ZX Spectrum Next Discussion

The Speccy's spritely young offspring. Discuss everything from FPGA to ZX
Post Reply
Bizzley
Microbot
Posts: 124
Joined: Thu Nov 16, 2017 10:47 am

ZX Spectrum Next Discussion

Post by Bizzley »

I started this Thread because of a meme I posted recently about the ZX Spectrum Next computer and the comments that followed. I don't think it's fair to people who only want a laugh and don't care too much about the Next to fill up that Thread hence this one.

If anyone has anything good or bad to say about the current state of this project then please feel fee to post here. The same goes for anyone who chose the 'Just the Board' option and are currently using it to code or play games on, what do you think of it? You don't necessarily have to be a backer of this project as all comments are welcome. If you want to know a bit more about this project then check out the Kickstarter page for it at...

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/18 ... ctrum-next

...and read some of the latest updates and comments to understand where this project is going.

I and many others backed the Next back in early 2017 via Kickstarter (backer No. 3034) choosing the standard boxed version which was extimated for delivery in January 2018. Currently there is no ETA for the delivery of the finished Next other than a comment to "get it out as soon as we can."

A follow-up to the meme I posted where I list some of the current reasons for the unease I - and some others - are starting to have for this project can be read here...

viewtopic.php?f=24&t=739&start=200#p16018
"He made eloquent speeches to an audience consisting of a few depressed daffodil roots, and sometimes the cat from next door."
Ralf
Rick Dangerous
Posts: 2279
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 11:59 am
Location: Poland

Re: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion

Post by Ralf »

I'm not a backer but if anybody is allowed to share their personal opinion, I will.

For me all these crowdfunding projects are well... toxic. It applies both to Vega and Next.

It goes this way:

- some guys announce a new project with big plans about it

- everyone gets crazily excited, it's going to be the best thing since sliced bread

- a lot of hype happens, people are suggesting more and more features they would like to see

- creators use money to go to some trip to Thailand or Las Vegas to "discuss their project" there ;)

- first problems emerge

- creators realize that it's more complicated than they thought. You have to order parts, have accounting,
deal with Chinese factories and do a lot of other business stuff

- criticism from other retro hardware designers emerges. They start to claim you should use their ideas
or you stole their ideas or they have bigger dick than yours etc.

- delays appear

- backers start to moan about the delays

- more delays appear

- hype goes off

- backers moan even more, some turn into pure hatred

- everything and everyone becomes bitter
User avatar
beanz
Microbot
Posts: 183
Joined: Wed Mar 21, 2018 1:10 pm
Location: Texas USA

Re: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion

Post by beanz »

Had my "just the board" for about a year now, housed it in a classic 48k case. Very happy with it, tis a wonderful thing. Also ordered the cased version which is very near to completion, I expect they will start to ship end of Jan or so I'm guessing based on progress so far.

Sure the final product is a bit late, the board was only slightly late (and after all that is THE computer...the case and box is just fluff). When the final boxed item arrives I plan on upgrading it (filling the memory slots and adding a internal speaker..the rest is already populated as I got the accelerated model) then storing it as a "collectable" while I continue to use my "just the board" as the workhorse.

I knew the ship date wasn't going to happen and was VERY optimistic...the wait isn't that big a deal when you have the board anyway.

I expect a few will go on ebay for silly money...I thought about buying 2 just to sell one...regret I didn't now it would have paid for mine and the board.
Bizzley
Microbot
Posts: 124
Joined: Thu Nov 16, 2017 10:47 am

Re: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion

Post by Bizzley »

beanz wrote: Wed Nov 28, 2018 6:52 pmI expect they will start to ship end of Jan or so I'm guessing based on progress so far.
I genuinely wish I had your optimism and all I ask is that the backers be told what is going on. If they want to say the thing won't ship until July 2018 then OK, I may not like it but I'll accept it and bide my time. Even a generic "sorry, you won't get it for Xmas" would do me.

I wouldn't take reported progress as a reliable indicator though, otherwise they'd have shipped four months ago as stated in the July update.....The testing membranes are now in production and will be ready on July 17th for final approval, the last hurdle between the project and the backers. Fingers crossed this is it, folks!

Apparently we didn't cross our fingers hard enough.
"He made eloquent speeches to an audience consisting of a few depressed daffodil roots, and sometimes the cat from next door."
namco
Manic Miner
Posts: 247
Joined: Mon Dec 04, 2017 8:55 pm

Re: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion

Post by namco »

...achingly familiar for those who followed the Vega+ saga...
Sure. I've lost count of the amount of times that the Next Team:
- produced stock footage videos of production units being "made"
- repeatedly failed to deliver because of "teh trolls"

Oh wait.

At least with the Next Team you could physically talk to them at events that they've always shown up at, with a working board. They have also released a dev board that, as far as I am aware, has nowhere near the problems that the "final" version of the Vega+ had.
Bizzley
Microbot
Posts: 124
Joined: Thu Nov 16, 2017 10:47 am

Re: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion

Post by Bizzley »

If you want to point out a certain subset of problems that the Vega+ had that the Spectrum Next hasn't then I can't stop you. I agree with you, the two points about stock footage and trolls fortunately have not afflicted the Spectrum Next but I think you have to agree that there are other similarities...

Failure to reply to questions about delivery dates or name a current delivery date.
Failure to update backers regularly (it was supposed to be every 2 weeks)
Changing of hardware from original specification.
A case design that keeps on changing including the design of the buttons\keys.
Spurious reasons for delays - e.g. the wrong colour cardboard.

I could go on but I don't want to seem confrontational. Certain aspects of the Vega+ campaign can be seen emerging in the Spectrum Next one - just as they do in a lot of crowd-funded projects, these problems are not unique. That's why I said it was familiar not because of the failure to actually supply quality working devices at the end but because both the Vega+ and the Spectrum Next seem to be following a script that Ralf so succinctly described in his post above.
"He made eloquent speeches to an audience consisting of a few depressed daffodil roots, and sometimes the cat from next door."
richl
Dizzy
Posts: 69
Joined: Sun Nov 12, 2017 9:17 pm

Re: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion

Post by richl »

I have to say that I disagree about any similarities between the Vega+ campaign and the Spectrum Next.

I never wanted a Vega+ and I'm certainly glad I didn't back it. The whole project should have stopped as soon as the only two people who knew what they were doing left. The so-called "updates" were a complete joke and anyone with more than half a brain cell could see where it was going. Trump-like tactics were used to discredit any naysayers and this seemed to be the only area the "team" spent any time focusing its efforts on. Its association with certain individuals has left a permanent stink that will never go away and it certainly helped fracture the "scene" into loads of smaller groups. Spectrum Computing is a great successor to the once great WOS but a lot of people now mostly lurk somewhere in Mr Zuckerberg's walled garden and it's a completely crap alternative to a decent searchable forum such as this one.

But back to the main topic. Yes, the promised updates for the Spectrum Next have often been late but comparing what's in them against the laughable Vega+ ones is like comparing a primary school kid's story about how magic time travelling pixies stole his favourite toy with a PhD student's thesis on worm holes. I don't know if you've read any of the updates put out by the Next team but the attention to detail is light years beyond anything you got with the Vega+ campaign.

As a backer (yup, I paid for a boxed version) I'm disappointed that it's been delayed but am I worried? Nah. Not at all. If they really had been ignoring people for months at a time and then only posting complete gibberish to fob people off then I'd be getting concerned but that just isn't the case here.
namco
Manic Miner
Posts: 247
Joined: Mon Dec 04, 2017 8:55 pm

Re: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion

Post by namco »

Bizzley wrote: Wed Nov 28, 2018 10:45 pm Failure to reply to questions about delivery dates or name a current delivery date.
Is this asking questions about when it's out? Maybe they're not quite sure and don't want to keep promising dates and never delivering. They have had some setbacks.
Bizzley wrote: Wed Nov 28, 2018 10:45 pm Failure to update backers regularly (it was supposed to be every 2 weeks)
They are still updating regularly - on average I'd say about 1-2 a month. I expect in hindsight they thought things may have gone quicker and you'd have gotten more regular updates but unfortunately things took longer than expected.
Bizzley wrote: Wed Nov 28, 2018 10:45 pm Changing of hardware from original specification.
A case design that keeps on changing including the design of the buttons\keys.
Feature creep happens or maybe the original specs looked good on paper but just didn't turn out well.
Bizzley wrote: Wed Nov 28, 2018 10:45 pm Spurious reasons for delays - e.g. the wrong colour cardboard.
You can't say that they aren't passionate! They are trying to get things right and this may be a knock on effect from the lack of detail that the Vega+ had.
Bizzley
Microbot
Posts: 124
Joined: Thu Nov 16, 2017 10:47 am

Re: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion

Post by Bizzley »

namco wrote: Wed Nov 28, 2018 11:57 pm [Is this asking questions about when it's out? Maybe they're not quite sure and don't want to keep promising dates and never delivering. They have had some setbacks.
I'm not sure when asking for something as basic as a rough give-or-take-a-few-months date for delivery of an almost completed item became such a negative thing. Delivery was proposed for January 2018 and like the rest of the backers I've waited patiently well past that date. I don't and never have wanted it right now, this minute, I'm prepared to wait along with everyone else. It's OK if some backers are happy to wait without question just as it should be OK that some backers be allowed to question the wait.

I'm not aware that any delivery dates have been promised apart from the one in the original offering, the July the 17th possibility came and went without any troubles or raised voices from backers. I think we're all grown up enough and aware of how crowd-funding works to forgive them if a given date slips because of something serious but are they really THAT afeared of a small proportion of their backers reactions to attempt even a rough guess at a date?
"He made eloquent speeches to an audience consisting of a few depressed daffodil roots, and sometimes the cat from next door."
Alcoholics Anonymous
Microbot
Posts: 194
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2018 3:36 am

Re: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion

Post by Alcoholics Anonymous »

There are about 400 boards that have been out almost a year. I have one and can say it's a great machine and a lot of fun to code for.
Bizzley wrote: Wed Nov 28, 2018 10:45 pm Failure to reply to questions about delivery dates or name a current delivery date.
Failure to update backers regularly (it was supposed to be every 2 weeks)
The delivery date is not known because it depends on the timelines of 3rd parties. They can guess but people have asked not to guess.
Changing of hardware from original specification.
A case design that keeps on changing including the design of the buttons\keys.
Spurious reasons for delays - e.g. the wrong colour cardboard.
The original hw specification changed because of the kickstarter goals. 1MB base memory was promised. Sockets for expansion to 2MB. Upgrade the fpga to SLX16 from SLX9. These required a new pcb and contributed to the delay of the board-only delivery to 400 backers. Since then some more issues were found and corrected for the cased pcb. This may not have necessarily delayed the case as work on the case could be done in parallel but being ghosted by the original manufacturer and having to start again early this year meant that work was lost.

The hardware on the fpga does evolve and will continue to evolve after the machine is released, as will the operating system and other sw provided with the machine. These are easily updated by the end-user and do not contribute to any delays.

Things like wrong colour are not holding up the project. However when people asked to be kept in the loop, this includes all issues that come up not just the one or two that is delaying the project.

The case design itself has not changed but problems in the manufacturability can be found and have been found as test cases are produced. Not correcting the issue you mention means the keys made may have indentations in them after injection. You could accept that but would you want to? Making this case is a one time opportunity and doing a half-job out of it would be a shame. There is also a sense that they want to make sure it's a proper tribute to Rick given he can't be around to shepherd his final contribution to the spectrum.

It's harder to bare delays from the outside; I'm lucky enough to be at least a little bit on the inside so I can see some of the issues that come up. This also means I can see the progress (or lack of :P ). No one is happy about the delays but at the same time, the people involved are not interested in reducing due diligence to deliver earlier. They see this as a one-time opportunity for something and don't want it squandered. The physical case, unlike much of the hardware, cannot be redone or fixed by the end-user after it's been built and delivered.
For me all these crowdfunding projects are well... toxic. It applies both to Vega and Next.
...
- criticism from other retro hardware designers emerges. They start to claim you should use their ideas
or you stole their ideas or they have bigger dick than yours etc.
- backers moan even more, some turn into pure hatred
...
It's not the kickstarter projects themselves - it's a small portion of the community that is toxic. There are personal flaws on display; just stay above it and the spectrum community can be a fun place to be.
User avatar
beanz
Microbot
Posts: 183
Joined: Wed Mar 21, 2018 1:10 pm
Location: Texas USA

Re: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion

Post by beanz »

Bizzley wrote: Wed Nov 28, 2018 7:42 pm
I wouldn't take reported progress as a reliable indicator though, otherwise they'd have shipped four months ago as stated in the July update.
Nah, that was never going to happen...the last update detailed what is left to do, there isn't much left now. Back in July they still didn't have the keyboard figured out...they just completed that which was pretty much the last major step...it's really down to shipping parts from china times now.

..and lets remember the original plastics manufacturer backed out so they had to start over with the case.

This is why I got the board too...again anyone with any experience in manufacturing etc knows the original ship date was never going to happen.

Here's my year old Next!

Image
Dark
Dizzy
Posts: 66
Joined: Tue Nov 14, 2017 9:21 am
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland

Re: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion

Post by Dark »

I backed a cased Next and have kept an eye on the project and read through each update as they have come. The thought of never receiving the computer hasn’t occurred to me, as far as I can see the people delivering are still there and appear to be working on the project. Very much a contrast from the other Sinclair crowd funding project, where it was plain to see that no-one was actually working on anything other than stalling tactics in the hope it would all be forgotten about. Thankfully I didn’t back that one, but did watch it all unfold in the various facebook groups.

As for changes in the spec, I’ve never been that knowledgeable about computer hardware, so I haven’t had much of an opinion on it. I’m buying a Next just in order to have a modern Spectrum that I can go and play some of my old games on and relive a big part of my childhood. So I’ll never use it to whatever potential it may end up having, as I never did with my +2 back in the day, but I got many hours of enjoyment out of it, and I’m hoping to get a few more with the Next.

The fact though that the boards came out I see as a good indicator that the project is being faithfully worked on, even if not as quickly as everyone would have liked.
toot_toot
Manic Miner
Posts: 676
Joined: Thu Nov 29, 2018 7:17 pm

Re: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion

Post by toot_toot »

I think Bizzley makes some great points. I backed the cased Next kickstarter when it launched and the progress has been frustratingly disappointing, especially over the past few months.

I understand the risks that come with crowd funded campaigns, but the Next project has really hit home just how little project organisers/creators realise how difficult it is getting a hardware project released. First the board only option was delayed for a few months, which was fine, but then there was months of issues where board only users couldn't get it to work properly, it didn't work with their Spectrum case, it didn't work with their television. All of this for 400 units. Looking back it's obviously crazy to have done this - while making a few hundred hardcore users happy, they simply didn't have the resources to handle this.

But the real gripes I have with the project now is, as Bizzley has put it, every update seems to come with a new delay, with the promised fortnightly updates becoming more sporadic. When the delay is announced, my first thought is "you're telling me - eight months after the project was supposed to be released - that you weren't aware of like how to make the case/how to make the keyboard membrane/how to source materials/what sort of keys are going to use etc etc" Again, I understand that these are people where it's not their profession (I think that's showing now), but the lack of a transparent roadmap just hasn't helped.

Then in the last update, they did release a sort of project roadmap. Well a project status summary really. Now while there may have been a lot of items marked as done, but some of the "to-do" list is still worrying - especially the ones in bold.

Keyboard keys printing test (TO DO)
Final Keyboard backplate test injection (TO DO)
Final Keyboard assembly & Case fit test (TO DO)
Manual printing (TO DO)
Manual shipping to SMS (TO DO)
SD cards content copy as SMS (TO DO)
Case mass-plastic injection (TO DO)
Keyboard mass-plastic injection (TO DO)
Keyboard final assembly (TO DO)
Keyboard shipping to case production (TO DO)
Case & Keyboard shipping to SMS (TO DO)
Final Spectrum Next assembly (TO DO)

Shipping to backers (TO DO)

To be blunt, there is no way they're going to test the keyboard, mass produce and assemble 5000+ keyboards and cases by January. At the rate they're going, I'd be surprised if we saw it before April. But what was worrying with that last update is there was no indication at all of timescales - i.e. it being a roadmap with deadlines e.g. "We will have final keyboard assembly and case fit test done by November 30th. "

I know some people don't really care and think "well, it will be ready when it's ready" but I do find it annoying to get an update in July with the title "Production ahead, captain!" and the text "we’ve got two busy weeks packed with production updates, progress and a final test to go through." and signing off with "The testing membranes are now in production and will be ready on July 17th for final approval, the last hurdle between the project and the backers. Fingers crossed this is it, folks!"

Except here we are, 4 months later - and counting - and there's still significant work to be done as highlighted in the last update and with no end in sight.

I think that's why some backers are getting really annoyed now and maybe worrying if the Next is ever going to be released.
User avatar
1024MAK
Bugaboo
Posts: 3104
Joined: Wed Nov 15, 2017 2:52 pm
Location: Sunny Somerset in the U.K. in Europe

Re: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion

Post by 1024MAK »

I think some of the above posts are taking things out of context. For anyone who wants to read the latest update in full, click here.

Getting a PCB made is easy compared to the design and production of a bespoke keyboard in a custom made case. More so at the quantity that is involved with this project (only 3000 cases and keyboards). So this was always going to be something that was likely to overrun. And when the original manufacturing company pulled out, the project team had to find another manufacturing company. Not easy when the margins are tight.

Mark
Last edited by 1024MAK on Thu Nov 29, 2018 9:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
:!: Standby alert :!:
“There are four lights!”
Step up to red alert. Sir, are you absolutely sure? It does mean changing the bulb :dance
Looking forward to summer later in the year.
User avatar
beanz
Microbot
Posts: 183
Joined: Wed Mar 21, 2018 1:10 pm
Location: Texas USA

Re: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion

Post by beanz »

toot_toot wrote: Thu Nov 29, 2018 7:51 pm but then there was months of issues where board only users couldn't get it to work properly, it didn't work with their Spectrum case, it didn't work with their television.
Eh? It worked fine for me...and in my speccy case as the photo above shows...and TV problems were more down to the TVs I think than the next...or configuration issues..not the hardware...sure the firmware has and will continue to be tweaked...but that's pretty standard procedure for firmware, especially firmware for new hardware...bit unrealistic to expect it to be perfect on first release.
Bizzley
Microbot
Posts: 124
Joined: Thu Nov 16, 2017 10:47 am

Re: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion

Post by Bizzley »

In my last post I said I wasn't aware of any other promised release dates for the Next, I missed this one.....

""we can now line things up and put forward the completion date of mid July. We’ll have our Nexts this Summer!"

People keep saying that the original manufacturing company pulled out and had to be replaced, yes it did, and this happened almost 9 months ago. The good news was that as of April the new case mould design was deemed to be great, invoices had been paid and production had indeed started and would be ready for plastic injection in 35 days. April 2018 also saw the completion of the keyboard membrane moulds, an adjustment was expected to be made to the prototype and then it would be off to mass production. Everything was well and it was full steam ahead hence the message above. (Kickstarter Update 28)

Again after the date was missed there was no outpouring of negativity, we accepted the reasons given and carried on waiting patiently. We are not children, we know how the process works, we are not going to storm the barricades, contact The Register or email Watchdog if there are genuine problems encountered that couldn't be foreseen. Here we are on Update 40 and all we get is "as soon as we can", something taxi firms tend to say when they haven't got a clue when they'll arrive.
"He made eloquent speeches to an audience consisting of a few depressed daffodil roots, and sometimes the cat from next door."
User avatar
Pegaz
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1209
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 1:44 pm

Re: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion

Post by Pegaz »

You right of course, but as you can see, history is repeated.
The very same people, who bitterly defended the Vega+ project until his failure, now do the same thing with Next here, with the same "arguments".
Why they do this on sc, not on wos?
Because they couldnt even open such a topic there, we all know why.
After all that happened with the Vega project, each Next backer has the right to be suspicious if there are any signs that something is wrong.
"Be cool and patient, everything will be fine, the sun shines, the birds twirling around us, life is good and all people are honest..."
I'm sick of that sh*t and I'm not gonna lose my time on this, again...
User avatar
cha05e90
Dizzy
Posts: 66
Joined: Sun Nov 19, 2017 7:02 pm

Re: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion

Post by cha05e90 »

Pegaz wrote: Fri Nov 30, 2018 7:51 amAfter all that happened with the Vega project, each Next backer has the right to be suspicious if there are any signs that something is wrong.
"Be cool and patient, everything will be fine, the sun shines, the birds twirling around us, life is good and all people are honest..."
I'm sick of that sh*t and I'm not gonna lose my time on this, again...
Hmm. I did not even think about the "Vega + project", 'cos I had and have no interest in "hand helds". I am a backer of the Next project, though. And I'm not suspicious at all - or, to be more precise, I'm not more concerned than with any other Kickstarter campaign. Why should I? If you personally see a strong correlation because of "Sinclair!", "Spectrum!", "Kickstarter!", "Delays!"... and this makes you sick - then this is of course your "right" to feel so. And - just for the record - I'm *not* defending the Next people, but as I'm rather near to industrialization of products I know that sh*t happens.

And, by the way: If you don't accept to loose all money from Kickstarter campaigns, then don't do it. Sorry for the rant, just my 2 cent...
48K/+/+/+/+128K/Vega/Next&80/81&88
User avatar
Pegaz
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1209
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 1:44 pm

Re: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion

Post by Pegaz »

cha05e90 wrote: Fri Nov 30, 2018 8:50 am
Pegaz wrote: Fri Nov 30, 2018 7:51 amAfter all that happened with the Vega project, each Next backer has the right to be suspicious if there are any signs that something is wrong.
"Be cool and patient, everything will be fine, the sun shines, the birds twirling around us, life is good and all people are honest..."
I'm sick of that sh*t and I'm not gonna lose my time on this, again...
Hmm. I did not even think about the "Vega + project", 'cos I had and have no interest in "hand helds". I am a backer of the Next project, though. And I'm not suspicious at all - or, to be more precise, I'm not more concerned than with any other Kickstarter campaign. Why should I? If you personally see a strong correlation because of "Sinclair!", "Spectrum!", "Kickstarter!", "Delays!"... and this makes you sick - then this is of course your "right" to feel so. And - just for the record - I'm *not* defending the Next people, but as I'm rather near to industrialization of products I know that sh*t happens.

And, by the way: If you don't accept to loose all money from Kickstarter campaigns, then don't do it. Sorry for the rant, just my 2 cent...
I didnt point to you in my previous post... how could you possibly conclude something like this after ten days on sc?
Unless, if you dont reveal to us, what is your original wos nickname...
About the rest... Ralf has made some good points, I dont have anything to add to that...
Ralf
Rick Dangerous
Posts: 2279
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 11:59 am
Location: Poland

Re: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion

Post by Ralf »

About the rest... Ralf has made some good points, I dont have anything to add to that...
I'd like to add one thing. Next and Vega+ projects are somehow similar in their fate but there is one serious difference.

In case of Vega creators began fighting among themselves and probably using project money for lawsuits. It ended with main and only hardware designer (Chris Smith) leaving the project and taking all the documentation for work done so far with him. The creators left at the project were unable to continue his work so they started from scratch with lamest but seemingly easiest way - freeware emulator running on Linux. Yet the devil is in the detail, they probably wanted to do it fast and quickly so as we know they ended with very limited number of crappy prototypes.

As far as I know it didn't happen in Next project, the creator remained working together which is a good sign.
User avatar
1024MAK
Bugaboo
Posts: 3104
Joined: Wed Nov 15, 2017 2:52 pm
Location: Sunny Somerset in the U.K. in Europe

Re: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion

Post by 1024MAK »

@Pegaz - all these schemes are a gamble. You either give an unknown small company your money and hope for the best, or you keep your money in your possession, but take the risk that you may never get your hands on the item that may or may not get made. Of course, if you are not bothered about getting said item, then the choice is clear - keep you money. If you cannot afford to throw the money away, again, keep your money and don’t take the gamble.

There are lots of other ways of gambling, including buying a company or shares in one or more companies (anyone want to buy Maplin? Or Carillion shares? [I had some shares in Carillion as part of a share save plan, because at one time they owned a company that was my employer.]

Or you can place a bet on some event...

Sometimes you don’t even know that your life will be subject to a large gamble. Such as your employer going bust. I feel sorry for all the workers in the above two companies, where they had no say in events. They just got told that sorry, the company has no money and therefore has/will stop trading. Your employment has ended.

Some of these bets have a date (or date and time) when you will know if you have won or lost. But others don’t.

I have no more idea than anyone else if the ZX Spectrum Next cased computers will actually make it into the hands of backers. But the board only backers have received their boards. The updates from this project look to be far more informative and believable than those from the Vega+.

Of course, the delay is very frustrating and annoying. And as time goes on, backers will start to worry that it’s all going wrong. The longer the delay, the worse this worry will get.

Am I hopelessly optimistic? Probably. But I would rather have a positive outlook on life. But that’s just me :mrgreen:

You and other people are perfectly entitled to have different opinions. I don’t have a problem with that.

Mark
:!: Standby alert :!:
“There are four lights!”
Step up to red alert. Sir, are you absolutely sure? It does mean changing the bulb :dance
Looking forward to summer later in the year.
Hernan
Drutt
Posts: 27
Joined: Wed May 30, 2018 3:45 pm

Re: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion

Post by Hernan »

I have the board since earlier this year and so far, it's a solid machine. I fully upgraded it (2 MB RAM, RTC, Wi-Fi) and everything is working OK. It lives inside a clear case from Retro Radionics (looks great!).

The only thing that disappointed me is the lack of ULAplus, and only from "political" issues. Also, it's supposedly fully open source, but when the sources were released a couple of months ago... the VHDL code of the FPGA core is mysteriously missing. And the lack of additional cores, that big FPGA it's completly under-utilized.
Bizzley
Microbot
Posts: 124
Joined: Thu Nov 16, 2017 10:47 am

Re: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion

Post by Bizzley »

I think crowd-funding started out with noble intentions but as soon as people realised the lack of accountability involved they saw how they could take advantage of it. I don't mean they planned to take the money and run right from the start (but apparently some did!) but that the whole "you're buying into an idea rather than a product" was seen as an easy get-out when it was coming apparent that they couldn't deliver on what they had promised.

Since there's really nothing new under the sun you only have to look at some of the classic economic Bubbles to see the same signs: people pledging money for something non-tangible, exhortations to "get in quick at the start", profits to be made at a later date (I'm going to buy two and put one on eBay) and of course the slow dawning realization that you've made a fool of yourself. So just as people later on wondered why on earth they had sold their house to buy a single tulip bulb you begin to realize that your plan of inviting your mates around for an all night session of Horace Goes Skiing instead of Call Of Duty on the PS4 might not have been the best of reasons to have clicked on that Button :)

Crowd funding is often compared to betting or investing but at least with those - provided you're not dealing with a Boiler Room scam or a bloke on a street corner who'll do a runner with your cash - then at least you stand some chance of getting a result, good or bad. And some accountability. Crowd funding is like betting on a horse race where the organizer can decide not to supply any horses or even a track for them to race on and then keep your money. Legally.
Last edited by Bizzley on Fri Nov 30, 2018 12:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"He made eloquent speeches to an audience consisting of a few depressed daffodil roots, and sometimes the cat from next door."
Bizzley
Microbot
Posts: 124
Joined: Thu Nov 16, 2017 10:47 am

Re: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion

Post by Bizzley »

Hernan wrote: Fri Nov 30, 2018 11:58 amThe only thing that disappointed me is the lack of ULAplus, and only from "political" issues. Also, it's supposedly fully open source, but when the sources were released a couple of months ago... the VHDL code of the FPGA core is mysteriously missing. And the lack of additional cores, that big FPGA it's completly under-utilized.
Do you think it should have been aimed more at the generic retro market rather than as a successor to the Spectrum, a machine that with the appropriate core "can become any of the old machines you used to love as a kid?" How does having a Spectrum-specific keyboard pan out if you want to use another core for a different machine?
"He made eloquent speeches to an audience consisting of a few depressed daffodil roots, and sometimes the cat from next door."
Hernan
Drutt
Posts: 27
Joined: Wed May 30, 2018 3:45 pm

Re: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion

Post by Hernan »

Bizzley wrote: Fri Nov 30, 2018 12:41 pm Do you think it should have been aimed more at the generic retro market rather than as a successor to the Spectrum, a machine that with the appropriate core "can become any of the old machines you used to love as a kid?" How does having a Spectrum-specific keyboard pan out if you want to use another core for a different machine?
It can be both... and the keyboard thing is irrelevant since it has a PS/2 port.
Post Reply