Quote:
Originally Posted by DaleDe
Hi emellaich
I think you raise some good point in the interaction but I don't think this is what people are complaining about. If you check this thread near the beginning I cautioned against believing the ridiculously low promised prices. People wanted to believe and many delayed their purchase decisions based on the overly optimistic promised delivery dates. I could be construed as a way to grab early customers to wait but when its late you get frustrated people and lose customers.
Astak has done well in listening and taking input on the product. What they haven't done well on is being realistic. Hopefully the wait will be worth it.
Dale
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Dear Dale:
Probably right about the realistic. No arguing. In hindsight, I would have liked to have nailed everything down first.
The good part is we are honest and trying to make this right. The bad part is a lack of experience in knowing what it would be like to develop and engineer such a project. Initially, it was presented to me as "will have eBooks, ask for recommendations, here is price, GO!".
Reality is that there is no end to the complexities involved. So, we are learning and getting better.
Yes, we are extremely aware that price is critical. Equally critical is putting out a full-featured product. I do NOT apologize for talking with the experts at IDPF and BEA and at MobileRead Forum itself and then making changes. Likewise, there is no apology for actually reading the feedback from MobileRead Forum members on what they think the machines should have and seriously considering it. We did not just pay it lip service. We incorporated many of the comments and the factory went crazy trying to do a GUI that made it all work the right way... and they are still doing that. Even now, comments from MobileRead Forum on everything from programmable buttons to font sizes to LED lighting are being appraised and possibly incorporated. All of this takes time and takes engineers. And... it has been about four months in trying to get the eReader format ported satisfactorily on the Mentor and the thrid party is still not there yet. And... Adobe won't even give us an SDK until October as much as we wanted to have Digital Editions on the Mentor.
SO... unrealistic we were. But, we have learned and kept our focus on making a good product that will please. Also, realize that during the last four months gas prices have gone up about $1.50 a gallon or more. That effects transportation, plastics and metal production and molding
, electronic component costs and more. Talk about unrealistic... gas at $5 a gallon in California!!
My point is that "Anything Worth Doing is Worth Doing Right". Astak is trying to do that yet still try to control ever rising costs that every member is already feeling in their purse or wallet. Yes, projected prices have climbed. But the value will still, we think, make it a bargain.