Official Gemini PDA User Guide

[Roy KG]

You may not but I'm sure there are many that would benefit from a proper user guide.  I've never used a smart phone or an android phone or Linux, so a user guide to the machine itself would have certainly been helpful at the start when the Gemini arrived.  It has taken me a month to get even reasonably conversant with it, and there are still things I don't really understand. (just one example: why is there a physical keyboard AND virtual keyboard and what is the correct set up. We have a physical keyboard so I don't see a need for a virtual one...)  I am also a person who reads manuals before diving in and causing problems through guesswork, or trial & error.  I worked in the motor trade for years and always read all the manuals cover to cover, and consequently knew how every feature worked - which we needed to know as owners rarely read them and then got in such a mess which we had to sort out.  They also never knew lots of things their cars were capable of, even when selling them a few years later! (and when you explained things they often stated they wish they'd known from the start)

The reason there is an on-screen keyboard is because the phone ships with android which is normally used on touch screen phones and the Android hasn't been customised for the Gemini enough to suppress it for every function. Planet may deal with that in a later release.

Thanks for that explanation, Andrew.  It makes more sense to me now.

The problem with the user manual for modern gadgets is that the OS is likely to be updated / changed quite a lot in a relatively short time and stuff in a printed manual is not going to match up. This is one of the reasons that modern phones don't ship with manuals.

I fully understand these constantly changing things making manuals out of date quickly, and I've always thought the pdf type manual is better as it can be corrected and updated much quicker.

A car doesn't change much over its life, though I never read their manuals either.

Well I've worked in the motor trade over 45 years and I'm sorry to disagree here but cars do change even during their life, and in fact I could point out manuals which were out of date even when the car was first introduced, because the manufacturer made some late changes, and with preparation and publishing lead times the manuals had already been written!  However, let's leave that topic as we are really discussing the Gemini here!

Thanks again for the explanation, and I hope eventually to have Linux on mine too, but don't feel confident enough yet to re-flash it, plus I'm not sure that any of the flavours of Linux is really ready for the gemini yet.  I quite like the sound and possibilities of Sailfish but only when version 3 comes out.

[andrewl]

Well I've worked in the motor trade over 45 years and I'm sorry to disagree here but cars do change even during their life, and in fact I could point out manuals which were out of date even when the car was first introduced, because the manufacturer made some late changes, and with preparation and publishing lead times the manuals had already been written!  However, let's leave that topic as we are really discussing the Gemini here!

Thanks again for the explanation, and I hope eventually to have Linux on mine too, but don't feel confident enough yet to re-flash it, plus I'm not sure that any of the flavours of Linux is really ready for the gemini yet.  I quite like the sound and possibilities of Sailfish but only when version 3 comes out.

I didn't mean the life of a model of car, I meant the actual instance of the car that you buy will match the manual that comes with it. Up until recently when touch screens were introduced, the manufacturer didn't issue an update that changes where switchgear and pedals are, and what they do. An owner may change it, but you don't get an update from the manufacturer to change the layout of the dash. Obviously when a new model revision comes out, it comes with a new revision of the manual.

This will change now, with cars like Tesla that can get an OS update over the air and much of their control is done through touch-screens, their printed manual (if there is one) will become outdated and less useful just as the Gemini one will when the Oreo update appears.

For your other point about linux not being ready, I think you can say the same about the Android. Definitely no going back to Android for me.

[speculatrix]

Quite a few companies buy a group subscription to O'Reilly Safari, which allows you to read nearly every book online. It can be quite useful.
Bookboon is a useful site, occasionally some good books become available free of charge.

Pluralsight isn't free, some parts are free if you have MSDN. Some great training videos.

Anyway, I digress, AIUI Planet bought the publication rights off Mike Halsey, who wrote a manual, to release the PDF to buyers via Indiegogo for free. Paper copies have to be bought. Mike isn't a Planet employee, they have no control of Mike himself nor copyright over his book.

[ArchiMark]

[ Snip....]

Anyway, I digress, AIUI Planet bought the rights off Mike Halsey, who wrote a manual, to release the PDF to buyers via Indiegogo for free. Paper copies have to be bought. Mike isn't a Planet employee, they have no rights over his book.

So, Planet bought the rights off Mike and then you say they have no rights over the book.

Bit confused....

Meanwhile, is there a link to the pdf file yet?

[speculatrix]

I just looked at the Indiegogo site and your can order the paper copy, and I couldn't find a download link.

[speculatrix]

I just checked the Facebook page and within the last day Mike Halsey wrote he didn't know why planet hadn't published it yet, and they should email hello@planetcom.co.uk to ask them for it.

[speculatrix]

So, Planet bought the rights off Mike and then you say they have no rights over the book.

Oh, yeah, I wasn't very clear, I've corrected what I wrote, which is what the situation appears to be.

[Dixit]

I just checked the Facebook page and within the last day Mike Halsey wrote he didn't know why planet hadn't published it yet, and they should email hello@planetcom.co.uk to ask them for it.

Why am I not surprised ?

The Gemini itself already arrived later than promised, but hey... it's a revolutionary device and the company is a start-up. It was already amazing that they could get a Chinese production line to actually make the device.

Then...
the accessories did not arrive. OK... that's slightly weird, because that is the easy part.
I now have half of the purchased accessories. Four months later than originally promised.

Then...
the textual updates on Indiegogo dried up. No more software updates. The Gemini Agenda is dead in the water.

Then...
Mike finished his manual and the only thing for Planet to deliver onto their promise is... to publish a link to a PDF.
And even THAT got severely delayed. For no reason whatever...

I still think it is weird. Planet PDA succeeded in the hardest part. Now they fail in the downstream service after purchase.

[speculatrix]

It's here!!!


https://geminiplanet.com/gemini-pda-officia...-now-available/

[speculatrix]

@dogomalaika maybe you can post a link in your first post on this topic?

[ArchiMark]

Got the pdf....

Good guide if your focus is using Gemini with Android...

Out of 240 pages, a grand total of 2.25 are about Debian....

And 3 on Sailfish....

So it goes...

[Dixit]

Got the pdf....

Good guide if your focus is using Gemini with Android...

Out of 240 pages, a grand total of 2.25 are about Debian....

And 3 on Sailfish....

So it goes...

Yes, but that makes sense. It is the beginners guide.
When people start using other OS's, they are already capable of finding further information on the Web, such as on this forum.

Nice book. In the Good Old days it just came with the Psion, as part of the package.

[ArchiMark]

Got the pdf....

Good guide if your focus is using Gemini with Android...

Out of 240 pages, a grand total of 2.25 are about Debian....

And 3 on Sailfish....

So it goes...

Yes, but that makes sense. It is the beginners guide.
When people start using other OS's, they are already capable of finding further information on the Web, such as on this forum.

Nice book. In the Good Old days it just came with the Psion, as part of the package.

Actually, 'the book', is called the 'Official Users Guide', not the 'Beginners Guide'....

So, why does "that make sense"?

Many of us bought the Gemini because Planet sold us on the idea that it could run Android or other flavors of Linux, and specifically, Debian to start out with.

2.25 pages out of 240 equals 0.9% of the book. That's less than 1% !

As for "finding further info on the web", you could say the same thing about Android, there's plenty of websites out there on Android, maybe even more than about Debian....

As for the Psion, that has nothing to do with the Planet Computer Gemini. Two separate companies....

[Pete G.]

I was glad to read and learn about all the features of the Agenda app (pp 89..104 -- 14 whole pages!)...  So, umm,  where is it?  

[andrewl]

I was glad to read and learn about all the features of the Agenda app (pp 89..104 -- 14 whole pages!)...  So, umm,  where is it?  

In the Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?...ripla.gemagenda

Released on July 9th with update #62: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/gemini-p...35#/updates/all