WayTools' TextBlade Keyboard to Start Shipping to Test Group Users Next Week

[KaliYoni]

Whether or not the only TextBlade that exists outside of WayTools’ offices was literally assembled by hand does not change my point: MacRumors made the correct decision in suspending coverage.

Prospective buyers should not be led to believe a retail release is imminent, given WT’s history of delays, obfuscation, and opacity. Nor should they base a purchase decision on “reviews” and “feedback” stemming from a single test model, with features and functionality that will be altered, that hasn’t even been provided to WT’s handpicked pool of purchaser-testers.

When that’s coupled with the dangers of allowing a company that adopts a defensive attitude when communicating with its clientele and that believes confrontational customer service is proper behavior to exploit MR’s relationship with its readers, it’s clear MR has little to gain and much to lose by continuing TextBlade commentary.

 

[dabigkahuna]

does not change my point: MacRumors made the correct decision in suspending coverage.

Well, the argument you were making, using "exaggerated" arguments where words don't mean what they say, was this:

> any "reviews" or "feedback" are of very limited utility <

You may well feel they shouldn't cover it, but that wasn't part of the post I was responding to. I was responding to what I quoted above, as well as the inaccurate statements included in the same posting.

You see, if we have someone outside WT providing information on how well it works, how it feels to type on, how well and how quickly they adjust to it, and how their typing speed develops - that is darn useful feedback to any customer - present or potential.

Prospective buyers should not be led to believe a retail release is imminent

Hey, maybe it was an exaggeration!

given WT’s history of delays

Which was covered in the article.

Nor should they base a purchase decision on “reviews” and “feedback” stemming from a single test model, with features and functionality that will be altered

Oh, so they should make decisions based on no review at all! Because that is the choice.

And what is this "features and functionality" thing being altered? Oh, I'm sure, over time, there will be changes but there are two problems here:

1. Hardware firmware gets updated with features and functions in many cases. Nothing unusual about that. So why make that sound like it matters? This lis like when you complained about MR signing an NDA - something that is done all the time and is nothing sinister.

2. If you mean it will change before regular shipping begins, what do you base that on? Because what is holding up shipping TREG units is diagnostic issues - not changes in normal user seen features and functions. There have been recent fixes for existing features and functions, but making something work more dependably isn't exactly the same thing, is it?

that hasn’t even been provided to WT’s handpicked pool of purchaser-testers.

Yep, you got that one right. Not sure why you specify "handpicked" though. As if they should have been selected out of a random phone book list instead.

When that’s coupled with the dangers of allowing a company that adopts a defensive attitude when communicating with its clientele and that believes confrontational customer service is proper behavior

Just think, you could have skipped all the rest and just jumped to this, legitimate, complaint!

 

[Trickflow]

So for the only thing we actually know for certain about the textblade is that you can pay for one and the refund works. That's all, nothing else.

 

[KaliYoni]

So for the only thing we actually know for certain about the textblade is that you can pay for one and the refund works. That's all, nothing else.

And it is very likely that the reason why refunds have been issued in a timely manner thus far is to maintain WT's ability to take payments on new orders. Landing on a credit card processor black list would deal a severe blow to WT. If WT was truly concerned about customer service, it would only charge buyers when product is shipped.

Alternatively, WT could have clearly stated, from the very beginning, that all funds sent to them should be considered as a speculative transaction or as participation in a Kickstarter-style program. But as we have seen over the last fifteen months, they have no intention of doing so.

 

[Night Spring]

Alternatively, WT could have clearly stated, from the very beginning, that all funds sent to them should be considered as a speculative transaction or as participation in a Kickstarter-style program. But as we have seen over the last fifteen months, they have no intention of doing so.

Actually, aren't there laws or regulations against taking people's money and nor delivering the product within a reasonable time frame?

 

[KaliYoni]

Actually, aren't there laws or regulations against taking people's money and nor delivering the product within a reasonable time frame?

Yes, but several factors work in WayTools' favor here. I don't believe WT really has much to worry about with regards to legal actions.

First, it appears WT accepted orders from areas outside of the USA. This means buyers are geographically dispersed and subject to many different consumer legal protections. Second, the TextBlade's purchase price is low enough to put any individual suits into small claims court, assuming the sales agreement does not force all disputes with WayTools into arbitration. Realistically, not many people are going to go through the time and effort required to litigate a small claims court action. Further, the limited number of purchasers make it very unlikely that a lawsuit would be granted class status (plus class action law firms only initiate cases that can generate millions of dollars in fees, that certainly wouldn't happen with WT) or that an attorney general would launch a criminal investigation.

 

[dabigkahuna]

On the WT forum, someone awhile back provided some legal information which may explain the cases where WT canceled an order without being specifically told to cancel. I don't recall the details, but it had something to do with laws concerning a 30 day limit on estimated shipping times. This would possibly explain why shipping updates were typically changed each month so it stayed at 30 days. The cancellation issue, as I recall, was based on customers saying they would probably cancel at a point where this 30 day thing meant WT had to go ahead and do a refund whether specifically requested or not. As usual, laws can get weird. But it should also be pointed out that WT let those people order again and retain their place in line.

Anyway, I remember one post from WT that talked about how they "had to" make the cancellations. At the time, I didn't see why, but these laws may be the reason.

Meanwhile, let it be known that the last update (Friday) from WT only said they'd post again when they had "good news". Not good since, theoretically, that could me no update for weeks! My hope was that they just didn't state it well - and that could still be the case. But most commonly they've done updates very late Monday nights because they review their prior testing results on Mondays. Unfortunately, there was no update this time. As far as we know, there is exactly one issue to be fixed - a tracking issue in diagnostics they feel is necessary for TREG testers.

Hope they post soon, good news or bad. I don't consider it a wise to say nothing if this isn't yet fixed.

Of course, I think they should ship at least two of them to TREG testers so we can get some reports on how it works, how hard the adjustment is, etc, whether or not the diagnostics work perfectly or not.

 

[SendMcjak]

Where's MacRumors in this now?

I'm all for bloggers getting free swag and giving the sponsor companies free publicity in return ... I just wish bloggers had some inkling to be journalists and occasionally report on companies' failures to perform [beyond Samsung and Microsoft].

 

[KaliYoni]

Where's MacRumors in this now?

See post #101:

I want to give everyone an update on MacRumors' position on the TextBlade. We've read through the comments posted here, taken into account emails we've received, and looked through information on the WayTools forums. We've heard what you have to say and we won't be continuing on to do a review or further coverage of the TextBlade.

To set the record straight, I have never had any kind of monetary or personal relationship with the WayTools staff. I've been criticized for the tone of my posts, which I wrote as someone who was just as excited as you were about a unique keyboard on the market that went above and beyond anything else available.

I want to explain something about my early posts that I think gives some insight into why I trusted what WayTools had to say. When I visited WayTools in March, I saw and used a finished TextBlade product. I saw a room full of engineers typing on finished TextBlades.

I saw the components for hundreds of TextBlades and rows and rows of completed TextBlades. Having used one myself, which seemed to function well, I had no reason to think that the TextBlade wouldn't be shipping out soon. I was told about a change to the butterfly, but I was also told an updated version was already in production and would ship soon.

Ahead of my second post in July, I was told a lot of reasonable information about why there had been a delay since March and how those problems had all been fixed. A lot of products can get delayed at the stage from limited production to mass production, so I gave WayTools the benefit of the doubt because the TextBlade finally seemed ready to ship (to Night Spring -- I *did* do research on this).

This time, I saw dozens and dozens of completed TextBlades lined up. I saw people using them. I saw photos of the TextBlade production line in Malaysia and I was told hundreds of TextBlades were being made and were going to be ready to go out in July.

Was I overly optimistic and perhaps too trusting? Yes. Was I out to deceive? Absolutely not. As the months ticked by after July, I decided not to continue on with coverage until the TextBlade started shipping. This time around, I had a TextBlade in my possession at the time of the post, concrete proof that WayTools is finally letting them out into the wild. I wouldn't have done a post at all had I not received multiple requests to do so.

I didn't ignore the production issues and the long delays in this most recent post, but many of you feel that I did not go far enough highlighting the customer service problems. To that end, I would like to say that there are problems that I was not even aware of, such as the canceling of orders.

A lot of the accusations in this thread have been off base and highly stressful for me. I've been struggling figure out how to explain myself in a way that you guys would find satisfactory, and I'm still not sure how to do it. The idea that I would deceive MacRumors readers or write something untruthful for money (or whatever other benefit I'm supposedly getting out of this) is so entirely preposterous to me that I've been at a loss for words.

I've been with MacRumors for 2012 and I love my job. I love the community. I love writing for all of you. I didn't set out to trick, deceive, or disappoint anyone and I apologize if I have unwittingly done so.

 

[SendMcjak]

See post #101:

Thank you -- problem with these forums (having important stuff buried on Page X).

 

[redshifted]

Happy Anniversary to me!

It's now been one year since I ordered the amazing, fantastical TextBlade typing tool.
Maybe I'll finally get one this year - or maybe I'll finally get a clue and cancel my order .

Anyway, drinks are on me!

 

[dabigkahuna]

Well, here is the latest from Waytools - not exactly good news. Short summary: Seems the last problem (with diagnostics) is fixed, but they have a new one and it is in hardware! No way to tell from what they say how hard it will be to apply any fix or even how long they'll run tests before making those changes so it could be really bad. Hope not:


Hello all, here's a brief summary to update you on what we've been busy doing to complete the release to TREG users.

We've been tracking down an illusive detail, that has bedeviled us for several days, and we think we've cracked it. An intermittent anomaly could cause some letters to be swapped or dropped on some units. Operation of certain keys could be momentarily compromised, and then they'd type normally again. Aside from this perplexing and sporadic anomaly, the typing has otherwise been very smooth and fast.

The issue would come and go, and could later affect units that didn't manifest it during regular QA testing. We had to fully understand the cause of these intermittent outages, and fix it to insure reliable, continuous service.

After reviewing our test data in detail this weekend and tonight, through much software diagnostics and lab work, we now have definitive evidence of the cause. It was due to properties of the physical structure, and not firmware. The science behind the root cause is a subtle and curious area of Physics, which presented here because of the novel architecture intrinsic to this new multitouch key technology.

Tonight we've been testing an alternative layering arrangement for the laminate materials that appears to successfully eliminate the effect. We're going to confirm that this method fully cures it without any side effects, and then we'll update all the TREG hardware units to incorporate the fix, and move forward with release. The other firmware and hardware performance parameters have been testing favorably.

We'll post some more tech details after we've confirmed our results, but as the team finished their work minutes ago this evening, the word that universally came to mind was -

Eureka!

 

[PeckhamBog]

Waiting patiently in hope.

 

[Trickflow]

Waiting patiently in hope.

They just announced another hardware problem and basically a delay in shipping the Test units. Get out while you still can. Sinking ship.....

 

[Night Spring]

tracking down an illusive detail...
An intermittent anomaly...
Aside from this perplexing and sporadic anomaly..

Tonight we've been testing an alternative layering arrangement for the laminate materials that appears to successfully eliminate the effect. We're going to confirm that this method fully cures it without any side effects, and then we'll update all the TREG hardware units to incorporate the fix, and move forward with release.

So they have this intermittent and sporadic anomaly, and in order to fix it they have to change the arrangement of laminate materials. Two questions come to mind.

1. How frequent was this anomaly, and how disruptive was it, really? Was it really disruptive enough to justify the delay in shipping?

2. What is the process for adjusting the arrangement of laminate materials? Are they doing this by hand? How long does this take per unit? And doesn't this mean that mass production has to be adjusted to produce the new arrangement? And since the units produced through the newly adjusted mass production method would differ from the already produced units which they are going to adjust by hand or however, you would need to test to make sure the adjusted mass protests method works, which could lead to discovery of more issues...

 

[dabigkahuna]

Two questions come to mind.

No idea on the first question.

As for the second, I've asked the same and similar questions. Mainly:

1. How long to convert enough to do their own testing.
2. Assuming no new problems are discovered during testing, what is the minimal amount of time they are allowing for this.
3. How long to convert enough for TREG testing after approval of the change.

There is, of course, the matter of changing all the rest, adjusting manufacturing line, etc, but none of that is going to matter if we can't even get TREG out the door!

 

[Night Spring]

There is, of course, the matter of changing all the rest, adjusting manufacturing line, etc, but none of that is going to matter if we can't even get TREG out the door!

Does it even make sense to do user testing with the units that have been already produced? Wouldn't they have to repeat the testing once they adjust their mass production process, and the units produced by the new process comes in?

 

[dabigkahuna]

Does it even make sense to do user testing with the units that have been already produced? Wouldn't they have to repeat the testing once they adjust their mass production process, and the units produced by the new process comes in?

Sure it does. Unless the units they have already built can't be adjusted, they will be eventually shipping too. And I'm sure they'll be doing regular checking throughout the process even if everything checked out and they originally only tested new ones coming off the line. That kind of stuff is pretty standard.

I guess they could test what they have and, if they work, ship those and then repeat TREG testing for the new ones - but I'm pretty sure no customers want that done. Just ordinary testing along the way. Heck, they could be testing new ones (not via TREG) as they ship out the updated ones presently in stock so once those are gone, the new ones are already done testing.

 

[dabigkahuna]

Just got a response from WT to some questions. As usual, not as definitive as I like, but still pretty helpful.

First, my questions:

Could you please provide a little more info about the situation? Specifically:
1. Assuming the testing of the hardware changes goes well, what is the minimal time you are allowing for this testing (this should include the time necessary to convert enough units to test). Right now this could be very open-ended to fix an intermittent problem. We have no idea if we are looking at just a couple days, weeks, or even months!
2. Once testing is done, an idea of how long it will take to convert enough units for TREG testing.
3. All of which would lead to a “best case” estimation of when they would be shipped to testers. And it would have to be clearly presented as “best case” since, until testing is done, there is no way to be sure how long that part will take.

Their response:

We'll do another post with some tech info after we finish testing, but here's some brief points.
All testing now corroborates our model of the physics that governs the intermittency.
We've also now tested more than one solution, and both work well under the extremes we've hit them with, so that's very encouraging to us. We're evaluating which method is the keeper, and will install that on all units. So we're feeling pretty good now that this will not drag on.
The revision to the updated part is not a dramatic change, and will be done on the TREG units by our production staff in California, (they can respond in days rather than weeks). They are supervised directly by our engineers here, which helps it go pretty quickly . The higher volume inventory gets processed at our Malaysia factory.
So we're marching forward with the solution now, and focused on the immediate goal of getting TREG units shipped with this issue completely resolved. That drives the timing, and we'll advise as soon as it's ready.
Thank you,
WayTools Team
Typed on TextBlade

My observations:

We don’t know if they have finished testing, only that two solutions work so far. Hopefully that is enough to take the next step (it’s been almost two days since they told us of the latest problem so far). I'm hoping their testing can get around the "intermittent" issue, which could really drag these things out!

Don’t know how long to make the decision for which one they’ll use, but if it isn’t done this week, I certainly hope they do by Monday (which is the day they review weekend testing).

Good news that the change isn’t “dramatic” - though that isn’t exactly a precise description for how long it will take to make! But they do say “days” rather than “weeks” so that’s good. And we know where the fixes will take place.

But it does bring up another question - is most of their inventory being shipped to California as they go or are they leaving the bulk of it at the factory? Having hundreds in California lets them have plenty of devices (hundreds that we've actually seen in photos) for testing, but leaving the bulk at the factory reduces shipping issues as various problems come up.

Of course, during all this we have to worry about discovering yet another problem! But, barring that, I figuring they should be updating units after their Monday meeting, then start the changes and, just maybe, start shipping by next Friday. Could easily be earlier. I actually feel pretty good about that estimate if no issues are found.

So, no, I'm not predicting shipping by Friday of next week. Only that if no other problems are found, I think that is a good possibility for TREG units and maybe sooner if they don't wait for Monday to decide.

But we know the record - always a new issue which would completely invalidate my estimates! That should come to an end eventually. Hope it is this time.

 

[dabigkahuna]

New status page update came out overnight. Basically says hardware fix has been testing well and they hope to be able to ship TREG units in about a week.

We'll see.

 

[bobdobalina]

I'm sure they're working hard on this: it's getting more and more difficult to come up with excuses. Next weeks excuse (if we get one) will have to be a real duzzy.

 

[KaliYoni]

I'm sure they're working hard on this: it's getting more and more difficult to come up with excuses. Next weeks excuse (if we get one) will have to be a real duzzy.

“Revolution and innovation necessitate constant vigilance, as our fellow travelers Steve Jobs, Igor Sikorsky, Thomas Edison, and James Watt well knew. As such, we are elated and honored to announce that in light of Apple’s product announcements today, we are iterating the TextBlade to the TextBlade-SE, in order to ensure all of our users are ready to make full use of Apple’s newest iPad and iPhone. True disrupters, of course, accept that this will take some extra time…that’s how free thinkers and mold breakers operate. Those choosing to be left behind may make use of the cancel order option at their own peril.”

 

[dabigkahuna]

Disappointing - no Monday night update, which is always the single most likely time. To reach the estimate of shipping by the end of this week (if things are going well), they don't have much more time to say testing is finally done. I don't know how many days it will take to go from ending testing to updating TREG units and pack them up for pickup. I've estimated several days, thus my reasoning for saying something would have to be said very soon.

My estimates, while viewing Monday as the most likely update, also allows another day or two for still reaching a shipping point by the end of the week. One tricky item is that they have referred to "ready to ship" by then. Does that mean the shippers can pick it up that day or does it mean the testing is done so "ready" in that sense but they still have to update all the TREG units and pack them? Those two possibilities probably have at least a 3 day difference in actual shipping. Hope it means actually ready to go out the door by the weekend. Hope even more that it at least means testing is done.

 

[Elliot7777]

No news yet. If this follows the usual deal with waytools, they will announce another month delay.

After almost a year after giving them my money i have canceled. When and if they ship i will give them my money. They have clearly not seemed to show any concern about taking people's money and having them wait over a year and we still have not seen any test units sent out.

At this point it seems like why delay sending out a status report when even on mac rumors you announced they were suppose to send out the tester units a week ago? To me that either means something seriously wrong has been uncovered or at minimum another issue that they are trying to figure out.

I hope they ship soon, but it was January last year they said units were a month away from shipping and here we are in March 2016.

 

[dabigkahuna]

At this point it seems like why delay sending out a status report when even on mac rumors you announced they were suppose to send out the tester units a week ago?

Well, actually the latest estimate they gave was for the end of this week so they officially have until Saturday. I think they should have given an update by now, but, well, they haven't made any posts on the WayTools forums yet. As I keep saying, all estimates are subject to whether testing continues to go well. Maybe it hasn't, but I do know from the first report I have to the latest, things were said to be testing well. That covers an 11 day period.

Best we've had. But no guarantees.

I can understand canceling. I'm not remotely rich, but I've been careful all my life with my money and retirement options so that now I can afford to OCCASIONALLY spend money on things I probably really don't need - thus I bought the 256 gb iPad Pro (9.7"). And if this TB deal falls apart, I can afford the loss of $100. Not be happy about it - just willing to take the risk to get it as soon after shipping as possible. But for many people, they can't take the risk. Or they need to get some other small keyboard because they have to have something now. Or they are just ticked off at how WT has handled things and it is more about expressing their anger. All legitimate reasons.

If this follows the usual deal with waytools, they will announce another month delay.

Actually, that would surprise me. This is one of the things I pointed out with the TREG situation from the start. It is much harder to "justify" delays on test units - though obviously they can do it since they have. And the delays are getting more resistance as a results. So, while another delay won't surprise me, I suspect if they give a time estimate, it will be more like a week - maybe two.