BFL and public relations

[bitsnpieces]

Hi, I'm sort of new to mining. From what I understood dedicated hardware (ASICs) is the way to go.

The company that will deliver first seems to be BFL.

I wanted to know a little bit more about their product before putting my money into it. Therefore I registered on their webpage (forums.butterflylabs.com) and asked whether they have a working prototype. I got a reply (not from BFL, only from another user) that they don't and that it's probably best to wait til December and see if they can deliver. I agreed and expressed by concerns.

It seems BFL does not like this kind of questions, because soon after that my account has been banned and the thread was completely deleted.

Am I in f*cking China? What's with this censorship?

[meowmeowbrowncow]

LOL!!!


All hail our glorious leader, Inaba. 

Don't worry.  BFL distribution of information is handled much like in North Korea.

[creativex]

BFL is the presumptive front runner in the ASIC arms race because they began collecting pre-order funds months before anyone else(think 0% interest loan) with the understanding they'd ship in October. Obviously that didn't happen. They won't be shipping in November either, and their current(likely soon delayed) shipping schedule calls for early December. Shipping will now almost certainly take place after block reward halving. Also BTCFPGA has held firmly to that same shipping date(wk1 Dec) all along, and they do not have an established history of pushing back shipping dates.

[crazyates]

They've been asked for rudely demanded a prototype by users here on bitcointalk so many times, it becomes hard to distinguish interested customers from the trolls and shills. I'm  betting it was a question that's been asked before, and their stance on it hasn't changed much since.

[legitnick]

[SLok]

If I remembered right you did not trust them, and got the advice "why don't you wait ordering untill they are released early december, if you feel insecure doing it now. Won't matter much for a place in line, since you won't be in the first batch anyhow". Something like that, wasn't it?
It may be that your ip was found to be the same as that of a well known troll there? Or that someone was fed up with the next new member playing the noob asking that question for the 22th time? Just guessing.

[Keefe]

I think Tom will ship his bASICs before BFL ships. Tom already has working chips, and is working on the board. BFL is still waiting for the chips from the fab. What if when they get the chips and assemble the first working board they find problems?

[PuertoLibre]

I think Tom will ship his bASICs before BFL ships. Tom already has working chips, and is working on the board. BFL is still waiting for the chips from the fab. What if when they get the chips and assemble the first working board they find problems?

Doomsday.

Then, possibly a number of BFL employee will quit or resign, whichever comes first. (I am joking at the possibility...maybe)

[SolarSilver]

I think Tom will ship his bASICs before BFL ships. Tom already has working chips, and is working on the board. BFL is still waiting for the chips from the fab. What if when they get the chips and assemble the first working board they find problems?

the bASIC can be set back a few weeks as well if unexpected problems show up, in all cases, the board designs are not finalized yet and the firmware needs to be written, for all 4 current public ASIC projects.

In any case, some projects are far better at explaining to their customers what is the current status than BFL. And frankly after how they mishandled the introduction of their FPGA line (under performing and using more power), I'm surprised they keep marketing the 'estimates' instead of explaining they are not hard, guaranteed values. But I guess that is marketing.

[bitsnpieces]

Just guessing.

Guessing ... well, that's one of the major annoyances on http://forums.butterflylabs.com/
There are so many bootlickers and wannabe BFL employes on there that it's hard to filter out accurate information in all those tons of useless comments.
So many speculations and guesswork.

I posted my question ("working prototype") hoping that a BFL official would respond - but got banned instead.

It seems the purpose of those forums is only mutual sugarcoating and backslapping - to bear with the constantly delayed delivery dates.

[creativex]

Welcome to China...comrade.

[poon-TANG]

I think Tom will ship his bASICs before BFL ships. Tom already has working chips, and is working on the board. BFL is still waiting for the chips from the fab. What if when they get the chips and assemble the first working board they find problems?

the bASIC can be set back a few weeks as well if unexpected problems show up, in all cases, the board designs are not finalized yet and the firmware needs to be written, for all 4 current public ASIC projects.

In any case, some projects are far better at explaining to their customers what is the current status than BFL. And frankly after how they mishandled the introduction of their FPGA line (under performing and using more power), I'm surprised they keep marketing the 'estimates' instead of explaining they are not hard, guaranteed values. But I guess that is marketing.

Agreed its all a big game of wait and see right now. Oh and who made the right bet....go with BFL, bASIC...etc

[BobbyJo]

I, for one, welcome our new Chinese Overlords!

[bitcoindaddy]

Just guessing.

Guessing ... well, that's one of the major annoyances on http://forums.butterflylabs.com/
There are so many bootlickers and wannabe BFL employes on there that it's hard to filter out accurate information in all those tons of useless comments.
So many speculations and guesswork.

I posted my question ("working prototype") hoping that a BFL official would respond - but got banned instead.

It seems the purpose of those forums is only mutual sugarcoating and backslapping - to bear with the constantly delayed delivery dates.

You should go back and read the thousand-count posts from when BFL first announced the FPGA based equipment. I was skeptical too back then but they have a fairly successful history now of completing orders.

[SLok]

Just guessing.

Guessing ... well, that's one of the major annoyances on http://forums.butterflylabs.com/
There are so many bootlickers and wannabe BFL employes on there that it's hard to filter out accurate information in all those tons of useless comments.
So many speculations and guesswork.

I posted my question ("working prototype") hoping that a BFL official would respond - but got banned instead.

It seems the purpose of those forums is only mutual sugarcoating and backslapping - to bear with the constantly delayed delivery dates.

What did you expect, clowns are only allowed on this board.

[crazyates]

What did you expect, clowns are only allowed on this board.

Wait, what does that make me? 

[SLok]

What did you expect, clowns are only allowed on this board.

Wait, what does that make me? 

Crazyates!!!
But, have you been banned from BFL's forum too? Nooooo 

[crazyates]

But, have you been banned from BFL's forum too? Nooooo 

In no small part because of that fact that I'm never actually on there.

[SLok]

But, have you been banned from BFL's forum too? Nooooo 

In no small part because of that fact that I'm never actually on there.

So you can't see the pictures showing there's not much to show by pictures yet?
https://forums.butterflylabs.com/showthread.php/324-Photos-of-PCBs-cases-and-heatsinks/page4

[crazyates]

But, have you been banned from BFL's forum too? Nooooo 

In no small part because of that fact that I'm never actually on there.

So you can't see the pictures showing there's not much to show by pictures yet?
https://forums.butterflylabs.com/showthread.php/324-Photos-of-PCBs-cases-and-heatsinks/page4

No I'm a member, so I can see all the pics. I just havn't made it a habit of frequenting there very often.