I doubt itâs the engineers tbh, I imagine itâs more likely a top down issue where management thinks that setting public deadlines will encourage them to work faster. Any company I have ever been at, the engineers are always the most reserved in terms of timelines and expectations but management push for completely unrealistic results and then blame the engineers that warned them instead of accepting their own faults and re-evaluating. (Itâs how you then have things like I just mentioned posed as âmotivational techniquesâ).
Sorry to harp on about that, just I really really would be hesitant to blame engineers for what seems very likely a management issue. They are the types to think âOh these are all off the shelf components, should be trivial!â and then start telling people what their product will be based on the components rather than the reality of what the combination of those components will produce. (Always less than the sum of the parts).
I do agree, Pimax are often very enthusiastic. Actually, not often, they are always very enthusiastic. I think what I mentioned earlier might account for some of it, as in itâs not entirely intended for us but rather a misguided âmotivationâ technique. And apologies are made, and appreciated, but I had hoped that Pimax had matured from the Kickstarter days. Since the original announcements we have had 6 deadlines communicated and 6 deadlines missed, that is in a space of time of about 4 months. At some point it becomes hard to believe. I donât want Pimax to rush any project, and I absolutely have faith in them that they can deliver an incredible VR headset that no other company seems to be willing to do, I do also just wish they would re-evaluate their customer facing communication in general. Stop communicating deadlines in general, until they have consistently started to meet internally set deadlines, and focus more on communicating progress reports. The recent Portal XL video was an example of some shift in that direction and I appreciate it.
For crystal, I want to hear an updated spec sheet based on where the hardware and software is, I want to see a projected goal sheet of where the software will push that hardware, and then I want to see updates on the progress. The only deadlines I am willing to accept now are the ones provided by a courier upon receiving a customerâs package. I assumed Pimax had matured since the kickstarter days and that claims of Q3 2022 for the Crystal, and Q4 for 12k, were perhaps achievable now that they had the experience under their belts. Unfortunately thatâs clearly not the case but that doesnât mean it needs to be a massive negative or anything, itâs just a case of unrealistic expectations being set. What pimax have acheived and shown so far is great and had it been presented and framed in a different way then it could have been an absolutely outstanding showcase and elevated Pimaxâs reputation greating.
For example, letâs say their showing at CES this year was not after multiple nonsense launch deadlines, but rather just a showcase of progress towards their new product with a âcoming soonâ message, then it would have been absolute hyped and beloved (it already was but could have been so much more). Rather than announcing standalone early and then saying âit wonât come at launchâ, it could have been held off as a stretch goal and people would have been excited for the possibility rather than disappointed by the lack of showing.
I could go on and on. Pimax have incredible talent working for them, produce products that people love, and are engaged with the community more than any other company (I love that so much, seriously). With some minor shifts in approach, the potential and merits that pimax currently hold could position them as one of the most promising and prolific VR companies in the market. Instead we get a series of poorly communicated over promises. Itâs frustrating because I can see how things could be shifted, with honestly not much effort, and Pimaxâs reputation could be turned around. Right now it will be a while to reverse the reputation, but the last year was an incredible opportunity for Pimax and it was botched.
Again, I love Pimax and I want them to succeed, which is why it ends up being frustrating. I still have hope that things could improve but someone needs to have serious sit downs with upper management in Pimax and tell them to stop worrying about saving face and nonsense management techniques and get them to start listening and communicating properly. Itâs fine if the current style works in other markets, keep doing that there then, but adjust the marketing in places that conflict.
Apologies for the million typos that almost certainly exist in this post, I typed it all as I was thinking it so itâs definitely a mess haha