Uh oh

Good thing no one reads this or I'd get into trouble.

Okay, so we've been doing long days and weekends with some gentlemen visiting from Asia because their design is a wee bit buggy and they suspect, not at all without reason, that our product, which they designed into their product, is at least part of the problem. Besides, it's our job to help them whether the problem is at the component level or the system level or whatever.

Several hours ago I was in the lab checking up on some experiments and generally keeping the effort going of getting to the bottom of whatever's going wrong. I held in my hands a few samples of their unique and rather nifty design and did this thing and started that test and so on. I don't know their exact release date but I gather they've manufactured thousands of the things and are really hoping we'll ultimately come up with an implementable solution, i.e. some tweak that can be effected in software. If hardware, which is my gig, the journey from lab to shelf is usually several months. A software or firmware trick on the other hand can be done pretty quickly. Meanwhile all bets are off and shipments are on hold.

That's the background. A few minutes ago I took a gander at the news and up popped an ad illustrating the exact same device. For sale. Ready to go. It was a little bit surreal. I like their design but I'm used to seeing it in the context of unexpected failures under certain conditions and furrowed brows and carefully designed experiments and lengthy late-night conference calls across the ocean. Now I am looking at it being advertised as the next great shiny object. It all just sort of makes me go uh-oh and want to cross my fingers.