News, more good than bad (I think)

First, let me say a big thank-you to everyone who was keen enough to preorder a Retrode. If it weren’t for these people (and the pile of cash I used to have on my bank account BEFORE starting the project), I would have a hard time funding the production.  Now you may have been confused by this rather pessimistic tweet of mine, so here’s a quick explanatory follow-up:

After a few weeks of looking at my case sample and cutout drawings, the manufacturer finally concluded that cutting a few slots is a pretty darn hard task, and that it will cost more than EUR 30 apiece, not even including the material. This is obviously insane. So the bad news first:

There will be a delay of approx. 1 month. It is pretty unrealistic that the Retrode will ship in December, but January 2010 is rather likely (and even more so than February). I am sorry for this delay, but I’m afraid there’s not much I can do about it.

Now for some good news: fortunately, there are other folks who know how to use their CAD/CAM tools right, so only a few days later I managed to find someone who I think can make the cases. I will hopefully receive the first processed samples next week, and along with the final prototype PCBs there will be five fortunate souls among the preorderers who might receive their Retrodes as early as two weeks from now. Those five folks were handpicked by PayPal (don’t ask :-)), and I will let them know.

More good news: I will have 250pcs made no matter what, which means that I will receive volume discounts. All preorderers will receive a partial refund, and for everybody else there will soon be a possibility to order again, at a reduced price and with me actually having a few devices in stock.