Wow, thanks for the endorsement!  The early reviews are starting to  
look good too:

http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9883340-1.html

On Mar 1, 2008, at 8:55 PM, sdonham wrote:
> Did this beta program fulfill expectations and did

> you, the developers, get as much out this beta testing as you had
> hoped?
YES.  While I think that there are things we could do better in the  
management of the program and getting feedback more efficiently, the  
product couldn't have been created as well or as fast as it was.

> From the perspective of an avid open-source developer, the whole
> process has fascinated me and I'm pondering whether the cost/benefit  
> of
> this model of hardware development is considered by you to be a  
> success
> and would you consider doing it again with other products?
A qualified yes.  Jive, which became Squeezebox Controller, wasn't  
obsoleting or competing with another product from our line.  The risk  
of going public with new hardware before it ships is that it can mean  
that people stop buying the current product.  In this case, we hoped  
that if folks saw the SBC, they'll want a Squeezebox or Transporter  
even more.

That's why we waited until the Squeezebox Duet and Receiver were  
announced before starting the public beta program for the Receiver part.

So, in the future I expect we'll be figuring this out on a case-by- 
case basis.  We may even introduce a private beta program for some new  
hardware where we ask participants to agree to confidentiality in  
order to test new hardware.

In general, though we really do want to keep this process as open and  
public as possible.  Everybody benefits from this transparency.

> (As a side note, I also owe you a tremendous amount of gratitude for
> including me in the beta testing.  I've learned more about embedded
> linux from your controller than I've been able to teach myself with
> dozens of books over the past few years.)

Excellent!  Feel free to write that killer applet now.  :)

All the best,

dean


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