Tech Support Sphere (magic 8 ball) - update

Greetings!

I received my first proof of the answer sheet today. I want to adjust the font size a little for two of the answers, but this is very close to what I will be doing. Adjustments are:

a) Make the "42" smaller (to match the font size of the triangle marked A+) and to center it in the triangle.
b) Have the "MAKE IT SO." appear on one line.
c) Change /dev/null and ping 127.0.0.1 to the proper lower case (edit)

Please feel free to comment. But be warned:

a) I will not substantially change an answer at this point without a really good reason, even though there are tons of good answers out there.
b) Yes, I know it is shouting. But given the size / clarity, this is probably easier to read when suspended in murky fluid...

Paul, you have done a fantastic job on bringing this to reality. Many thanks

It is not real yet, but getting closer. I expect another proof along with a sample of the final artwork for the label on the ball. Once I give final approval, it gets in queue with all others - likely 6-8 weeks... Progress...

You're clearly far more insane than me. You're about to drop on 8 balls what I hope to drop on batteries in the next few months.

My (in)sanity has never really been in question. Batteries???

May I suggest a special exception to your valid CAPITAL LETTERS logic for the "/dev/null" response?

Ace, stick me down for a few! I think there's something there that would appeal to everybody.

How much room do 1,000+ magic 8 balls take up? If you know "Only Fools and Horses" you can probably imagine the scene a few months from now....

Gareth

May I suggest a special exception to your valid CAPITAL LETTERS logic for the "/dev/null" response?

Not only that one, but also for the ping. I am still thinking about that. I agree completely - it looks strange, but I am worried about the readability of lower case. I sent in an updated correction sheet to them, so they should draft that in the next revision. They told me I can do as many checks / proofs as I need until I get it the way I want it. As it should be...

How much room do 1,000+ magic 8 balls take up?

I hope that the general appeal might be enough to get rid of them. It might take some time, but I can be patient (to a reasonable extent, anyway).

As to the space, already slightly estimated. Given a 4" diameter sphere, packed 10 x 10 x 10 in a box, you would get a box approximately 40" x 40" x 40". Assuming some overhead (20%) for packing, 8" per dimension, that is still a 4' x 4' x 4' cube. The weight is probably a greater issue than the dimensions. I can ask them to partial ship, or to break the shipment up a bit.

There was someone (I will look it up if this actually is possible) who wanted a bunch of them for a kickoff meeting in the UK around mid-April. If there is a chance of getting enough of them in on time, I will try to make that happen. No certainty or promises of anything at this point.

Surely it should be just RTFM, rather than "READ THE MANUAL & FAQ" ?

Electric cars need batteries. Lead is cheap, but range is limited by "the car wasn't designed to hold that much weight". NiCd, NiMH, LiIon are all more expensive.

Please feel free to comment

Only suggestion I would make would be to change Read the Manual & FAQ to read just RTFM.

tanstaafl.

I'll second RTFM.

-Zeke

Yeah, when it's spelled out, it completely loses the joke. Oh, and I'd probably change "OUTSOURCED" to "OUTSOURCE IT" (as in, outsource the problem). It feels better as an answer to not have it in the past tense. And it would fit on the answer thing a bit better, too.

Hey Paul,

I wanted some for the UK too

Shipping direct might cut the costs down quite abit, I did say 100, would that make it worth it? Or just bundle up all the Euro orders you have, and I will send them out from here ?

Cheers

Cris.

Greetings!

Let's see...

RTFM

Yes. I was trying to avoid acronyms and keep it simple enough that folks calling tech support (you know the type) can still use it. That is why I avoided BSOD... But RTFM is certainly common enough... Okay. Next round of revisions.

Outsourced

This I want to keep as past tense. The intent is more that the functions or support people you are looking for are not there anymore, or were replaced by new functions and people that are not familiar with it. In many of the technical fields today, this is exceptionally common. I could have put "offshoring", but that is a less common term.

I just wish I could have fit "Abandon all hope ye who enter here".

I don't want to take any orders or think about bulk arrangements just yet. This still is not certain, and I will not take any orders or do anything like that until they are paid for (by me) and arrive at my door. Product "in hand" kind of thing... At that point, I will post something in the For Sale section. Thanks!

Looks great! I'll certaily be ordering a couple.

As for changes, I know everyone's a critic and you've already made up your mind, but I'd feel bad not mentioning that I think you'd do much better without the word "binary". Just my opinion, though.

Greetings!

Not a problem. I know this was raised earlier. I tried doing drawings in Photoshop, but I kept coming back to the one with binary in it. If all goes well, I will be getting a proof of this soon as well.

As for changes, I know everyone's a critic and you've already made up your mind, but I'd feel bad not mentioning that I think you'd do much better without the word "binary". Just my opinion, though.

I think I agree.... for people who "get it" the binary is not necessary (it would be "duh, I know!") and for those that don't it might be confusing, because some people know that binary is 1's and 0's but very few know that 1000 is 8 in binary (even some experienced IT people)

A good solution mentioned in the other thread is to have a grid of 1's and 0's in very light grey and then highlight the 1000 in black, which would still look like an 8 ball but be very obviously computer related even to people who know nothing about computers.

Gareth

A good solution mentioned in the other thread is to have a grid of 1's and 0's in very light grey and then highlight the 1000 in black, which would still look like an 8 ball but be very obviously computer related even to people who know nothing about computers.

I agree with this, I think it would be cooler to do this than just "1000 binary". I liked the example image posted in the other thread.

If you can't do more than one color (i.e., if it's only reversed out white ink on black plastic), then see if you can dither or halftone the background zeroes and ones. Remember that it's silkscreen ink so the halftone dot size would have to be pretty big, but that would be fine for this particular application.

I'll also second that it should be "RTFM".

A good solution mentioned in the other thread is to have a grid of 1's and 0's in very light grey and then highlight the 1000 in black, which would still look like an 8 ball but be very obviously computer related even to people who know nothing about computers.

Yeah, that was my suggestion, but as Tony pointed out it might be difficult to do if only one color is available.

Hey! I approve!

Me.

I believe the attached .pdf is similar to what has been laid out before, but I think it's a bit more subtle than 1000(binary). This was just my 1st try using Adobe InDesign, but I thought it was an OK start.

-Zeke

Here's what I'd come up with (as posted in the other thread).

I still contend that this is all too blunt. Those people that are going to get ``1000'' are going to get it regardless of an indication of its binary-ness and those who aren't going to get it still won't, even if they're hit over the head with it. As it is, those people who are going to get it are going to feel that its cleverness has been reduced, possibly to the point of wannabe-ness, by the inclusion of a hint.

I agree. That makes 10 of us.

The target audience for this ball is the geek crowd anyway, and the more in-jokes the better.

Yeah. Fine. Whatever.



Really though I'm changing my position, it should be arcane as possible, it just makes it better when someone finally gets it. Who had the sig 'There are 10 kinds of people in the world...'? It took me a while to get that one, and when I finally did it was even funnier for my stupiditiy. Kind of like that stupid Petals Around the Rose thing.

I'm revising my vote to 1000 with no hint/subscript.

Greetings!

I received a second proof of the answers today. A few good things, and a few not so good things.

+) 42 is now nicely centered and a good size.
+) spacing on "CALL THE HELPDESK" has been corrected
+) "READ THE MANUAL & FAQ" has been changed to "RTFM"
-) They misspelled RTFM as RTMF, probably trying to help / guessing the sequence I wrote was in error
-) The cannot do lower case! They gave a good reason that I can almost agree with. Basically, they claim that the lower case would cause enough of a weight shift to make the answer ball (basically a hollow die floating in inky water) always arrive at the same answers. In the case where the face is lighter, that answer would always appear. I am surprised that they do not have a way to adjust for that, but I am guessing they calculate the weight based on standard fonts that are all upper case...
-) So /DEV/NULL and PING 127.0.0.1 will have to remain upper case

/DEV/NULL and PING 127.0.0.1 will have to remain upper case

Annoying, but not enough to make it uninteresting, I think.

As it is, those people who are going to get it are going to feel that its cleverness has been reduced, possibly to the point of wannabe-ness, by the inclusion of a hint.

Strongly agree. I would buy 11 or 100 "1000" balls for other staff here, but not sure they would get quite the same kick out of "1000 binary" balls.

Good point, Jim.

Those who would say "A magic 1000 ball? I don't get it" aren't the target audience.

And even those who deserve a hint deserve it to be verbal, direct from someone In The Know. Along the lines of "why do you assume it's base-10?"

How about a Magic Pi Ball?

I actually thought about Pi, but I cannot even get a lowercase font...

Bump - how are things coming with this, Paul?

Greetings!

Very well. In fact, there was a little bit of an update that turned up in a different, unrelated thread.

Basically, the final graphics and content are approved, production should be almost finished (probably next week), they have been paid for, they will ship most of them via slow boat (another 4 weeks) but will air express a small batch to me for my own amusement / dispersal. They did a slightly blurry mock-up photo for me of the outside graphics, and I have already approved the answers.

When I am ready to start selling them, or have some in hand for photos, I will post more information. Soon... Hopefully soon...

Excellent - I now have even more potential recipients of a (nearly) unique geek gift this year.

As far as I can tell, it is unique. At least, I have never seen one for sale before. So it is one in a thousand (decimal)... (Unless, of course, this becomes hugely profitable and I decide to get more made.)

I know I'm going to buy at least 0101.

I can't wait!

-Zeke

Paul, have your samples arrived yet? If so, any pictures? I'm dying to get some of these.

For us people across the pond, are you planning on bulk shipping and then doing local distribution or shipping individually?

Greetings!

Unfortunately, they forgot about my request to get a small batch early, so they were all shipped via the same slow boat. So I am waiting until they arrive. I estimate about two more weeks until they show up.

As for photos, I just have the photo of the mock-up. I have no photographs of the real answer icosahedron floating in inky blue fluid. I have a copy of the final approved answer sheet, but I do not want to show it in case anyone finds a typo that I (and my multiple proofers) missed and cannot be corrected anymore...

As for people across the pond, or anywhere else for that matter, there was someone (I have to look up who) who wanted to do a bulk shipment and resell. That is probably the way I would prefer to go rather than individual spheres. Less paperwork and hassle, I would think. It probably could be done either way, but I am not sure yet what that would do to the price (with shipping and packing).

I am waiting until they arrive before making any commitments for bulk deals.

Progress, though.

Edit: Ah, if there is a typo I will hear about it no matter what. Linking to the paper copy of the approved answer sheet...

I don't see any typoes either.

Greetings!

I do not have any more updates yet, but I wanted to ask this question to the board. There is a diverse population here.

How much would you be willing to pay for a Tech Support Sphere? Please assume that shipping and packing fees are not included, and that you would likely pay additional (actual amount) charges for packing and shipping.

I will be using your feedback for setting prices for both bulk and individual purchases, so be honest. Also, I have a price in mind, but I want to see if what I think it should be, what I have paid for them and what people are willing to pay are at least in the right, uh, ballpark...

So...

How much would you pay?l
I do not want one, or I am a starving student living on macaroni and cheese.
$4
$6
$8
$10
$12
$15
I am an insane eccentric. Here is my checking account routing number. Have fun.

Thanks!

It depends. Does it slice? Does it dice? Does it julienne?

Hahhahahah.

Unfortunately, no. It does not slice. It does not dice. It does not julienne. I can crush a clove of garlic, if you are so inclined - but that does void any form or warranty (of which there is none).

Paul, how about 'a fair price'. So cost+something for your time and effort on these. I want some and assuming there are priced reasonably the more I'll want. I'm assuming somewhere between $10-20. Having never checked the price of the original I've no idea.

Greetings!

Oh, it will be fair. I am not trying to really make a huge profit on this (although, it would not be a bad thing, I guess). At the moment, I am thinking it would be at the low end of your range ($10-12 + shipping & packing) with possible lower prices for quantity / bulk orders. I will not actually set a price until I have them ready to sell, though.

I am actually using a cost plus model for this: I know what they cost to make & ship to me, add a pseudo-random number and charge that. Slightly over 1/3rd of my capital layout was for building the tool / die to make the custom answer icosahedron, so if there is a huge enough demand that I need to order more of them, it will get cheaper because I would not need to make a custom tool the second time around. (Do not hold your breath on that one, though...)

Sounds good to me. Any idea when we'll be able to order them?

Any idea when we'll be able to order them?

Uh, when they arrive??? Seriously, I expect them to arrive within the next two weeks (end of April), and then I will check with the folks that were interested in bulk amounts or resale via ebay (an email to see if they are still interested). Then I will open it up to folks on the board for individual purchase.

Conveniently I should have money again by then. I just flushed a pile on taxes and a replacement charger and controller for my car.

Greetings!

After checking with the printing company today, I learned that the "tech support spheres" have arrived in the US, disembarked from their slow boat and are currently on their way to me. I have been told that if I do not see them by Friday to call the printer back and yell at them. More information, photos and other details when they actually arrive at my door.

Greetings!

Well, they are close by now. I received a UPS delivery notice on the door. I guess they did not want to drop off 27 boxes without me to sign for them... Well, at least that clears the mystery of how they will arrive!

Will there be a storefront web site where we can buy these soon?

I want to be able to link my friends to somewhere so they can buy it.

Will there be a storefront web site where we can buy these soon?

Hmmm... Good question. That would probably be a smart idea. Probably yes, but I have no details yet. ...

...

Update: while typing, UPS made a second attempt today. They are here. Details and photos to follow...

Greetings!

Yup. They are here. Lots of them...



Each box has 36 spheres, 28 boxes...



Here is one right out of the box...



And now, with the 1000 visible. It turned out well...



And people wondered if it could be done. My only response -





Ordering details will follow in the "For Sale" forum after I have a chance to think about things...

Paul in case you didn't know. You're a superstar :-)

Nah, just insane enough to do things like this.

Meanwhile, I am in negotiations with a few people who asked (in advance) for the ability to resell these via ebay, etc. I will sell directly to people on the board, but I am not sure if it would be better for folks across the pond (customs wise) for me to ship to one person and have them distribute (marking the box as merchandise for the total value of all the spheres) or individually (marking the box as gift for the value of one sphere). I actually think the latter option might be easier for people receiving them, but I am not sure yet.

I am putting the final pricing together now - I just need to figure out how much it will cost to pack and ship individual spheres. At the moment, without counting shipping, it would be $12 per sphere normally, $10 for people on the BBS and $300 for a bulk box of 36. Plus shipping and packing.

Soon!!!

Excellent

erm, any reason why I can't see the pictures? Or your site?

Paul,

Well I'll take 50 if I can please. I'm across the pond so how you ship them is up to you.

I'd like to get one, and am also across the pond (does that make me a trans-pond-er? )
I don't have a PayPal account, and to be honest, I quite like it that way, so if anyone in the UK is buying one (or more) and doesn't mind piggy-backing an extra one along with their order, I could pay them by cheque or whatever.

I only like the kind that work, not the kind that fail when we lose machine room power.

Oh, not that kind of UPS.

Sweet. I'm interested in about 10. That's a fairly safe number for gifting. I just hope I don't get overwhelmed with additional people wanting them. If I do I'll tell them they're $15 each and pass them a link to your order page once you have it up.

Bruno

Ditto on 10. I've got seven I know will have loving homes and three for the people I've yet to meet.

-Zeke

Greetings!

Migrating the thread to the For Sale forum thread...

Geoff (and Skibum) - over on the for sale thread Philip, Trevor and myself are interested in 7 (at least) so that gives us 58 - ish at least for the UK. If it makes sense to team up, then let's do it.
Responses probably best over in the other thread.