Stowaway XT Driver for WM2003 - STILL WAITING!!!

[kagayaki1]

Anyone heard anything more on when the new Stowaway driver is coming out to support WM2003? It's been at least 2-3 weeks since Jason let them know, and we still haven't heard anything.

I still submit this is a major snaffu from a traditionally serious player in the aftermarket accessories department. Bad Thinkoutside, Bad! :evil:

[hamishmacdonald]

I hear you! Every day I have to make a decision about when I think I'm through working, so I can delete the driver and have my unit work properly.

The design is perfect; I couldn't ask for better. But this driver thing is getting on my nerves. The shutdown issue aside, there's also a problem with key-presses suddenly repeating endlessly. That's bad enough when it's a K, but when the key is "Backspace" - EEK!

I wait.

[kagayaki1]

I haven't had the problem with repeating keys on my new one, but I did have the problem with the original keyboard and both my ipaq 3135 and 3870. <shrug> It never happened with the backspace key, but even still, I'd take that over having to think about "do I have the driver loaded?" everytime before I go out.

[PetiteFlower]

Didn't it take several months for keyboard drivers for the 1910 to come out? Perhaps there is more to writing a driver then you are aware of. That was a different keyboard I think but I can't imagine it's that different in the amount of work that's needed to write them. 2-3 weeks is not very much time at all! If you have ever written a keyboard driver for a pocket PC then you are qualified to comment on whether it is taking too long, if not though, maybe you should realize that you have no clue about the processes involved here and accept that you just have to wait until it's finished.

[hamishmacdonald]

Well, yes, but you're writing from a developer's point of view. We're speaking from a consumer's point of view, and we're absolutely within our rights to do so, if nothing more than to vent our frustration to other people who'll understand.

True, no one promised that these keyboards would work with 2003 devices (though somehow I missed any kind of mention that they wouldn't, if such mention was ever made). But there are many of us who bought these keyboards and can't use them without them fouling up our Pocket PCs. That's all we know about or care about as people who bought the things. The marketplace is about delivery, not forgiveness.

I can appreciate in an abstract way that it must be difficult to write driver software. But I'm having to do so while my Pocket PC crashes. Which do you think I'm more concerned about?

[kagayaki1]

Didn't it take several months for keyboard drivers for the 1910 to come out? Perhaps there is more to writing a driver then you are aware of. That was a different keyboard I think but I can't imagine it's that different in the amount of work that's needed to write them. 2-3 weeks is not very much time at all! If you have ever written a keyboard driver for a pocket PC then you are qualified to comment on whether it is taking too long, if not though, maybe you should realize that you have no clue about the processes involved here and accept that you just have to wait until it's finished.

I completely understand that it takes time to write and test a driver for anything, especially a complex device like a keyboard. However, I think a company that wants to represent itself as professional would have thought ahead and developed such a driver before the devices were released. If Thinkoutside can claim they did not know about the impending Windows Mobile 2003 release, then they were either ignorant or naive. :roll:

As a company that wants to sell something, the burden should be on them to think ahead and develop before a release, instead of making the consumer wait. Tell me, why should a consumer with money in his or her hand be required to wait? The longer the money stays there, the more likely they are to spend it somewhere else.

Oh, and there were never drivers specifically for the 1910 for two reasons. One, it's not device specific, but OS specific, and there was a driver for PPC2K2 right away. Second, the Stowaway isn't compatible with the 1910 or any other 19xx series device because the connector is backwards and a piece of the internal hardware was intentionally not connected to prevent such accessories from being compatible. But I digress.

[PetiteFlower]

I was actually speaking of the 1910 drivers for the Pocketop keyboard.

Anyway, I'm not a developer, I'm simply a consumer who tries to understand the issues that companies face before pronouncing them incompetent or unprofessional, simply because they don't have what I want RIGHT NOW. If you bought the keyboard, and it doesn't work right, and you don't want to wait the time it takes for them to fix it, then exercise your true consumer power and RETURN IT! Take your money elsewhere. Complaining that they're not coding fast enough for you accomplishes nothing.

[kagayaki1]

Complaining that they're not coding fast enough for you accomplishes nothing.
...except make them aware that they potentiallly could be losing market share, and hurting their brand by enthusiasts, such as me, spreading the word, and making them aware of conversations like this one and the others that have been on PPCThoughts and Brighthand.

In some ways, what I'm doing is a benefit to them, as they may not even be aware that this was a problem. The sure do know now, though. But, you're kind of right. As long as they're now aware, continuing to beat the ground about it will do nothing. Let's hope it shows up soon!