The "What Black Arrow does not want you to know" thread

[greyhawk]

Re: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=294197.0

I'll just leave this here:

A reply of yours, quoted below, was deleted by the starter of a self-moderated topic. There are no rules of self-moderation, so this deletion cannot be appealed. Do not continue posting in this topic if the topic-starter has requested that you leave.

You can create a new topic if you are unsatisfied with this one. If the topic-starter is scamming, post about it in Scam Accusations.

Oh God, how did this get here? I am not good with computers.

"Black Arrow Bitcoin Mining ASIC Prospero X1"


CompuLab Fit-PC2

Enjoy.

[qwk]

That's some quality photoshopping BlackArrow did there. Good Job

[elasticband]

Nice, I had many posts deleted from that thread, gave up!

[bobsag3]

I am not seeing this render anywhere on their site...
http://www.blackarrowsoftware.com/store/prospero-x-1.html

[cbhelp]

Wow, that actually is some good editing.


Maybe not try to scam, and get a job doing editing?

[qwk]

I am not seeing this render anywhere on their site...
http://www.blackarrowsoftware.com/store/prospero-x-1.html

It was there. Probably they've taken the image down for obvious reasons.

[bobsag3]

I am not seeing this render anywhere on their site...
http://www.blackarrowsoftware.com/store/prospero-x-1.html

It was there. Probably they've taken the image down for obvious reasons.

Because it was a render? No where did they state that was the final product. Says that right on the order form.

[regular]

anyone who rips off another site's image is likely unethical already if not a scammer.

[klondike_bar]

anyone who rips off another site's image is likely unethical already if not a scammer.

besides the fact that any mining machine that is not much bigger than a PC mouse is going to be 'too small' to be profitable with all the casing, lcd, etc.

[markm]

Haven't you ever hired someone to do images or a website only to find later that they ripped off the images / the site ?

-MarkM-

[greyhawk]

Haven't you ever hired someone to do images or a website only to find later that they ripped off the images / the site ?

-MarkM-

I'm sure that's what happened. Also has anyone heard of pirateat40 lately? I think he might have forgotten to pay out dividends for a while. I sure hope he's okay.

[qwk]

Haven't you ever hired someone to do images or a website only to find later that they ripped off the images / the site ?

There's a huge difference between e.g. the generic fotos of computers that CoinTerra uses on their website compared to a full-fledged photoshopped image of what appears to be your final product, given the context.

[RoadStress]

MOAR renders! Today i was considering Black Arrow, but this just made stop considering them for obvious reasons.

[fpgaminer]

I love a witchhunt as much as the next guy, but blackarrow already responded to this issue, and removed the images...

Source

Picture of the X1 is an artist's impression. The original file was another Photoshop and not an actual still image. We have asked a graphic designer to help us with the images as we need to let our customers have an idea how the product will look like. This is how we intend the product to look like. As we are in production stage all we have now are artist's impression and soon rendered images with the proposal that was accepted and we go further with. However, also the rendered images will still be artist's impressions until we will have the machines in hand, out from the factory. Then and only then, we will be able to take still photos. We are afraid the process of creating a product follows this path.

Personally, I bought one of their units, just to see how it plays out.  After chastising them for emailing me my account password in plaintext, of course ... (they fixed that immediately after I brought it up, so props there).

[RoadStress]

I love a witchhunt as much as the next guy, but blackarrow already responded to this issue, and removed the images...

Source

Picture of the X1 is an artist's impression. The original file was another Photoshop and not an actual still image. We have asked a graphic designer to help us with the images as we need to let our customers have an idea how the product will look like. This is how we intend the product to look like. As we are in production stage all we have now are artist's impression and soon rendered images with the proposal that was accepted and we go further with. However, also the rendered images will still be artist's impressions until we will have the machines in hand, out from the factory. Then and only then, we will be able to take still photos. We are afraid the process of creating a product follows this path.

Personally, I bought one of their units, just to see how it plays out.  After chastising them for emailing me my account password in plaintext, of course ... (they fixed that immediately after I brought it up, so props there).

Real engineers or even good managers must know already that design doesn't matter in bitcoin mining so asking someone to make some pretty renders of possible boxes tells me that you are focusing on the wrong stuff. Designers know shit about cooling and airflow and other stuff. They should be sourcing parts and workforce and other stuff not make useless renders and also saying that you can't have a still photo of a case that is supposed to be already present long before chips arrive makes me wonder how can they manage a proper assembly chain. Their chips might be legitimate, but everything else is way wrong.

[fpgaminer]

so asking someone to make some pretty renders of possible boxes tells me that you are focusing on the wrong stuff.

You make a good and interesting point, though it's not related to the original topic of this thread.

Anyway, I agree, the amount of time/effort a company spends on marketing a pre-order product could potentially be used as an indicator of the company's technical capabilities.  In this case, I would argue that blackarrow probably already had an established marketing team as part of their company prior to their ASIC announcement.  Since they're on payroll, might as well use them.

For me personally, I find a company's history to be a better indicator of their merits than anything else.  Like a person, you should always bet on a company not changing their habits.  That isn't to say that they can't change, but more times than not they will repeat their mistakes.  BFL is a prime example.  It seems a lot of people forgot that they pulled their same shenanigans back with their original FPGA based product.

From what I know of Blackarrow, their customer service has been stellar, but I recall them tripping on a few early delivery schedules with their Icarus clones (IIRC their FPGA supplier fell through).  Their habits likely won't change, which is to say that I believe they will deliver (as you seem to agree), but may still run into trouble during their early shipping (as do most companies, to be honest).

[Trongersoll]

I'm not an illustrater, but i do remember reading somewhere that if you modify a certain percentage of an image, it isn't a rip off, it is fair use. Many illustraters start with an existing image and modify it to fit their purpose. I see nothing wrong with this. You people are crazy.

[klondike_bar]

I'm not an illustrater, but i do remember reading somewhere that if you modify a certain percentage of an image, it isn't a rip off, it is fair use. Many illustraters start with an existing image and modify it to fit their purpose. I see nothing wrong with this. You people are crazy.

all they did was change the name, add an led, and add an lcd. thats not a major modification, its a blantant ripoff and unlike what will be made.

show of hands, who expects the final product to be roughly 12x12x8cm like they displayed for weeks (months) on the site?

[Threader]

Serious what it looks like is the least of my concerns. I spend all my time looking at stats not the fucking box

1. Reliable
2. low power usage
3. Price right
4. Shipped on time as scheduled
5. low noise
6. -------
7.--------
8.--------
9.--------
10. Looks

[Phinnaeus Gage]

I am not seeing this render anywhere on their site...
http://www.blackarrowsoftware.com/store/prospero-x-1.html

The image was used for press releases: http://onbitcoin.com/2013/09/23/black-arrow-offers-pre-orders-for-new-bitcoin-mining-hardware/

http://d1uiva7rkkyvvt.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/20130923-Black-Arrow-Bitcoin-Mining-Prospero-X1.jpg