HYDROGEN preorders...

[Seth Perry]

All preorders will ship prior to the carrier launch.


Jim

Two weeks out from the event on the 19th, still no email from RED. I do remember reading something along the lines of pre-orders shipping "well before" launch. I don't mind if something is being finalized or changed at the last minute to necessitate a delay, but please let us know.

 

[dillont]

Welcome to the bleeding edge.

Are you going to HYDROGEN Day 5/19?

Two weeks out from the event on the 19th, still no email from RED. I do remember reading something along the lines of pre-orders shipping "well before" launch. I don't mind if something is being finalized or changed at the last minute to necessitate a delay, but please let us know.

 

[Bruce Buck]

If I understood correctly, the event on May 19th is NOT the launch event. Just a preview:

... It is not the official launch event. It is to give all redusers a 1st look at the HYDROGEN system and for you to see how you can participate in the future of this project.

Jim

 

[James Cohen]

Two weeks out from the event on the 19th, still no email from RED. I do remember reading something along the lines of pre-orders shipping "well before" launch. I don't mind if something is being finalized or changed at the last minute to necessitate a delay, but please let us know.

I believe it was revealed that the carrier launch is "sometime in August" and that preorders would ship "well before then".

I am hoping for June myself, but expecting early August to be the ship date.

 

[Eric Lange]

If I understood correctly, the event on May 19th is NOT the launch event. Just a preview:

"Sneak peek"...

But the sneak peek seems like a very special event.

@Bruce Buck are you coming to the May 19 "Event"/"Gig" ?

 

[Mathias Erichsen]

Have we heard if there is a difference between TI and AL versions?
Can we still switch models if we’d like?

 

[croimans christiaan]

i was to late to pre-order one, can i still get one when launched?
Or take somebody pre-order over ?

 

[Marc Oberdorfer]

10th of July... pre-orders were supposed to ship this month but no notification from Red or anything here on the forum for a good while... are we still on track?

 

[Troy Bakewell]

Hey Marc

No we are not. There has been a delay due to certifications complications.

Check out the h4vuser.net site to keep updated.

 

[Tom Dowler]

I'm done.

Not because the tech is underwhelming (although judging by the "special event" it is - deeply so).

Not because of the delays (which I expected).

But because the Hydrogen team hasn't sent 1 single email update in a year.

Not a single one.

Sure, I've seen updates by stumbling across them on here, or seen a screengrab from h4user posted to Facebook, but this whole attitude of "I'll post something on my own forum and expect people to find it" is kinda symptomatic of the way Red seems to have become lately - if you're not a hardcore fanboy ready to drink the koolaid, then fuck you. I'm not, and I'll never see the sense in behaving like a hardware company is a cult, so I'm out.

 

[Antony Newman]

Tom,

Most companies do not let outsiders see what is being cooked up, they shield you from their internal delays, and in doing so exclude the possibility of enthusiastic communities interacting, contributing and participating.

No balance is going to fit all projects and all eventualities.

Perhaps saving some of the (visual) excitement until closer to delivery will give the project a healthy push as it enters its next phase?

AJ

 

[H Dewey]

I'm done.

Not because the tech is underwhelming (although judging by the "special event" it is - deeply so).

Not because of the delays (which I expected).

But because the Hydrogen team hasn't sent 1 single email update in a year.

Not a single one.

Sure, I've seen updates by stumbling across them on here, or seen a screengrab from h4user posted to Facebook, but this whole attitude of "I'll post something on my own forum and expect people to find it" is kinda symptomatic of the way Red seems to have become lately - if you're not a hardcore fanboy ready to drink the koolaid, then fuck you. I'm not, and I'll never see the sense in behaving like a hardware company is a cult, so I'm out.

Jim is making it easy for anyone not willing to wait:

"For those who want to cancel an order, please email hydrogen@red.com.

The phone number to call AFTER this coming Thursday is 844-H4VUSER.

HYDROGEN and RED have split into two separate “sister” companies and we are in the middle of getting that done.

Jim"

Depending on how many cancellations there are, he is thinking about re-opening pre-orders due to popular demand. The pre-orders would be the newly announced (beta?) version dubbed Houdini. It will only be open for 24 hours and will be done after re-certification (had to re-certify due to one part that needs fixing.)

Houdinis should be final hardware, but will be aluminum only in the new opening of pre-orders, if I read his post correctly. Will likely have more updates than the pre-orders when they are released. Currently pre-ordered TiHys and AlHys will ship as ordered even as Houdinis.

He also said pre-orders will be contacted by email to outline options before Houdini is delivered.

Everyone should ensure their email address is the same as it was when it was ordered.

 

[Tom Dowler]

Tom,

Most companies do not let outsiders see what is being cooked up, they shield you from their internal delays, and in doing so exclude the possibility of enthusiastic communities interacting, contributing and participating.

No balance is going to fit all projects and all eventualities.

Perhaps saving some of the (visual) excitement until closer to delivery will give the project a healthy push as it enters its next phase?

AJ

I think you missed my point. I was fine with the sneak peak hardware being underwhelming. I was fine with the delays.

It's just the complete lack of communication which pisses me off. And posting on your own forum and expecting people to find it is not something ANY company with any sense of customer service does.

When there are delays (which are to be expected) you get ahead of it by communicating DIRECTLY to your customers. Not posting vague, open-to-intrepretation messages on your own forum.

 

[Tom Dowler]

Jim is making it easy for anyone not willing to wait:

"For those who want to cancel an order, please email hydrogen@red.com.

The phone number to call AFTER this coming Thursday is 844-H4VUSER.

HYDROGEN and RED have split into two separate “sister” companies and we are in the middle of getting that done.

Jim"

Depending on how many cancellations there are, he is thinking about re-opening pre-orders due to popular demand. The pre-orders would be the newly announced (beta?) version dubbed Houdini. It will only be open for 24 hours and will be done after re-certification (had to re-certify due to one part that needs fixing.)

Houdinis should be final hardware, but will be aluminum only in the new opening of pre-orders, if I read his post correctly. Will likely have more updates than the pre-orders when they are released. Currently pre-ordered TiHys and AlHys will ship as ordered even as Houdinis.

He also said pre-orders will be contacted by email to outline options before Houdini is delivered.

Everyone should ensure their email address is the same as it was when it was ordered.

Yup, well aware of all that. Used that email address this morning to cancel.

And again, this is all information that you have to go and seek out. My personal belief is that in this situation, Jim should be emailing the pre-orderers. Not adopting it a "if I post it, they will come" mentality.

But I guess he doesn't need to since it seems much of the pre-order base are enthusiastic fans who check h4vuser.net daily. It just doesn't wash with me.

 

[H Dewey]

Yup, well aware of all that. Used that email address this morning to cancel.

And again, this is all information that you have to go and seek out. My personal belief is that in this situation, Jim should be emailing the pre-orderers. Not adopting it a "if I post it, they will come" mentality.

But I guess he doesn't need to since it seems much of the pre-order base are enthusiastic fans who check h4vuser.net daily. It just doesn't wash with me.

I guess he just didn't know who you are. That's on him. He should have checked you out.

 

[Tom Dowler]

I guess he just didn't know who you are. That's on him. He should have checked you out.

I think you're being sarcastic but don't really understand your point. I'm saying there should be some kind of proactive, outbound form of communication - probably via email - to everyone who pre-ordered to let them know what the status was.

It seems like the assumption is that everyone who pre-ordered is such a fan that they'll obsessively check reduser and h4vuser every day for updates, and Jim/the team don't need to expend any more effort than that to keep people updated.

TLDR: just send out an occasional email update. Makes it look like you give a fuck.

 

[Gregory Karydis]

Yup, well aware of all that. Used that email address this morning to cancel.

You may have jumped the gun a bit there...

I would recommend you shoot out another email AFTER this coming Thursday as mentioned by Jim.
Make it Friday to be safe and save yourself some frustration. :wink5:

It is to be expected that the address will be bombarded with people curious about the release date, specs, and other random inquiries. And as the company restructuring is underway, it stands to reason that if you send an email earlier, it will be unintentionally overlooked.

 

[Tom Dowler]

You may have jumped the gun a bit there...

I would recommend you shoot out another email AFTER this coming Thursday as mentioned by Jim.
Make it Friday to be safe and save yourself some frustration. :wink5:

It is to be expected that the address will be bombarded with people curious about the release date, specs, and other random inquiries. And as the company restructuring is underway, it stands to reason that if you send an email earlier, it will be unintentionally overlooked.

They already replied - all good.

 

[Phil Holland]

I'll tag in and share a few thoughts here.

I'll post something on my own forum and expect people to find it" is kinda symptomatic of the way Red seems to have become lately

lack of communication which pisses me off

TLDR: just send out an occasional email update. Makes it look like you give a fuck.

This in many ways is a tale of two perspectives. First and foremost, bare in mind that Hydrogen One is a brand spanking new project and much of the team, specifically on the comms side of things wasn't in full swing until fairly recently and is still a growing effort from what I understand.

To the point of a lack of email, Jim setup H4Vuser.net to have a dedicated place where literally the source of the project can share updates and engage directly with users. Not exactly a blanket news update email to a "do-not-reply" address or anything you'd get from several other companies, but rather direct communication and Jim's been answering questions directly and in a relatively timely manner considering the amount of work and travelling he's been doing to hammer down the last floor boards. Where I can help, I chime in as well.

On top of that, he's been rather clear and up front as each hurdle is cleared, climbed, or stumbled on along the way. And there's a lot of strange obstacles in this case for honestly any company to release a smartphone to an international market.

With that, of course you have the option to cancel your pre-order which is fine, but communication until fairly recently was mostly on the shoulders of Jim. Something he was clear about even when those pieces were finally put in place.


And I guess I should share some personal POV as I'm involved and invested in the Hydrogen One. I currently have and am using the DVT prototype of the Hydrogen One, second prototype I've received thus far actually. I imagine PVT is around the corner possibly near the end of the month or so. Jim's opened up the concept of pre-order participants to receive special "Houdini" PVT models which he recently posted on H4Vuser.net. H4Vuser will remain the best place to get often up to the minute updates as things develop along the way before official launch and will be where people communicating after the launch as well.


A couple of images to help the time go by for those still along for the journey.

Foolcontrol running and controlling Monstro 8K VV.

And a frame grab from a little moco thing.

To that point I'm certain that criticism for lack of email updates has been received.

 

[Tom Dowler]

Jim setup H4Vuser.net to have a dedicated place where literally the source of the project can share updates and engage directly with users.

So on his forum, putting it up there and expecting people to come seek it out.

he's been rather clear and up front as each hurdle is cleared, climbed, or stumbled on along the way.

Again, on his own forum, which he expects others to do the leg work to find.


Don't want to flog a dead horse here. It's just galling to be scrolling through Facebook and see screengrabs from a forum you don't frequent, with updates about a product you've paid $1k+ to preorder, that you haven't head diddly squat about.