I think most of the "BFL" hate is coming from two places.
1) GPU Miners who can't swing dropping the cash for ASIC's, so they're hoping all ASIC's fail and just pissing on anything ASIC.
2) People who have pre-ordered other ASIC's and are hoping BFL fails or just ships way late, so their pissing on anything BFL.
3) Customers who bought BFL hardware and are now turning their official company forum into yet another BitCointalk.org. (Due to legitimate expressions of frustrations)
I don't think BFL needs any help to create frustration. They can do it all by themselves. They simply have to keep doing what they are doing.
Look, they have their own (company controlled) forum, and it is starting to read like
this section on this forum. What does that tell you?
People can bitch all they want about BFL or any other ASIC's, but they're not going to change anyone's mind that have pre-ordered. Anyone dropping the cash for pre-orders has most likely thought it over long an hard before they hit the pre-order button. I'd bet for every actual BFL/ASIC pre-order cancellation there's 10,000 posts here telling people that BFL/ASIC's are never going to work, never going to ship, are a scam, yadda yadda. It's just getting annoying because there is some bits and pieces of genuine good info/wisdom out there, but you have to wade through 30 topics and 500 posts of crap to get to it.
I am sorry, but I personally think that BFL is trying to (with intention) use various kinds of stall tactics until their products actually are ready.
Their game plan has always openly been to:1) Be the first to market. (they may now soon be the second or third if this keeps up)
2) To produce thee most electrically efficient system.
(The advantage here is seriously slipping against bASIC each time they release new info)
The Customers side is:1) To possess the mining systerms they purchased as soon as possible to enjoy mining at a very lucrative rate before the reward halving.
(This is all but lost now. Now BFL representiatives are instead switching proposals to an idea that they will be "the most profitable" in the "long run". Lets see if that argument holds much water if bASIC devices come very close to the same power envelope. or if customers receive a system that only produces 3$ a day.)
2) To make money while difficulty is low.
(This is all but lost now, their target dates for shipments keep getting pushed back so that even if Avalon and bASIC who started out later in the game will now ship at almost the same time.)
3) To support the BitCoin Cryptocurrency.
This is goal is still viable.
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So yes, early pre-orders with BFL are unlikely to turn into refunds. As long as the stated goals of either the customers or the vendor are still being met.
If bASIC ships out in late November and Avalon in early to mid January...IF....there is yet another delay....what exactly impels a customer to stay? (Even an early pre-order customer?)
Loyalty? A trade-ins rewards program? A lifetime warranty?
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Each delay makes any sensible customer reassess what they purchased and why they purchased it.
All BFL needs to do is set the date back yet another month to get customers angry or frustrated. If any of the other companies ship on time it will just be one more nail in the coffin.
This is why I don't think BFL needs "haters"...they just need to be themselves and that in itself is enough to create the issues people see and bemoan day in and out.
I imagine this is why they answer questions the way they do, without actually saying anything. I think they have a very good idea long in advance as to what the actual date of shipment will be. I do not think they have a meeting at the end of the month and all agree that they will miss their target a few days before the latest official delay.
Other people with experience know that production lines are difficult and time consuming to set up. Even if and when they hire someone else to do it for them. I think they are being almost facetious when they inform their customers of their ship dates.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/facetiousWhen people like
Bogart and Enrgi ask the right questions, they are probably forced to admit
in roundabout ways that things are not going smoothly. They just say it in very circumspect ways as to both be saying the literal truth but also leading people to believe in something which is probably known to be ill-construed as the actual truth.
I believe this is the reason why the two invited representatives are not on a plane and going to see anything at a BFL facility. If they reported what they saw at this stage it would detract from their business rather than add to it. Adding fear and loathing....etc.
So when the two fly out, then it is a strong indicator that things are ready to actually roll. (Which makes the whole thing kinda pointless IMO).
Right now Kano and Yochdog are where they are because what BFL wants them to see and report is not set up yet. This should reflect on that shipping goal that is just (roughly) 3 weeks away from today. In customers minds that should bring up many doubts (IMO).
