The only thing Tom could do to regain some of the trust would be to refund eveybody, build the bASIC devices with his own or some investors money, demonstrate success with a working device and then start selling the devices.
I pretty much agree with this. The pre-order model for bASIC needs to be abandoned. If they want to maintain the current order book so that people can keep their places in the queue, then that could be done by way of a token (say $50) deposit with the remainder of the purchase price being paid when the units are actually ready to ship.
They also need to unlock their forum. These occasional hyperbolic posts from Tom are too much like "from the desk of Tom Williams" reports when all the communication is one way and legitimate questions are remaining unanswered. To date, not one shred of evidence has been provided that there is a "new team" or that more funds have been secured. People shouldn't be asked to take Tom's word on these things - Tom should be falling over himself to provide evidence and to answer questions about "what next".
