Topic: Inaba/BFL/WTF??? (Read 5013 times)

Josh is the honey badger of company spokespersons.

I've opted to now research the backstory on them two, but by watching the show, I can easily see that most of it was staged, with most the people you see being actors.

Same true for most of American Pickers (but not with actors) of which I love, and also that ghost hunting show (purposely not naming), of which there's going to be an episode showcasing a ghost in an old house I'm supply barn wood for in the very next town west of where I live. I've been privy in getting the latest scuttlebutt from the owner, with her telling me that she's been coached as to what, and what not, to say. Hell, I've even been invited to participate if I wanted to when the filming crew show up, but been too busy.

"Doable" ... indeed. That's what escorts usually are 

"Her real name is Amanda Patricia Bossingham! The court ordered her to pay $36,294.95 in restitution. Ms. Bossingham pled guilty to submitting an application for a line of credit with M & I Bank using the social security number of another person. The Bank approved the line of credit in the amount of $15,000. On June 15, 2004, the Court sentenced her to fourteen months prison. She was just an escort (Being nice here) in Las Vegas who married a rich old man. ..."

http://www.lipstickalley.com/showpost.php?p=13059247&postcount=21

Actually Amy looks doable.

You might be on to something 





Surely noobs also ask themselves: "Why do so many people take the piss out of Josh/Inaba/BFL ..."

Due to my religious beliefs, Phineas Taylor Barnum's name should not be used in vain, even though I acquired my chosen pseudonym shortly after Hazel's twin brother was born, but it's relative (double entendre speaking).

 

I could use a quarter right now!

Josh will offer you a quarter then berate you.

The Josh does not give a fuck.

Cute thread.

Guilty as charged 

I've been lurking for a few weeks, doing my best to educate myself. I had heard of ASIC technology before I heard of BFL, and I want in. But I think that they are not the company to deal with. OTOH, if they start shipping for real, I might change my mind. Though if I did, I'd fly down and buy it in person.

@ AmDD, so you think he's following in the footsteps of Phineas Taylor Barnum, eh?

I'd like to think that myself, but there are some major problems with his approach if he is. PTB was very eloquent. He did indeed (ab)use almost every logical fallacy in debate with his detractors and supporters, but there was a huge difference.

He was slick. Inaba isn't. While Barnum's premise that there is no such thing as negative publicity does hold up to scrutiny in some ways, it really don't work if you don't deliver the product. Even Barnum's enemies couldn't say he didn't run a valuable circus.

My thought is that BFL would have engendered a LOT less enmity in their potential customer base had they just bit down on their pride and admitted they severely overestimated their abilities with regards to TIME. As it stands now, there is tremendous interest in ASIC, and several companies that have the juice are at least considering jumping in. Not to mention a million fly-by-night operators. If BFL doesn't do two things near to immediately, all the publicity in the world, negative or positive, will not change the outcome. Those two things are producing a product and severe damage control. Because if just one company beats them to market in a serious manner, they are sunk. So far ASICMiner is playing a "string 'em along" game. That's not really a bad plan considering their current market position, and it leaves them in the position of being ABLE to undercut most competition in the future, should they care to do so. Avalon seems to be out of their depth, business wise, but are at least delivering. They too could relatively easily expand their operations and crush BFL if they don't QUICKLY get to market.

There are also several startups that could conceivably do it. A good engineer can design the chips. They are, as I understand it, several orders of magnitude simpler than a CPU and not much if any more complex than RAM. Students design both every day. So it's mostly a matter of finding a cost effective way to produce them. One such way that's already done with other things is to put them on the same wafer with other devices, using up "free" space that bigger or more complex things leave, thus turning a small loss into a small gain on the manufacturing side. Just about any semiconductor company could do that. The initial setup is a bit expensive, but if they were already producing a mask for something else, it would be a minor revision.

I am NOT an engineer, I'm a hobbyist. Yet I know these things, or at least enough of them to see the possibilities. If BFL is a legit company, they need to SERIOUSLY reorganize. For what it's worth, I think they are legit, just out of their depth. But this Inaba character does NOT help their reputation at all.

In his defense, in a way I can see why he acts the way he does on these forums. (Note, Im no shill, I do not and never will buy anything from BFL). He acts like a douche to everyone, making people mad and in turn they create new threads with 'BFL' in the title somewhere. Look for yourself, ow many threads can you find in 3min that include BFL as a title? Given that, a noob stops by and starts reading and what do thay see? ASIC = MONEY, ASIC COMPANY = BFL. You have to really dig to find threads about any other ASIC company, those who do not find these others endup ordering from BFL.

The best example I have is the rapper Eminem. He made the most money when he was in the news for his lyrics. The news is free advertising, even if its bad news! Everyone went out and bought the cds simply because thats what EVERYONE was talking about for a few months/years.

I didnt know Inaba before he worked for BFL, but if you read the thread in which he announces he has been hired he basically mentions that he has been a dick in the past with his posts and doesnt plan to change much. This tells me he has always acted like that, for what thats worth. Ive also seen him admit himself that he likes to argue and debate with people, so hes doing it for fun...

None of this, however, explains the lies and bullshit that has come from BFL. It also does not make me feel better about doing business with them in anyway. I still think Inaba/Josh is a total douchebag and I would personally never conduct business in this manor, but I can sort of see why.

Welcome to bitcointalk, you must be new here.

QFT. I don't have a BFL pre-order and I couldn't be more pleased I never did business with this wretched company.

Ok, I've been reading these fora for several days now trying to weed out the bullshit. Rather tough task.

So, this is to Inaba, BFL Josh, whatever you wanna call yourself.

Let me get directly to the point. I don't have a dog in this fight, but if you, or rather your company, were actually delivering the units you advertise at the price you advertise, I would pawn my child to get a couple of them.

Unfortunately, at this point you have two really major roadblocks between you and me.

1. You, Inaba, are roughly as good a spokesperson as Mike Tyson. One gets the impression you would bite off an ear if given the chance. This is causing you even more trouble than

2. BFL has not delivered, as near as I can determine, ONE SINGLE CONSUMER UNIT. By contrast, ASICMiner and Avalon have and continue to deliver. They cost a hell of a lot more, and they are slow. But they haven't openly lied, obfuscated, and danced like BFL.

I fully understand that ASIC is a new technology, and that there are inevitably problems in developing ANY new technology. Hell, I imagine there were even speed bumps getting the Pet Rock to market. This isn't the problem. The problem is the "Fuck you" attitude that YOU, as spokesperson for the company, is taking in dealing with these delays. I suspect that your most rabid haters would never have bothered to get in a lather if BFL had been up front and honest about what was REALLY happening. New technologies always inveigh some risk, delay being the most common. Lying to your investors (and let's face it, that is what the fools customers suckers who pre-ordered really are. Investors.) is a surefire way to alienate them.

While I would personally love to have some of your machines, if they existed, I have to figure that this is going to be your business model in the future. Had you been CIVIL and RESPECTFUL, the haters would have looked ridiculous. As it is, you make their case every time you post. At this juncture, it would take a LOT of convincing for me to put my coin into your venture. You are so far behind in credibility and evidence of actual ability that I have to believe that your competitors, even late to the game, are going to beat you to market. And let's face it, unless they can be made reprogrammable, ASICS are a VERY short lived product.

My money remains in my pocket, but at the moment Terrahash seems likely to steal ALL of your thunder.

I think you will find that a great many of the lurkers and watchers have become totally disgusted by your company and it's behaviour. And you have had MULTIPLE opportunities to make nice. Sure, it's fun to blast an asshole on a forum. And if you were anonymous or not known to be affiliated with the company, why not? But you are not in that position. I have a great deal of management experience in an altogether different field, but some things are universal. If you represented MY company, I would have terminated you. And probably put some effort into blacklisting you, unless I actually hated my competition.

Disgustedly,
Kevin Biomech.