Odyssey Espresso (Argos Lever prototype) - Page 63

#621: Post by **DaddyTaxes** » January 18th, 2022, 1:29 pm

Really excited to get my hands on this.

#622: Post by **tompoland** » January 19th, 2022, 5:47 am

ZealousCrow wrote:they don't even have the design details hammered out yet? I remain skeptical about this project.

That's not an accurate reflection of where he is at. I think shipping in April is optimistic but there is plenty of evidence to give me confidence in this project.

January 19th, 2022, 9:43 am

Is there any legitimate, non-fanboyish justification as to why there seems to be a slight lack of transparency in this age of documentation and social media? People are willing to upload videos of the most benign things, strictly because it's easy.

I could see this whole project being the exact reverse, with every little detail being uploaded as a video, every marginal improvement being micro-blogged until the inevitable release video arrives. Is it just me? Am I being a Debby-downer? It seems like too much is hidden. We really don't have a decent video with anyone speaking, pulling a shot (Aug-3-2021), a personable rough edit... It's always very edited with music playing. It reminds me of the Fyre Festival so far.

Fake it till you make it, I suppose.

On Facebook there's always a claim such as "excited to show off the machine!" followed by silence then another random post.

I hate having to take this side but it's just the vibe I get. I really hope it works out obviously, because I want to buy one...

#624: Post by **renatoa** » January 19th, 2022, 9:57 am

Same complaints about the Arco project... and also about Flair, at some degree... seems the norm.

But excessive posting is also equally dangerous... too many opinions could be counter productive.

You have a right though, that nobody would negate... to vote with the wallet.

#625: Post by **jevenator** » January 19th, 2022, 10:05 am

I dunno. It doesn't bother me too much. Communication is pretty sweet in the discord and he has a full time job and it's his first espresso machine he's making. He's not a marketer, influencer, blogger, etc. He's an engineer and seems to genuinely want to make a good product. Point to me other companies Communicating with the laypeople on almost a daily basis about development and ideas and posting pictures. I can only think of DecentEspresso doing that.

Just look through the last pages of the Arco thread to calm your worries about the Argos. Lots of companies are not transparent and nobody is under obligation to do so really.

You're also under no obligation to buy one before the first units are out. From what I understand there will be plenty of stock unless there's some sudden surge of orders.

#626: Post by **ramassen** » January 19th, 2022, 11:00 am

I jumped in and look forward to using my Argos when the design is finalized and manufacturing starts. There are many things that can happen along the way beyond a persons control & realize the April date is an estimate and not promise. Happy to wait if it takes longer to get a machine with the quality and performance I have read he is working to make.

As someone who has brought products from concept to the market by manufacturing here in the USA, I for one am glad the guy is not wasting time, effort and money entertaining us with documentation of all he is doing. Better he use his those resources to make a great product and build a good company. R

#627: Post by **BlueWater** » January 19th, 2022, 11:09 am

I don't equate transparency with documentation via videos. I far prefer discussion, graphs, spec sheets supplemented by a few short videos. Video is too much like voicemail in that is is linear unless you scrub through the video-at which point I'd rather just have text, which is much easier for me to digest in a random-access way. I agree with you that at least one recent video of pulling a shot would be nice as video is a great medium for showing the user experience. But, having done product development for a long time, I know there could be many reasons not to demo something too early.

#628: Post by **TenLayers** » January 19th, 2022, 11:38 am

Ross did send out a pretty informative email yesterday on the state of la macchina. To me it seems to be progressing toward completion just like it should.

January 19th, 2022, 11:39 am

YeetSkeeterson wrote:Is there any legitimate, non-fanboyish justification as to why there seems to be a slight lack of transparency in this age of documentation and social media? People are willing to upload videos of the most benign things, strictly because it's easy.

Marketing strategies are different not only company to company, but also product to product.

We released three new products two weeks ago. None had any public announcement or lead up before launch day. The Orbit announcement in October was in fact the only time we announced a product prior to release in well over a year.

During my time at Prima, I had product announcements arrive off-hand well after they were already out and available, some came the minute they were posted for anyone (consumers included) to purchase, some came a few weeks or months ahead of launch to give resellers ample time to plan, and some came so far ahead of launch that only the basic details were available along with the proposed pricing and MOQs. There is no such thing as a "typical" launch in this industry and just about any strategy is viable. You do not have to put money down if you aren't sure it will pan out.

FWIW Ross has been fairly active and communicative about progress on Discord. If you are not checking there, you are likely to miss out on some smaller details on development.

#630: Post by **foam2** » January 19th, 2022, 12:34 pm

There's no reason to be suspicious of anything. If you don't want to preorder, wait for units to ship in April to get machines in peoples hands and make a decision from there. If you look at the Weber key, they had the unit up for a preorder special price and let people know it would go up at a certain time. Here there is no compelling price reason for anyone to buy now.