2009/3/7

Has anything changed, will I still be contacted to order via credit card?

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On Sat, Mar 7, 2009 at 2:54 PM, openpandorasales <openpandorasales@gmail.com> wrote:

The credit card facilities may not be available until the second batch release. We will contact you as soon as the facility is available.

Thanks
Jacquelyn

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They suck, good luck those who prepaid the second time.

The question as asked is quite meaningless. It is possible that Pandora might ship a few hundreds of units to people who are willing to pay for a device a year in advance by going to some deserted cemetery at midnight when the moon is full and leaving the money (and a pint of blood of a virgin goat) under a stone.

The more interesting question is when will I be able to go to a website enter my address and my credit card number, and have the device sent to me. It seems obvious that the N900 will reach that before the Pandora.

Sadly, the way these independent things usually work is:

1. Come up with an awesome idea that blows away everything currently available
2. Suffer either from bugs or constantly pushing back release dates
3. Lose enough customers from bugs or pushing back release dates until the technology is obsolete that you go bankrupt.
4. Big companies scoop up the shattered remains of the independent company for the princely sum of 2 peppercorns.

Sounds about right.

I wouldn't even be that hopeful.

I wonder... if Nokia had communicated its internal workings about the elusive new tablet as openly as the Openpandora team has done, how this poll would look like.

To me its not the internal working being advertised that is pandora's problem. Its a credit card issue, its a we have no clue how to run a business issue, its a we have put out several dates that things "should" be done by (shipping Dec 2008) issue

Pandora has rightly earned that beating they took in the poll. Its all about consumer confidence and its clear these consumers (the majority) have no confidence in Pandora

Seems to me the difference is:

Pandora offers the world, and has delivered nothing.

Nokia has promised nothing, and has consistently delivered the world in my hand.

I understood what I was getting into when I ordered Pandora, but unrealistic dates that have changed constantly do not give me any confidence in the Pandora team. I understand they are all learning as they go, but if they fail its all your money, if it becomes a real product I will take a look. I am at this point though, not looking forward to it and I will be surprised if it makes it to market prior to Nokia.

If Nokia makes it to market first, it just may put a large dent in Pandora sales. Pandora was very attractive to those who didn't want to wait for Nokia to release another tablet. I know thats one of the things that made it attractive to me. Its now not appearing to be as much as an issue as it was 5 months ago when I preordered a pandora console, or should I say threw 75$ out the window because Pandora team doesn't know how to run a business.

May 2008: Craigix says that pre-orders will start about 4 weeks before release.

September 2008: pre-orders

March 2009: Half a year after pre-orders, with the device not on the horizon yet, for the first time we are told that there are two long steps in the production, one takes 20-25 days, and the other 30-35 days (and those are Pandora days, how long it takes in real days, is anyone's guess).

Now - either Craigix had no idea about those steps (maybe he subscribes to the stork theory of gadget manufacturing), or he was not telling the truth.

What can Nokia secrets be that are as bad as that.

You mean stuff like this?

OpenPandora never delivered anything, and their first product is delayed and delayed. They have no credit whatsoever. Only a handful of enthusiasts who are behaving zealous; unrealistic.

Nokia however, has credit. Nokia has delivered products before and are extending their tree. Related to the next product Nokia has delivered some small gems thus far. Maemo summit, source code, internals, roadmaps. In some ways you might say Nokia has bad credit too. Sure. At least you know about that then. If you preordered a Pandora you have no idea what you bought from who, and when it gets delivered. I'd never preorder in such way whereas I would consider preordering from say Nokia. Because these folks have a name to defend, and a corporate history.

In no way am I trying to argue against new business or small business. But they have to prove themselves first before they are to be taken seriously. Someone on eBay with no feedback selling something for a very good price is taken with a grain of salt as well. And something cheap on the flea market might as well go broken quickly leading in a lost investment.

I have been keeping tabs on the pandora for a while now. I am going to say that Nokia will ship first. But that is a rather uneducated guess.

The first part is easy; Nokia will ship (probably) by mid-Summer.

The next part is hard; will Pandora ship? Will they ship to large numbers?

I can guarantee one thing. More people will have the RX-x1 Maemo 5 device(s) by next Autumn than Pandoras. By multiples. By that I mean there will be at least 2 New Maemo devices in the hands of consumers for every Pandora by the end of this year.

What I can't say is if the equation (Maemo5 / Pandora) = divide by 0 error