The most cost effective and efficient way to recover the nonrefundable losses sustained is to reuse as much of the materials purchased as possible in a board redesign using a more efficient chip. We are currently evaluating the possibility of a board level redesign using the same form factor which will allow us to reuse the majority of the current designs accessory components, and likely portions of the board level components. While we have been contacted regarding this possibility by a promising engineering team, research on the viability of a redesign is still in its infancy, and there are no guarantees it of our success. That being said, it is in our best interest to produce a competitive product which reuses the existing stock as quickly as possible, and we will be devoting all available resources to do so.
Thanks steamboat.
I've applied for refunds for batch 3 and batch 5. I've already paid for assembly. I will be sticking it out for the next iteration of steamboat assembly. Will you be starting a new thread? Will you be attempting to track requests to move forward? How will this be organized? I understand this is a bit early yet since, as you say, the redesign is still in its infancy, but I would hope that getting a leg up on the next phase would be a high priority.
To all of you who kept trying to pull your pitchforks out, I hope that steamboat's massive updates continue to communicate to you not only their contents, but the dedication steamboat has to this community. This process was wrenched forcefully out of steamboat's hands, and he has no choice but to make the best of a bad situation. Steamboat has demonstrated OVER and OVER that he's trustworthy and dedicated to the cause. So please continue to have faith; steamboat will always attempt to make everything right.