What I am ready to believe is that this product will remain in a small portion of the market for e-ink device; they are not going to sell millions of units a year. But that is certainly not their plan - for at least some years, this kind of device will remain pretty expensive and will only be of interest to a small number of people. So, no retail distribution is not a big deal; what they need to do is make it so that, in the future, the delay between ordering it and obtaining it is very short. At the moment they are still filling preorders (mine was ordered in August and, if I read their schedule correctly, should ship this week or the next). In the future it can be expected that they will have some stock on hand, and be able to ship as soon as a unit is ordered.
As for reviews... the reviews I've seen so far seem fair to me - not hiding the problems, but pointing out the strong points.
I suppose the company wanted to make this first device to establish itself on this niche market, with the plan to later make others, possibly more accessible price-wise, or whatever. If their plan is to take over the ereader market, they are not doing it right - but I don't think that's their plan
