Registered: Sep 1999
Location:
Posts: 72

http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB19990930S0028
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Visor Handheld Will Ship In October
(09/30/99, 6:57 p.m. ET)
By Mo Krochmal, TechWeb
NEW YORK -- The Visor handheld computer will ship sooner than announced, the company said Wednesday.

The new handheld computer, developed by key members of the team that founded Palm Pilot and later sold it to 3Com, will ship in two weeks, Jeff Hawkins, chairman of Mountain View, Calif.-based Handspring said at the PricewaterhouseCoopers 1999 Global Convergence Summit conference in New York
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There your are.... from Hawkins..

Maybe Frank Loeffler might want to talk to Hawkins...

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Temperance MI, USA
Posts: 28

I work for a software company. What you have here is the very first time a company is shipping a product. It is difficult to say the least. What Visorcentral has done is create a rumor mill that has worked itself into a frenzy.

Relax your are hearing a lot of rumors. I have found the handspring club to be more refreshing. They focus on the details of the Visor and not the hissy fits that people are having because they haven't recieved their new toy yet. Just because you have not heared anything is not necessarily bad. It is probably because they have been so overwelmed with orders and other factors that they have not been able to respond in a timely fashion.

Don't worry be happy there are many people who agree that the Visor is the best choice and it is worth waiting for it

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 48

I don't believe describing the dissatisfaction the folks here have demonstrated with Handspring as a "hissy fit" is accurate. Yes they are a new company and will have teething problems, but this is bordering on incompetence.

An 800 number was posted for "reservations" and these were taken with pen and paper!
Confirmation E-Mails were to have been sent out but .....!
The web site ... don't even get me started. What was that? They actually had to take it off-line. (The handling of the site was incompetent!)

Between the time the Visor was announced and now 3Com has managed to lower its prices and come out with 2 new products. Yes Handspring did say it will ship sometime in October, and this is only the 12th, but if you have people lined outside your door before you open, you at least go outside and say "good morning. we'll open the doors in 30 mins. please form a single line ... blah ... blah ... blah".

That was a bit of a rant but also very true. If there is anything else I overlooked pls. feel free to post it.

Oh ... one more thing - who is in charge of their marketing and shipping?!!!!

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Temperance MI, USA
Posts: 28

Well in footbal terms "Welcome to the NFL" its a tough world out there and no-one benefits from a mob scene. To put it another way "Welcome to early product adoption!" or to the "Bleeding edge of technology"

Before long you are all going to talk yourselves into not getting this device and passing up the benefits it has to offer. It may already be to late.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 48

So far I have not come accross any problems with the product ... I'd like to play with it and see if it has any though

The risk one takes as an early adopter is with the product itself. The problem here is not the Visor, but Handspring's sales/marketing dept. (also technical dept. - inventory, on-line stuff etc.)

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Sydney, Australia
Posts: 42

How do you coordinate production, shipping, marketing hype? Timing, a whole lot of luck and a bit of moonshine to the customers. Handspring is a startup. They haven't got the tried and tested systems in place to handle everything smoothly. Sure, they should have and no doubt tried to anticipate any problems, but until they get in some more practice there are bound to be hiccups and acts of god which escape their control. No comfort or cure for impatience, I know. But I doubt many of us will be really /that/ upset if the Visor starts arriving by November, so long as it lives up to it's potential.

Just look at the bright side: Atleast there's an expectation that they'll be out before Christmas. Microsoft with Win2000 on the otherhand, is hard pressed to muster any credibility with their pre-2000 release plans.

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Temperance MI, USA
Posts: 28

Thats the spirit Merry!!

Let us not lower ourselves and dwell within the muck and mire but let us rise above and consider ourselves fortunate to be among the early investors into a company that has given us so much to look forward to!

Here! Here!

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Bellevue, Wa, USA
Posts: 72

I want to know how many hours of sleep the people at HS have lost trying to get the website up! As an excerscise to burn some of this nervous energy that people seem to have, lets try and calculate the number of people working on the site, and how many hours of lost sleep they have incurred because of thier ineptetude?

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Philadelphia
Posts: 242

Boulder, I would agree from everything I have seen and read (and prices compared) that the Visor Deluxe is the best deal there. It seems equivalent to a Palm V--x with more options and almost half the price. I sympathize, too, with the growing pains.

But the inability to get any info from HS is frustrating. For some, this isn't a toy; we actually need the unit. My Palm 3 died. It occupied an important place in how I function. I guess I can go back to stuffing scraps of paper in my suit jacket, but I'd rather not.

I saw the notice about shipping in October and took a leap of faith. Still, I also saw the language about how it would be shipped in the order the purchase request was made. So, no doubt something will ship in October (one hopes) but not necessarily to everyone and everything. Maybe you folks who ordered in September will get yours soon. I ordered Oct 6. What implication does that have for me? No one says. No confirming email. Can't get any info.

It is not unreasonable, is it, to want to know what that might mean? I have work to do and need for a unit. If I thought it would be 3 months delay, speaking hypothetically, no matter how painful, I might have had to take another course of action. Is it so unreasonable to want to know what's going on so that I can make an informed decision as to how to proceed?

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Visit the E-Zine on WINE AND ITS Bulletin Board at http://marksquires.com

[This message has been edited by Mark Squires (edited 10-13-1999).]

[This message has been edited by Mark Squires (edited 10-13-1999).]

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Temperance MI, USA
Posts: 28

Mark, I sympathize with your prediciment and feel your pain. I do not consider the Visor a toy and have decided to purchase my first PDA because of professional reasons. I really need a tool that can be used to aid me in oranizing my hectic schedule and help me to remember important items.

Your situation is unique in that you are already dependant on your PDA. If I was in your shoes I would order a IIIx and not wait. Handspring is on the Bleeding edge and as such can not be depended on yet.

But I do firmly believe that Handspring is going to be a force to be dealt with and that the Visor is going to the most popular PDA to date!

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: ME, USA
Posts: 46

I'm afraid I have to agree with Mark...

I've spent the past few weeks getting "all hyped-up" over the VDx but, admittedly, held off on ordering a while as I read the posts about the various difficulties others were having. I ordered my VDx soon after the updated site came out, as well as the IW reports.

I haven't pulled my order, but I must admit that I don't necessarily have that "warm fuzzy feeling" about the whole ordering process...I didn't order it as just "the latest toy," but as something that I do *need* for work, etc.

However, we *are* dealing with a brand-new company...while the founders have quite a bit of experience from 3Com, it is probably a safe bet that their entire staff may not! I've been doing the "stuff the paper in the coat/jacket/pants pocket" routine for quite a while (as well as the "e-mail taskers back and forth from home" thing), so I can hold on for a bit. After all, it is *still* October and they are still on-track for shipping (thus far).

Admittedly, HS *definitely* needs to "tune up" their ordering and customer service depts., but I imagine that things are already quite hectic there (I'm sure we have NO idea!) so I'll just kick back and wait on the UPS guy/gal.

Chuck

Registered: Oct 1999
Location:
Posts: 82

C-net has just posted an article saying Visor shipments will be delayed.

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Atlanta, GA USA
Posts: 33

cnet has NOT really said that! They have said what we all know; the on-line store has been overwhelmed. I quote directly from the story:

" Online sales, originally conceived as the primary way to sell the Visor, were halted recently because of unexpectedly
high traffic to the Web site, a company spokesman said. Handspring is currently only taking phone orders, and some
customers are reportedly being told not to expect to receive their device before December. Handspring representatives
insist the first round of Visors will ship sometime in October, as originally planned.

"Demand had been high, but there have been no manufacturing delays," the spokesman said, denying that any
customers have been told otherwise. Online sales will resume "very soon," he said. "

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Plainview, NY
Posts: 116

"Just the facts Mam !"
Aren't we entitled to that?
Just an answer even if they say next year.
Let JH pacify us and not just wishful thinking.(I know what he previously said , but maybe the situation has changed. I know I am speculating.

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Dave B (Grandpa Geek)"If it ain't broke, don't fix it yet!
BUT IF IT IS PLEEZ FIX"

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 67

Here is a reply I have received from Ed Colligan the VP of Sales and Marketing:
This was received October, 12 at 8:50pm.


I am sorry if you have received any conflicting information. On the date of
our announcement, September 14th, we stated that we would be shipping in
October. That has not changed and is still the plan of record. We have
been faced with demand beyond our expectations, and system glitches bringing
our new ordering and support systems up to speed. Unfortunately, this has
led to our web systems being up and down, and the call load at the call
center to be very high. We are doing everything humanly possible to rectify
the situation with both the web site and the call center.

We value our customers very much and plan to stick to our commitments. We
have always said that we will ship the products in the order received
begining in October. Regardless of whether you placed your order at the
call center or via the web site we are processing these orders by order date
and they will ship out in the order received. Clearly, we did not plan to
have these start-up problems and we hope you can be patient. Believe me
when I say that the interests of our customers are top of mind.

Thank you for being a Handspring customer.

Ed Colligan
Vice President Marketing & Sales

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Plainview, NY
Posts: 116

Finally an answer
Thank You

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Dave B (Grandpa Geek)"If it ain't broke, don't fix it yet!
BUT IF IT IS PLEEZ FIX"

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Posts: 8

Hey, if it is any consolationn, I just got off the phone with the CSR and she said my orders has been processed and it is ready to be shipped. When I asked her when can I expect to receive it, she told me by the end of the month. I hope she is right. If not, I now know the meaning of the saying "Patience is a virtue."

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Montgomery, AL, USA
Posts: 17

For what it's worth, I just got off the phone with customer support after inquiring about my September 23 order of a VDx. I was told that the unit "would ship within 10 days and that I would receive it within 3 weeks." I was relieved to find out that my name was put into the databse as I was worried that the person who took my original order was writing it down on the inside of a matchbook.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Burke, Virginia, USA
Posts: 21

FWIW...I just got off the phone with a CSR. I was asking about changing my shipping option to "next day," since I will be out of the country from 11/6-11/20 for my job and I'm counting on using my visor to support my travel. I ordered on September 14. He assured me that all of the first day orders are "special" and have been packed and sent to UPS already. He said that I will have the visor "in my hand" next week or the week after at the latest. He seemed quite sincere and well aware of the concerns that have been raised. I consider this good news, and hope it is true.