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Why Do People Hate Indrema?
Bill Kendrick asks: "I run a small site dedicated to the upcoming Linux-based game console and entertainment system, the Indrema (which hasn't been mentioned here in months, by the way). While sniffing around the net, it's impossible not to notice the tons of really nasty comments being made on Usenet, message boards and talk-back forums about the system, the company, the concept... What amazes me is some of the worst flames come from folks in the Linux community! Is there really something so inherently bad about the idea? Is it truly destined to failure just because they company is new in town? With Sega faltering, MicroSoft being potentially broken up, and PlayStation2's nearly impossible to buy, isn't it conceivable that something with such good specs, cool features and an open-source philosophy to boot, might actually make it?" I haven't heard much of anything about the system more than the material passed out at trading shows or the stuff on their website. I'm actually looking forward to a Linux based gaming platform.
The Indrema people don't have a competent marketing operation. Have their developer relations people secured any commitments from Namco, EA or Square? Or for that matter, with Tecmo, Capcom, Eidos, or any other established development shop?
Do they have a developer relations team?
Do they have good hardware partners with a solid consumer electronics background? Do they have a sourcing and production team that can reasonably ensure a steady supply of parts and enforce good build quality?
Do they have a sales and marketing operation that has experience selling into the major retailers in this space? Do they have the marketing dollars to buy floor and shelf space so their product is visible?
Their current marketing, evidenced by their web site, is all about Linux, Linux, Linux. Why do consumers care about Linux? Why do retailers care about Linux? Why do professional development shops with the dozens of programmers and multimedia production people necessary fior making a modern console game care about Linux? Why do they think consumers want yet another second-rate WebTV-style web appliance when not many want WebTV?
They claim it will play DVDs and act as a TiVO-ish video recorder. Do they have partners for the DVD decoding component and the online TV listings? Are they revising the hardware spec upward now that a 10GB hard drive on a PVR is considered low end?
It doesn't help that the prototype case design looks like it was done by the accountant's brother-in-law. This doesn't come across as a company that understands the market for game consoles, much less how to create a product that can compete in that space.