Notion Ink ADAN started pre-order

Originally Posted by NiaTrue

LOL! You must've been in your cave when He Who Shall Not Be Named and I had (yet another) blowout because I theorized that the much-wished-for Adam was becoming vaporware--and he thought I was being cynical. How's that for irony?

Well, it didn't look like vaporware back then.

Originally Posted by ShiningT1g3R

On the Notion Ink forums, Rohan (the guy who made the Adam) has specifically answered just about everyone's questions regarding whether or not the Adam is real or "vaporware". He's aware of what's going on, but you have to understand it from his perspective: he's an IT engineering guy entering the business world with a product he made to rival some of the biggest electronics companies in the world. Rohan and Notion Ink's business sense is questionable because they've never done anything like this before.

If he's a great engineering talent, how come he hasn't been able to actually produce a single photographable device yet? All the "pictures" of the Adam on their website are photoshopped CG renders. And raising the prices on the PixQi models by $100 at the last minute, slapping a cancellation fee on all orders even if it never ships doesn't sound like business naivete to me. It's likely they never actually got the investors that they claimed to be waiting for over the summer, and are going to try to start production using the cash they get from preorders.

Originally Posted by Chubulor

Well, it didn't look like vaporware back then.



If he's a great engineering talent, how come he hasn't been able to actually produce a single photographable device yet? All the "pictures" of the Adam on their website are photoshopped CG renders. And raising the prices on the PixQi models by $100 at the last minute, slapping a cancellation fee on all orders even if it never ships doesn't sound like business naivete to me. It's likely they never actually got the investors that they claimed to be waiting for over the summer, and are going to try to start production using the cash they get from preorders.

I can't find where it says there's a cancellation fee, even if the Adam doesn't ship. Can y'all help me with that (yes, I'm from Texas)?

I just read the latest from the NI blog, and it appears they've modified the policy (again) to refer to it as a "restocking fee". The cancellation fee was present in yesterday's version. Of course, since they're charging immediately rather than waiting until shipment, I'm not sure how this doesn't amount to you being out of luck if they don't ship at all.

Rohan's post is quite slippery. First he mentions the "one-world shipping cost" of $50 as a way to make things easier for European customers who usually pay exorbitant amounts for shipping compared to US customers, thanks to labor issues and messier govt regs. How nice of him to expect Americans to subsidize the rest of the world even more than we already do. Anyway, he then attempts to justify this by saying it costs $36 to send a 2 lb package from NY to LA, which I knew was false as I've had things shipped nearly that distance for far less. Reading the DHL price list he referenced shows that the $36 rate is for next-day shipping, which is almost certainly not what Notion Ink is using.

Originally Posted by Chubulor

It's likely they never actually got the investors that they claimed to be waiting for over the summer, and are going to try to start production using the cash they get from preorders.

That was my thought; as I reluctantly closed the preorder window. I hope it launches, I saved $ for it for a year but definitely not money I am prepared to giveaway.

Originally Posted by Chubulor

I just read the latest from the NI blog, and it appears they've modified the policy (again) to refer to it as a "restocking fee". The cancellation fee was present in yesterday's version. Of course, since they're charging immediately rather than waiting until shipment, I'm not sure how this doesn't amount to you being out of luck if they don't ship at all.

Well, I'm assuming (and yes, I know what that means) that the "restocking fee" only applies if you actually ship the Adam back. If it never materializes, I would assume there's no re-stocking fee. Now if they don't ship on time and you decide you want to cancel your order, I have no idea what would happen. but I'm assuming everyone is above board and trying to do the right thing, which I know isn't always the case. (See, Chubulor, I'm trying to overcome my cynical nature.)

I remember seeing them talk about the difficulties they were having once the previous investors dropped it. I was pretty sure they got new ones, or so they said. Again, assuming they're telling us the truth.

But I'm optimistic. I think it will launch, and I think it will be on time. But now if I find that they ARE using preorder money to launch production and that there is, in fact, a cancellation fee instead of a restocking fee, then I will never do business with them. Both are sleazy business practices, imo. I'll go with a Win7 tablet.

Archos 70 and 101 look pretty slick if Adam is out of the game. But for now I'll just continue using the Edge and hoping the 2.2 upgrade comes along before the heat-death of the universe, ahem ahem ahem.

for this issue, there are 4 possibilities.
1. Best for all, It is real product, we have seen the prototype of ADAM with Qi since the last CES, It is possible but NI is new company, the business way may be
2. Wasting time, it is a pre-order case in my country. They loan your money with no interest for short period. Here, seller promised Iphone4 (before officially announcement) and then delay shipping several times and finally return your money.
3. Bad products, Just give you something non-working or cheaper products as expected and cost your fee stocking.
4. Fraud, all money have gone.

By following them for a year, i hope it is the first one.

Starting up and launching a new product is really tough. enTourage did so successfully, but people still rail against them, right? Notion Ink needs a bit of slack and patience from customers to get this thing out the door. Only when they admit failure (sort of like JooJoo where you knew it clearly was over, if I remember right) should the company be duly reviled. To date, I wouldn't say they've done anything wrong, they've merely struggled - and that's where too much transparency and public knowledge can be a bad thing (if you knew how a chicken was butchered in a commercial op, you probably wouldn't eat chicken, for example...).

I guess my problem is that the issues with Notion Ink don't seem like the ones you'd expect from naive engineers not understanding marketing. Naive engineers don't demand a 10% fee for returning a defective device, for instance. And one would expect that naive engineers would be plastering their website with real pictures of the product they've been working on for so long.

And for the record, I never railed against Entourage for their product launch.

I'm not a fan of re-stocking fees, but a lot of places have them.

Charging a re-stocking fee for a defective device is unconscionable. In fact, they shouldn't even be re-stocking a defective device anyway.

Originally Posted by Chubulor

Charging a re-stocking fee for a defective device is unconscionable. In fact, they shouldn't even be re-stocking a defective device anyway.

Why I cut them (companies with re-stocking fees) a bit of slack is because you can always waive it for a defective device and charge it to people who are kinda clueless, e.g. the people who return the PE because it doesn't have a replaceable battery or because it lacks a backlit eink screen. I get so frustrated when I read those complaints on HSN and think some people deserve to be charged a re-stocking fee. But I can be misanthropic that way.

Are we sure the restocking fee is for a defective product return? Normally restocking fees are charged when customers return a slightly used but perfectly functional product. They have to ensure all the contents and manuals are there and re-shrinkwrap it, and/or resell it at a discount ("refurbished"), hence the cost to the retailer.

Originally Posted by borisb

Are we sure the restocking fee is for a defective product return? Normally restocking fees are charged when customers return a slightly used but perfectly functional product. They have to ensure all the contents and manuals are there and re-shrinkwrap it, and/or resell it at a discount ("refurbished"), hence the cost to the retailer.

Acording to the language in their terms yes

here is a section of the terms

1. If the product is defective/ Dead on Arrival/ Incorrect, you must contact
Notion Ink at preordersupport@notionink.com & open up a case for
Return, In this case you need to ship the product back with all the original
packaging, accessories etc along with the letter from yourself stating the
reason. After the inspection of the product & evaluation of your case,
Notion Ink will refund the entire amount minus 5% service fees of the
invoice value. You can also opt for the replacement product at no extra
cost except the 5% Service Fees of invoice value.

Yikes! I think that's pretty clear...