Discrete packaging

This is what the DreamLover 2000 package looks like for customers in the UK and Europe. The US box is similarly discreet.

Most replacement parts now available for ordering

For Pilot Run members who are following the blog, we now have replacement parts available including spare receiver batteries. We have a PayPal account that can be used for ordering small parts. E-mail us directly with your request and your address so we can quote shipping fees to your location (tracked and untracked).

Next compatible device

In the survey still visible below, the category "CB type metallic device" turned out to be quite popular, but we don't really know what the most popular types are.

We invite you to post below the name of your favorite CB type metallic device, that you would like to use in conjunction with the DreamLover 2000. We will create a new survey based on the candidates you suggest.

New DL Lounge design

A long overdue cosmetic touch-up of the DL Lounge page formerly also known as the Male Management Nexus. This page is where most of the social features will reside. It is also where you go to manage users.

Pilot run almost concluded

We're a few days away from the 2-month mark from the DreamLover 2000 launch! Time for self assessment.

There have been a few very positive reviews (on our reviews page), few public reviews (most notably Q's), and lots of interaction with our clients.

During this pilot run we've diagnosed and fixed a few issues with our fulfillment process, the way the parts are mounted, and more. The biggest lesson learned (after a week spent helping people on skype) was that associating the devices and upgrading the firmware is difficult for some (or at least too much of a hassle if you've just received the product) so we started doing these in-house after the first week.

All units after that shipped pre-initialized, with the device running, battery mounted, and ready for use. That eats up 2-3 days of battery life but at least you can play with the device as soon as you get it without studying the manual.

The software was fixed up to run under 64 bit versions of Windows. The help file was updated a few times. An association wizard was created to associate devices but it's no longer needed as we're doing it on our side. Still it's handy if you ever need to reassociate or pair up another remote control.

Our first clients have now been using the device for almost two months. We haven't received as much feedback and reviews as we would have liked, but it's understandable that people are busy and value their privacy. We had no returns, so this is a big success for a brand new product. We worked hard to make the DreamLover 2000 do what it says it does.

Our only question mark is whether we included too many features and made this product too troublesome for us to support and stock. For each product that goes out our warehouses are working 40 minutes, including assembly time and software updates and assignments. That is in addition to the work done at the factories such as overmolding the arousal inducers and soldering the cabling.

The work that goes behind sourcing all the parts from the waistbands to the custom cases to electronic components to PCB assembly is just staggering and it's an on-going burden that cannot be outsourced (too many possibilities for error, and you need to really understand the product to know what types of variations and manufacturing quirks matter). Plus now we have all the accounting and legal burdens which are seriously taking time away from development.

During R&D, most feedback was provided by fellow technologists who wished to explore all possibilities given by this product, so based on those comments we anticipated 99% of our clients being very tech savvy, and potentially playing with reconfigured leash presets under the shower from day one. But that hasn't been the case at all - turns out the people who are actually purchasing the product didn't *really* need all those features to make up their mind. Some aren't technically savvy at all.

And those who wanted all the bells and whistles turn out to also want them as cheap as they would be if we had a market of a million people like any normal electronic manufacturer, which we are unfortunately very far from having or ever hoping of having.

So we continue to listen to what our pilot run members have to say - recently they actually did start to play with the leash mode and other advanced features, though whether these really add enough value commercially is unclear especially given the need to support these features. Mostly we wanted to create a device we'd ourselves use. And we had fun doing it - but the time to really figure out the market is now before we go ahead and make more units. The hard question is whether the product should be simplified or, terrible words, "dumbed down".

Waterproofing, accelerometer, USB connectivity, many-to-many device assignment, firmware updates, long range... does anyone really buy because of these features?

So, for now our self assessment is that we've probably created a jewel of engineering but one that is not perfectly suited to its target market. One that is just barely viable commercially given how complex it is to assemble, to source all the parts, and how much documentation and support is required. However this "barely viable" status falls into the "not viable" as soon as you consider the opportunity cost of not leveraging the same manufacturing capabilities to do something else.

Still though, having had a successful pilot run for a first product, with no returns, dozens of people using the product and even positive reviews and satisfied users is a really amazing first step. Things can only get better as we begin to get a clue.

With these results finally known, the Pilot Run benefits will likely begin to be phased out shortly, including the payment terms (where we have until now paid for bank transfer fees and half the escrow fees), the hardware upgrade period, beta testing privileges and so forth.

Course development resumes

Course development resumed today with some design work in Photoshop, followed by careful replication in Flash (not using actual content). The color scheme and serendipitous apparition of the knife could make this design seem a bit macabre but purple seemed better than pink for legibility.



The DL Uplink application will serve as a viewer for the courses, to avoid having to maintain two separate applications, and duplicate code (such as the code to manage the DL2K-LINK). So the course viewer will turn out to be a .NET/Flash hybrid application. Flash helps with graphics layout and animations while .NET is the main technology used for the Uplink application and how the DL Uplink communicates with USB devices. Flash also helps render fonts beautifully without the need for Windows Presentation Foundation and newer .NET versions. The standard GDI DrawString function offered by .NET just doesn't look good enough even with all the antialiasing settings enabled.

The column on the left is reserved for tools and features particular to the two main modes: review and quiz.

"Review" is basically a powerpoint-like slideshow that dispenses nuggets of information in a sparse, easily digestible format. Quizzing will of course involve all the quiz features such as multiple choice questions. Quiz mode will be distinct from the actual "final test" which will have the "stealth pulse" check. Both quizzing and testing will be linked to the DreamLover 2000 to encourage rapid assimilation of the content.

The viewer application, as soon as it is completed, will also allow memorization of the Silent Commands defined in the DL Uplink's device configuration screen.