Wondering About Delays?

[Shirohagen]

Thanks ED, this is the sort of thing we want, honest informative updates as to the situation and a little bit of genuine insight into what it's like working on the project.

It gets a bit hot in here from time to time but we're all behind it.

Thanks again for the communication...

®

 

[puppydee]

Thanks for the update Ed. I never douted the OP team! :blink:

 

[sterling976]

More importantly, nothing is likely to have as good a homebrew community as we have built up here over many years (once it's actually out, you will see more of it, instead of the current troubles which make people stay away).

+1

I'm impressed by some of the things I'm seeing over in the Developers' Corner.

 

[Ryzure]

Egads! I thought I'd posted!

Thanks ED, information like this is always appreciated around these parts.

 

[cosurgi]

IMHO it was a good decision on december to not reveal that the bank accuont was frozen. People would went nuts.

 

[spaceballs3000]

IMHO it was a good decision on december to not reveal that the bank accuont was frozen. People would went nuts.

So you believe it's a good thing for them to not being open and transparent.

Yes people would have went nuts, but it would have saved months of failed attempts by the company attempting to skirt under the radar (CC Bank(s), Paypal, Google checkout, American express, etc..)

Also it would have given them time to only build with what $ they had at hand.. By now they "might" have gotten enough profit to actually build a second batch for the CC orders that waiting to be placed.

 

[cosurgi]

They don't have a whole PR department full of people who write news and talk to customers, you know. It's difficult to deal with several thousand customers, when you are nearly alone. That's why I think their decision was the best one in such circumstances.

 

[marko]

@spaceballs3000 - I've noticed that you've only been a member on the forum since 29th December 08 yet you are trying to cause controversy in every topic you post in. Why is this? Maybe because you've only been around here for less than a month and haven't been able to appreciate the community spirit onthis forum?
You've obviously jumped on the bandwagon seeing how good Pandora is going to be but are pissed off (like a little spoilt child) that it hasn't arrived as promised. Now, nobody is excluded from enjoying Pandora, the fruits of labour of OP team and this community but you have no right to come on here and start talking shit about the project when you have no reference point to go on. Have you even pre-ordered and had to re-order??
There are more people on here that have waited longer than you and are suffering more than you but I empathise with them as they show trust and faith in the OP team and project. I'd rather stand shoulder to shoulder with those guys than be around a sniveling little twat like you.
I you have nothing nice to say then say nothing at all.

 

[beatgeek]

They don't have a whole PR department full of people who write news and talk to customers, you know. It's difficult to deal with several thousand customers, when you are nearly alone. That's why I think their decision was the best one in such circumstances.

After reading the blog update, I went back and reread several of the "updates" listed in this thread: http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?showtopic=43063

They consistently stated that the whole banking and reordering fiasco was NOT affecting production and manufacturing, and that everything was going smoothly. This is why so many people believed that the project would keep going normally even if their credit card funds were locked up or refunded.

Now we know that was clearly not true.

They do have a "PR department", of sorts: it is that thread I linked earlier, plus the official and unofficial blogs. They were writing news and talking to customers. The news was consistently optimistic: "just a few weeks" "final pandoras on the cusp of completion", tempered only with bad news about LCD supply. But no link between the financial problems and the manufacturing delays was ever established. The delays were always blamed on the suppliers and the economic crash (but that's not to say that they played no part...)

If the big reorder email had told me that development and production had really been derailed as a result of the funds being frozen and forcibly refunded, and perhaps a bit more pessimistic about credit cards ever being an option, then I would have done a bank transfer back in December (when I finally received my refund). If it were stated clearly in that email that the pandora project needed my money to produce the thing, NOW, and that they had little hope of a credit card option working out rather than *expecting* it to, then perhaps some of these delays could have been averted (if it convinced more people to do bank transfer as soon as they got their refund). Instead, all we heard was the opposite: that it was happening come hell or high water, no matter if we waited until the bitter end before coughing up the cash (or credit) again.

Which approach is best? If this blog post had been made in November/December, everyone's expectations could have been reset to something much more realistic, eliminating much of the hysteria and frustrations. People are incredibly thankful for it now - do you think they wouldn't have been so thankful a month or more ago?
What made people go nuts was once they found out credit cards wouldn't work. But whether they discovered this in January or November/December wouldn't have made a difference.

 

[spaceballs3000]

@spaceballs3000 - I've noticed that you've only been a member on the forum since 29th December 08 yet you are trying to cause controversy in every topic you post in. Why is this? Maybe because you've only been around here for less than a month and haven't been able to appreciate the community spirit onthis forum?
You've obviously jumped on the bandwagon seeing how good Pandora is going to be but are pissed off (like a little spoilt child) that it hasn't arrived as promised. Now, nobody is excluded from enjoying Pandora, the fruits of labour of OP team and this community but you have no right to come on here and start talking shit about the project when you have no reference point to go on. Have you even pre-ordered and had to re-order??
There are more people on here that have waited longer than you and are suffering more than you but I empathise with them as they show trust and faith in the OP team and project. I'd rather stand shoulder to shoulder with those guys than be around a sniveling little twat like you.
I you have nothing nice to say then say nothing at all.

Hi Marko,

I think you assume to much, I've been reading up on these forums back since late Sept, just because I didn't post anything doesn't mean I don't know whats going on.

I'm here because I'm a customer, and genuinely interested in the Pandora, I have business experience in the area of making hardware/firmware device(s) (non game related.) So I do post in areas that bother/worry me, or post on things that I feel I can add important information that people might not haven't considered.

I'm sorry if you think everything I post is negative, I try to express information, knowledge, and business viewpoints (good and bad) to everyone here including Chip. I hope they can understand this and any useful information might pass get passed up to the owners of Pandora.

 

[TaG]

They do have a "PR department", of sorts: it is that thread I linked earlier, plus the official and unofficial blogs.
Don't forget that the unofficial blog is just that - totally unofficial and nothing to do with openpandora. We just try and provide anything interesting that others have put on line so that anybody can quickly find it. We will post the good and bad, and comment if we feel it appropriate.

I do tend to agree that some of the doubt/skepticism is due to the type of things you raise. Had they been clear in November about the exact nature of the problems and its implications people might well have reacted differently. Problem was, from OP's point of view, people might have walked away in November and killed the project. They could have done a better job of expectation management.

 

[Esn]

Thanks ED.

QUOTE
They consistently stated that the whole banking and reordering fiasco was NOT affecting production and manufacturing

And probably that's what they were hoping would happen. But once Pandora's box was opened, they found it hard to close it again.

Better late than never, though.

And yes, an April 1st release would be quite funny.

 

[marko]

@spaceballs3000 - I've noticed that you've only been a member on the forum since 29th December 08 yet you are trying to cause controversy in every topic you post in. Why is this? Maybe because you've only been around here for less than a month and haven't been able to appreciate the community spirit onthis forum?
You've obviously jumped on the bandwagon seeing how good Pandora is going to be but are pissed off (like a little spoilt child) that it hasn't arrived as promised. Now, nobody is excluded from enjoying Pandora, the fruits of labour of OP team and this community but you have no right to come on here and start talking shit about the project when you have no reference point to go on. Have you even pre-ordered and had to re-order??
There are more people on here that have waited longer than you and are suffering more than you but I empathise with them as they show trust and faith in the OP team and project. I'd rather stand shoulder to shoulder with those guys than be around a sniveling little twat like you.
I you have nothing nice to say then say nothing at all.

Hi Marko,

I think you assume to much, I've been reading up on these forums back since late Sept, just because I didn't post anything doesn't mean I don't know whats going on.

I'm here because I'm a customer, and genuinely interested in the Pandora, I have business experience in the area of making hardware/firmware device(s) (non game related.) So I do post in areas that bother/worry me, or post on things that I feel I can add important information that people might not haven't considered.

I'm sorry if you think everything I post is negative, I try to express information, knowledge, and business viewpoints (good and bad) to everyone here including Chip. I hope they can understand this and any useful information might pass get passed up to the owners of Pandora.

Look, I'm struggling to take you seriously as your grammar is very poor. I find it hard to believe you have business experience in anything " I think you assume to much". C'mon who are you trying to kid? People come on here claiming they know this and that and things that people might not haven't considered.. You're only on here to stir up shit and be an annoying plonker so I don't think that "information might pass get passed up to the owners of Pandora.". And you claim to have business experience? How well did that go? Did you have someone typing your documents/emails/cheques for you? I've read your posts and you've come up with nothing positive or business orientated. You sir, are a phony!

 

[hells_dark]

Look, I'm struggling to take you seriously as your grammar is very poor.

English is not the everyone's mother tongue..

 

[mali]

@Marko
I think it's time for you to revert back to lurking mode.

Also I agree with beatgeek. I hope they have learned the lesson now, I think they do.

I'm out of this discussion now, keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[marko]

Look, I'm struggling to take you seriously as your grammar is very poor.

English is not the everyone's mother tongue..

Yeah fair enough. I apologise for any offence caused to our foreign friends. I admire the fact you can speak and understand English.
Maybe this has been the issue with spaceballs' grammar but the fact still remains that he's on here to cause trouble.

 

[spaceballs3000]

@spaceballs3000 - I've noticed that you've only been a member on the forum since 29th December 08 yet you are trying to cause controversy in every topic you post in. Why is this? Maybe because you've only been around here for less than a month and haven't been able to appreciate the community spirit onthis forum?
You've obviously jumped on the bandwagon seeing how good Pandora is going to be but are pissed off (like a little spoilt child) that it hasn't arrived as promised. Now, nobody is excluded from enjoying Pandora, the fruits of labour of OP team and this community but you have no right to come on here and start talking shit about the project when you have no reference point to go on. Have you even pre-ordered and had to re-order??
There are more people on here that have waited longer than you and are suffering more than you but I empathise with them as they show trust and faith in the OP team and project. I'd rather stand shoulder to shoulder with those guys than be around a sniveling little twat like you.
I you have nothing nice to say then say nothing at all.

Hi Marko,

I think you assume to much, I've been reading up on these forums back since late Sept, just because I didn't post anything doesn't mean I don't know whats going on.

I'm here because I'm a customer, and genuinely interested in the Pandora, I have business experience in the area of making hardware/firmware device(s) (non game related.) So I do post in areas that bother/worry me, or post on things that I feel I can add important information that people might not haven't considered.

I'm sorry if you think everything I post is negative, I try to express information, knowledge, and business viewpoints (good and bad) to everyone here including Chip. I hope they can understand this and any useful information might pass get passed up to the owners of Pandora.

Look, I'm struggling to take you seriously as your grammar is very poor. I find it hard to believe you have business experience in anything " I think you assume to much". C'mon who are you trying to kid? People come on here claiming they know this and that and things that people might not haven't considered.. You're only on here to stir up shit and be an annoying plonker so I don't think that "information might pass get passed up to the owners of Pandora.". And you claim to have business experience? How well did that go? Did you have someone typing your documents/emails/cheques for you? I've read your posts and you've come up with nothing positive or business orientated. You sir, are a phony!


Your critical on my spelling, and I wasn't critical on yours, for example I didn't comment on "onthis", "spoilt", "labour", "empathise" from your original post.

Yes I in fact do run a business (I'm the owner), and we develop specialized hardware for very big companies, and it's done just fine thank you for asking.

You say I haven't posted anything business oriented, did it occur to you that I might have posted on the other forum site? Of course not... please go read here --> http://forum.openpandora.org/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=737

I believe you will not engage in any civil discussion with me, so from now on I'll just put you on my ignore list.

Have a nice day!

 

[TaG]

And welcome to tonight's edition of Spelling Bee, Where we find that US and UK English have different spellings, eg "spoilt", "labour", "empathise".

Come on guys, quit.

spaceballs3000, some of your posts do seem negative but you have the same rights as everyone else to raise concerns. Just be wary that you will be ignored or flamed if you are seen as constantly negative. Or banned if get too abusive.

 

[Asmo]

Then we'll do some stress testing, check CE and FCC - and begin MASS PRODUCING

QUOTE
Getting CE Mark Approvals will vary depending on the product and the number of tests that must be conducted. For example, for general electrical products, CE Marking approvals can be obtained within 3 – 6 weeks.


http://www.cedirectory.com/ce-approved.php

FCC very similar.

 

[Asmo]

After reading the blog update, I went back and reread several of the "updates" listed in this thread: http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?showtopic=43063

They consistently stated that the whole banking and reordering fiasco was NOT affecting production and manufacturing, and that everything was going smoothly. This is why so many people believed that the project would keep going normally even if their credit card funds were locked up or refunded.

Now we know that was clearly not true.


The LCD shortage was also blamed on the suppliers - repeatedly - and while I can imagine the temptation to lie about problems to protect yourself from bad press might be powerful, it's flat out wrong to do so while continuing to procure funds from your customers, as they are not being given 'the full picture'.
If the truth had been told from day 1, there would have been a lot more sympathy and - yes - probably more transfers.