Update #18 gave me some (now dispelled) dark thoughts.
If Planet Computers expects to get the first Cosmo units for certification and Linux development by the end of June, then, I thought, shipping in July, as stated in the latest published (Update #13) timeline, would seem pretty unrealistic. Hoping to maybe get a bit of clarification in some future update, I used the "I'd like more info" reaction button to send a message, posing the above question and also noting that, for the Gemini, it took four months from the T0 samples to the first backer production run. Adding that amount of time to the Cosmo T0 samples, from late May, would, I felt, be a bit disheartening.
So, at 22:36 (British Summer Time) on Sunday June 23, as it happened to be, I hit send and went back to a physics video YouTube. To my surprise, 21 minutes later, at 22:57, I got the following (from which I have removed some blank lines):
"Daniel, Thank you for your message.
We still expect to start Cosmo production in July if all is well. As you know, there are many certifications to complete as well as completing the firmware in a very short amount of time. So, there may be further changes in the timeline, but only if there are unforseen delays. And we will publish any changes in the timeline. I agree its very tight, but we have been there before. The T0 production samples are were very good, so some of the time is compressed from the published time schedule.
Why the shorter time period this time? With Gemini, we had to retool the Gemini keyboard several times, which caused a long delay in initial production. We don't have this problem this time, as there is prior knowledge that helps us.
I hope that this answers your question.
Thank you for your support.
Best regards,
Janko
[a copy of my message]
Sent from my Gemini PDA with the Airmail® app. Please excuse my verboseness - I have a great keyboard and just cannot resist. Get a Gemini PDA from Planet and type on the move!
www.planetcom.co.uk "
That's the quickest action I've ever observed from Planet Computers, and it came right when I had begun to doubt a bit. It certainly answered my question, and pretty much put me at ease again. Of course, the actual schedule could still slip a bit, for any number of reasons, but to read that the CEO, at this point in time, thinks the timeline from April is still feasible, was uplifting to read. As I presume others, like me, might be wondering what to expect right now, and since the above, as far as I can tell, isn't sensitive in any way, I felt sharing this here, was the appropriate thing to do. I hope Mr. Mrsic-Flogel agrees. Not sure if I should be impressed or worried to find him at work on a Sunday night, but, in any case, it seems progress is being made.
/Daniel
