bridged. In any case, if you slap a case on it (as most do anyway) it voids that issue.

Now I'm trying to avoid it but I'm sure you are all imaging that I am scooting around town on a segway, wearing salmon pink pedal pushers, sky blue espadrilles, and sporting a flock of seagulls haircut as I talk loudly about fashion and ugly betty into my new iphone.

For obvious reasons, thats the impression most people have of iPhone owners. Are you by any chance in a band or unemployed? Thats trendy too!

 

[Sugar_Kane]

I'll be unemployed come November, I might join a band then

 

[rabidpoobear]

the flawed iphone 4 that you have to hold in a strange way to make a call or umm you will get a dropped call this is 4 genarations of iphones and still it cant make a call without dropping at some point.

I know, it's fashionable to hate the iphone, but here's the thing: if you actually own one then you will understand, there just isn't any other handset that comes close in terms of quality and stability of software. It's a completely contained package and it does everything that I expect of it, and it does it better than anything I've used previously, and that is a great deal. Also, I tested the signal drop and it doesn't affect me, in fact it doesn't affect anyone I know that currently owns one in this country, it may be that the UKs signal doesn't interrupt quite as badly as the US when the antennae gaps are bridged. In any case, if you slap a case on it (as most do anyway) it voids that issue.

Now I'm trying to avoid it but I'm sure you are all imaging that I am scooting around town on a segway, wearing salmon pink pedal pushers, sky blue espadrilles, and sporting a flock of seagulls haircut as I talk loudly about fashion and ugly betty into my new iphone.

I agree.
I've used nexus' and winmo phones, and the first thing I notice is that they can't even get scrolling right. it's all choppy.

I'm in no way an apple fanboi and I don't like the closed nature of the software, but they do it for a reason. I think my phone has crashed maybe once, and it wasn't even a full crash, just a temporary hang for about 5 mins. I've got friends with G1's that don't even run stable at the main UI, and I've got other friends w/ winmo phones they have to reboot at least once a day. I don't know anyone with an iPhone that has those problems, and I know about twice as many people with iPhones as I do with other packages.

And I'm very critical of software -- I have a masters in CS and HCI / human interface design are major passions of mine -- and the iPhone seriously does it better than any other phone I've seen. As much as it pains me to say.

 

[Eniko]

What makes the Pandora so special is its controls with dual analog nubs AND a high quality D-Pad. The question is, what good are analog nubs if you can't play the games you want with them? Most "older games" have no need for two analog nubs (many don't even need one analog nub), and some have no need for the shoulder buttons either. I know PS1 can be emulated fairly easily, but can the Nintendo 64 be emulated at hight quality, and can the Dreamcast be emulated to playable state at all?

You're forgetting a whole mess of First Person Shooters which traditionally use either keyboard and mouse or dual nubs to control. There's plenty of games those nubs come in handy for. Not to mention old PC fighters which often use keyboard or joystick, and you can't reasonably map the numpad keys to the non nub controls. One Must Fall for example wouldn't be playable without a nub. And that's not even going into the nubs as mouse thing, which is really convenient at times.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again....What does it matter if phone "X" can run God of War 3 or Street Fighter 4, if you have to control the game with a keypad or touch screen? That's right, It doesn't matter! Games need good controls, PERIOD!

Not just games, computing in general. My PSP has a web browser, and I'm sure I could've found IM or IRC stuff for it so I could browse or chat from my couch. Did I ever do that? No! Why not? Because all the PSP had was one awful nub, no touch screen, and no keyboard so it was too impossible to use it for these things.

 

[zapman]

I'm also one of the lucky ones who's already got their Pandora. Although repeating myself, I have to say: all the waiting was worth it! It's an awesome device!

Hopefully, you can relax and recharge a bit on your short vacation, ED. The Pandora is great, but getting a heartattack or developing insomnia is just not worth it..

 

[Despellanion]

So yeah...at this rate I assume I should expect to get my Pandora as a Christmas present, sadly :-/
Well, good luck! Mine should be just around 100 units away.

 

[relliker]

I mean, I know there's no chance of having a laaaaarge number of users, but still .. the niche isn't so fun when you're the only one with the gear ..

Right now I'm not sure I'd like this to change much. If the Pandora gets a huuuuge advertising bump in the gamer/non-gamer geekdom and other fora etc. and a laaaarge number of users start pre-ordering I think it would just create another line of frustrated waiters (as in people waiting, not the Garcon type) seeing that each batch will keep coming only slowly. Imagine OP getting another 10k orders after a big round of ads. Would it help or would it hinder, seeing there won't be any Pandoras to hand out for quite a while? I'd wait until the first 4k are out and the next batch is being built. Then maybe OP could invest in a bigger, faster fabrication ordering queue/production line and supply as many Pandas as required and there would already be a grand Panda-owner base to support the new waiters and make them drool more rather than add to their grumbling.

 

[Loonie]

If I'd wanted a phone, I would have bought one.

 

[Hitnrun]

Well I have my Pandora already too, and all I can say is: it is worth all this waiting.

Also if you are a developer, expect losing a large amount of sleep. I am sleeping bad for almost a month, programming for this thing

 

[Raz]

Sometimes I wonder if you guys are actually losing money at this rate

 

[Dunny]

To be fair, you can argue about specs all you like - any phone performs better than my non-existant Pandora. To that end, I've picked up an old windows mobile phone and have started developing for that. I'll not be porting anything to the Pandora now - there's still after 2 weeks of waiting (and having had two predictions broken), absolutely nothing going on in Craig's neck of the woods.

This is getting hilarious now, and not in a good way.

"yay, production has started, it's all systems go now!"

...

"um, actually, no it's not. But it WILL BE LATER!"

...

"no, we've not actually started the next batch yet."

D.

 

[sebt3]

Also if you are a developer, expect losing a large amount of sleep. I am sleeping bad for almost a month, programming for this thing

I feel less alone after reading this

 

[conso]

Here's my phone:

Yeah, it plays crysis.

..seriously though, that's my only phone. You crazy kids and your fancy shmancy wireless telephones, I tells ya.

damn, using that phone would probably not be allowed here in europe any more ^^

regarding delays: it's just damn annoying and I can't help but feel like craig is regularly tricking and lying, but I long called my money lost. If I'll ever recieve my pandora, it will be a pleasant surprise. Good thing my dingoo is doing most of what I wanted my pandora to do in the beginning - thanks to notaz and his awesome picodrive

 

[MWeston]

To be fair, you can argue about specs all you like - any phone performs better than my non-existant Pandora. To that end, I've picked up an old windows mobile phone and have started developing for that. I'll not be porting anything to the Pandora now - there's still after 2 weeks of waiting (and having had two predictions broken), absolutely nothing going on in Craig's neck of the woods.

This is getting hilarious now, and not in a good way.

"yay, production has started, it's all systems go now!"

...

"um, actually, no it's not. But it WILL BE LATER!"

...

"no, we've not actually started the next batch yet."

D.

It's pretty easy for you to sit there and judge everything despite having no idea the amount of work I personally have been through the past couple of weeks (not to mention the past couple of years) to try and keep things moving and motivated with the distributors, manufacturers and assembler. It's also easy to blame Craig like these delays are all his fault since he is the face you know to hate but we are just as frustrated. Regardless of what you think, nobody is sitting on their asses doing nothing, not even the manufacturing companies. They're just not working for us and it's very hard to make that change. The nub problem is a huge kick in the head to us and we can't afford to keep shipping units with bad parts because the returns are financially crippling.

 

[Dunny]

It's pretty easy for you to sit there and judge everything despite having no idea the amount of work I personally have been through the past couple of weeks (not to mention the past couple of years) to try and keep things moving and motivated with the distributors, manufacturers and assembler. It's also easy to blame Craig like these delays are all his fault since he is the face you know to hate but we are just as frustrated.

Yes, yes, you've said this before. Where is my Pandora? It was supposed to be here November before last.

D.


Edit: Bollocks - many apologies. I do know that you're all trying your best, but sometimes the waiting gets the better of me. Feel free to ignore.

 

[banjeed]

Anyone else starting to think we need to start a fund to send these guys to China or wherever the hell this bottleneck is happening? I'm sure you guys are doing everything you can from where you are, but this is starting to sound like the problems are known, acknowledged, and finally...backburnered. Of course the first rule of business is that if supply is less than demand, you're guaranteed to make money. This is how Apple stays afloat. This rule turns on itself is demand is NEVER met. You know it's a problem. It's only a theory of mine, but it's better than waiting. Get your asses over there and make some deals. Let them know you'd like to use their services for a much larger batch, but so far, they aren't proving they can pull their weight. Stop thinking the world's against you, grab it by the hair on the back of its head and show it who's boss!

 

[b._.o._.b]

Yes, it has taken a very long time. The OP team has taken on a job that, to be honest, they could not handle.
Too much has gone wrong and the team is just too damn small to put pressure on suppliers. In the company where I work, we can force suppliers to deliver with very short leadtimes. We can do that, because we are a big partner. I am sure this can create problems for other smaller companies.

The situation the OP team is in makes it almost impossible to plan anything, especially when the suppliers are in different countries. That they were able to create something so complex with their lack of experience is a great accomplishment. I must admire the stamina of everyone in the OP team dealing with situations like this, but also the members of the community that are still here waiting more than 2 years. For the 'doers' the lack of action might be even more frustrating because they are not part of the process.. i.e. for me it was very hard to watch the Dutch team lose a soccer worldcup final without being able to do anything about it

There is still nothing like the Pandora (the absurd prices for some of them on ebay are a solid prove), and I usually don't support monopolists but in this case I'll make an exception.

 

[aRTee]

Well, we ARE contacting them daily, no worries
However, too much pressure also wouldn't help.
What should we do if they get fed up and say "Okay, go search another company to do the job".

It's a bad situation here-

Well, maybe I'm being silly or perhaps I'm overlooking something, but among tech-/computer-/gadget nerds, OpenPandora rules...
So why not mention who these companies are, making sure that if they help OP succeed, they get the credit, and when they give bad service, it goes on record that they are the ones causing the delay?

Do you have some kind of agreement not to mention their names?

In case you're afraid others would go make knock-offs using the same suppliers, I'll just ask: how can knock-off makers knock-off the OP community?
Even if they can make a fully software compatible device, you're not handing out your testing procedures and software, so they wouldn't be able to deliver the same quality.
And to recreate/imitate OP is no big problem for the copycats that copy for their livelyhood anyway.

I'm into chip design myself (for mobile phones even), and even chips can be reverse engineered/taken apart and analysed (or simpler, have the design stolen and copied, happened to another group where I work).

Anyway, if the various suppliers would be publicly known, plus an open record of how well they did their job, this could be a good way to make sure they deliver what they promise - it's their reputation, and though there are only 4000 + 4000 OPs scheduled, the tech world is watching closely, including for sure some of those that have deciding power over which supplier to choose for a project that does go into millions of pieces a year...


BTW talking about mobile phones, why do people think that the most powerful mobile phones are hardly more powerful than OP? Right, because they also went through quite some time in getting to market.

From inside that industry, I can tell you that from the point of having the main processor chip (let's say a new design) to having a product on the market takes industry leaders - with professional, experienced teams, workflow and methodology - about 18 months. To the first functional prototype ("first call") may take 4 to 6 months after getting the first samples. From there, roughly 12 months is not too bad. (My first hand experience with a top5 handset maker.)

So with that in mind, OP shipping in roughtly 24 months is quite a feat, considering the size, means and limitations of the hardware dev team.

I'm not waiting for my OP, I'm continuing with my life, which I realised I had to do once I understood that the 2 month meme was just that.
Once I get it, I will certainly enjoy it to the fullest, even though I actually don't even plan on really playing any games on it.
{FYI, I will use it to replace my aging N770 internet tablet, hopefully some kind dev will make the few software programs that are lacking since I suck at writing software - I just want good vnc (which exists for OP) with optional going through SSH tunnels (exists), book reader (exists, fbreader just got ported), possibly navigation (exists, though I'd love to see a port of Navit, which I have on my lowly/ultra cheap android phone, and which works surprisingly well even on an aging arm926, which is why I don't really need it), a really good SIP client, a decent webbrowser, drawing program, text editor, and WAP software to use it to share a USB connected 3G data connection to various other wireless devices...}

 

[banjeed]

Just took a very long deep breath and deleted a terrible post. OP (I really hate this phrase because I'm so used to it standing for "original poster") you're awesome. Keep that chin up through this bullshit. I'm stupid for not just buying a unit off of another dev who got there first with a few orders. The worst part is that I'm not in the party saying "obsolete hardware" or "not enough interest". I couldn't care less. This will be me until it arrives....