On Fri, 18 Jul 2008, Erik Hines wrote:
> Please repost purchase information for the hawk kit. I have been waiting
> for the bugs to be worked out before I purchased the kit myself. Once
> it's solid and most of the major bugs worked out, I think you'll find a
> lot of us 'open minded skeptics' oredering these kits...
========================
count me in the "wait and see" camp...
i avoid version 1 of just about anything, even for things like CD players
and video recorders. i'm waiting for the (inevitable) bugs to get worked
out, and also see if the "expansion" for the atomohawk ever comes out (i
can live without it, but if it's on the way i'll wait for it and order the
whole thing at once).
so, mr hawk... do you think the project might get put on the back burner
indefinitely, or only until your other obligations pass?
in a project of this scope (upgrading the hardware and software of a 80's
synth) one thing is certain: after counting your time, there's no way
you'll make money. similar projects have upgraded the software for synths
of the same vintage as the poly-800 (the cheetah MS6, yamaha TX16W and the
roland MKS30 come to mind), and i seriously doubt that those have been
money-makers for the people who did them (and AFAIK those projects left
the original hardware, only upgrading the software). the only sane
perspective on this is to consider this a hobby/project that you're doing
for yourself and making it available to others. if you (or your wife) take
the position that it's anything resembling a profitable venture, then it's
doomed to let you down.
my mods are done for me, and given away for free. a few people have
offered to take me to lunch, but as yet i've been unable to redeem any of
those offers. of course i'm giving away information, and no one would ask
you to give away hardware, but the business models are otherwise about the
same.
as i've said, i tend to avoid anything that's version 1. if i had to make
a choice between ordering the kit as it is, or never getting one, i'd put
in an order... but if you think the kit will be more mature in 6-12
months, i'd rather wait. i can even send you half the money now, and the
other half when you ship a more mature kit. at the moment, it seems like
the worst bug is the short life of the backup battery; if i've been
following things accurately, all of the other problems seem to lie in the
software realm, so shouldn't be hard to fix after the units are sold
(deployed?).
q1) what's the latest update with the battery? do you think that will need
a new layout on the board? or can the problem be fixed with some flying
wires and 1-2 resisters later on? or maybe a drop-in replacement for the
RAM?
q2) not counting software bugs and yet-to-be-implemented features, are
there any other concerns about the hardware?
q3) do you think the atomohawk expansion will see daylight? when?
q4) if i don't order by the "deadline", will i lose my chances of ever
getting the kit? or will i have another chance after your other project(s)
wrap up?
q5) what's your opinion of getting a group of fence-sitters (it seems i'm
not the only one) to each send you $50 now, with a promise that certain
bugs/features will be fixed/added within a certain time-frame, and then
send you another $50 before you ship?
--
...atom
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