Up to this point, I think Planet have been mostly concentrating on the hardware side.
Yes, that's obvious, in that hardware exists. Given the reports we've seen come in, though, I am not sure I'd recommend them in the concentration department. I'm thinking of all those pictures they put up of the happy Planet folks at the factory -- but none of them noticed that the wrong chip was being installed, which makes you wonder why they were spending limited resources being there at all. At minimum, QC has been kind of poor, and one might reasonably suppose that being there they would have gotten a sense of that.
And I think that's exactly the right thing for them to do. Software can be added and updated after delivery; hardware can't.
On the Indiegogo page the Gemini is titled: "Gemini PDA Android & Linux keyboard mobile device," only it was shipped as "Gemini PDA Android keyboard mobile device ." This might be forgiven were it not for a thorough-going tone deafness -- producing a Linux installer that runs only on Windows, for instance.
What were they thinking? Were they thinking at all? It could be argued that they had time to produce only one. Fair enough -- but don't you suppose that just about any sentient being would therefore release one for Linux? Then, it takes them 10 days to discover for themselves what everybody who had received one has known for more than a week -- the wrong chip is in it. We get news that the device cannot be charged while the hub is attached, which for some of us is a Very Big Deal. There is at least one reliable report that if one has the device on while it is being charged, it goes into a reboot loop. If this is concentration on hardware, I suppose we might give thanks that they
didn't concentrate on software.
So if you're expecting a 100% complete, polished, all-singing, all-dancing device from the moment you open the box, you should prepare yourself for slight disappointment.
I was expecting them to deliver what they said they were going to deliver. If there were to be no reliable Linux, that's something they should have said months ago instead of releasing a video purporting to show how far along Linux was on the device. That would have been honest and forgiveable, and knowing that I suspect many of us would have backed them anyway. Doing it the way they did, with their unsurpassed tone deafness, we're left to think that they told us things when they knew or should have known otherwise. I choose the latter, because I try never to attribute to malice that for which stupidity will answer. But either way, the effect is the same -- it's difficult to trust what they say, such as the wrong chip débâcle being somebody else's fault. No, it's not. They are responsible for making sure the representations they make are accurate.
I, on the other hand, am in it for the long term. [fx: glances down at 19-year-old Psion 5mx open and running on desk.] Given Planet's limited resources, I'm pleased to hear that the Gemini's hardware seems fully functional, elegant, and polished. And I'm very pleased to hear that as well as customising Android, they're also providing tools and making the platform as open as they can, including supporting the free software community in porting and supporting several other OSs on it. I suspect that will matter much more in the long term than a short delay in providing a Debian download.
I do not disparage your approach in the slightest. But again, the device is offered as "Gemini PDA Android & Linux keyboard mobile device," not "Gemini PDA Android & Linux keyboard mobile device for those in it for the long haul and who hope that it will one day be a Gemini PDA Android & Linux keyboard mobile device." But no, they kept us informed of very little, and much of what they told and showed us turned out to be wrong or else did not reflect any known reality. Videos of Linux running happily and well. Pictures of the wonderful factory where each and every Gemini was being perfectly assembled.
In short: patience, my friend. Patience
At this point we have no choice. But I think that we would benefit from keeping PC's feet to the fire a little bit. I hope the reaction to their waiting to address the chip issue (and their failure to address any of the other issues except by, occasionally, scrolling way down in the Indiegogo comments section) will help them to see that keeping us informed in a timely manner is a far better way of dealing with people called "backers" than what they've been doing.
