Camp Kitchen Frustrations? Anyone else?

[Temerarius]

"Some stuff"

You must be in upper management, or a class A troll looking for something to do because the rest of the internet is boring.

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[CliveM]

You don't just throw more people at a singular project and expect it to get done faster infinitely the more people you throw at it.

 

[skyote]

Dang, couldn't hold a job, huh?

 

[paariv]

The harm is that haven't delivered on other items. It was a mindful decision by management to spend resources on the camp kitchen rather than on something else. I find it hard to believe that the engineers and designers of the camp kitchen couldn't have been working on something else. And hard to believe that the salaries of those people couldn't have been allocated to say the salary of a programmer designing an app that we are supposed to have.

This is just wrong, as literally everyone else has told you. Rivian has a ton of cash on hand and can hire engineers for all of those positions at once, provided they find qualified people. It’s not an either/or situation, no matter how much you want it to be.

You are irrationally seizing on a minor feature that took few resources to develop (but which is a great marketing point and therefore a worthwhile investment) as if it has any impact on delivery times. It does not. Once you calm down and realize that, you’ll be better off.

 

[wicked2112]

B R E A T H E!!!! Take air into the lungs and then expel it, especially as a regular physiological process.

 

[Smithery]

there are many, many engineering managers/PMs who need to hear this, everywhere ?

In computer science/software engineering programs "The Mythical Man-Month" is simply part of everyones curriculum.

Even in the industry it was targeted at we still struggle with the fallacy.

It's general purpose application is obvious.

 

[crashmtb]

In computer science/software engineering programs "The Mythical Man-Month" is simply part of everyones curriculum.

Even in the industry it was targeted at we still struggle with the fallacy.

It's general purpose application is obvious.

More mythical is the manager who remembers the mythical man month, in practice!

 

[Dark-Fx]

In light of the most recent "update" we received, my frustrations regarding the camp kitchen are coming to a boil. I am convinced that the camp kitchen is nothing more than a distraction and marketing ploy. And more importantly, a complete waste of Rivian resources at this point in time.

The camp kitchen has an entire team with a lead designer. They have spent countless hours and energy and money producing it. We know more about the damn camp kitchen than the car itself! The best, most detailed, and most informative video Rivian has EVER released was about the camp kitchen! And not about the car itself.

The camp kitchen could have easily been an after-market product or even delayed altogether.

The fact that Rivian is delaying the delivery of the vehicle and can't even provide basic details or information on the vehicle, yet spent it's resources creating a 30 piece completely custom camp kitchen is ridiculous to me. Oh, and I'd love to go into detail about how the design is completely impractical for actual camping or overlanding, but I'll save you the time.

Focus on delivering the main product first. Not only is the camp kitchen not an important component of the vehicle, but it is an optional add on and doesn't impact but a select few customers that are choosing to buy it. Again, it is an optional ADD ON. Yet, they chose to allocate valuable resources to this unnecessary product that impacts only the people that choose to purchase it...rather than allocating their valuable resources to delivering the main product on time, a decision that impacts every aspect of Rivian and every single customer.

One more point: Rivian could easily ship these out after the actual vehicle is complete and delivered. It is a modular design, so it can be shipped easily and can also be installed by a customer in seconds. It does not need to be constructed with the vehicle and should not hold up deliveries. If anything should be delayed or be released at a later date, it should be the camp kitchen! But, instead, Rivian is delaying far more important items such as the app, actual delivery of the vehicle, removeable roof, EPS ratings, service centers, etc. They are literally choosing to roll the vehicle and delivery out without some far more important things, yet plan on rolling out the camp kitchen immediately...with no delays. Get the darn app that you promised up and running over this camp kitchen. Decisions like this are infuriating as hell. The app effects every single owner and customer. The camp kitchen effects only the people that chose to have it and only the few that actually ordered it.

I had all of these frustrations originally when I saw the camp kitchen video and how Rivian was highlighting it...but now after this latest email, I am livid. Build and deliver the vehicle first. Then you can focus on string lights for an over priced coffee grinder.

Blah blah blah. If you don't want the camp kitchen it doesn't really matter. I want it and was really glad to get that detailed of an update. It's probably in a more finalized state than the rest of the car so it's easy to have produced a video strictly about it. VW has shown us that even once the car is shipped the software might not be in a completely polished state.

 

[cc84]

..... I'm pretty sure Rivian originally stated the move away from June, to "planned deliveries" in July. That wording left some wiggle room. Once they moved it to September, I half way read the RJ email, as I expected it to happen anyway. I need to go back and see if he left some wiggle room this time, or has stated it as fact, that production will begin in September.

From RJ's letter: " Earlier this summer, we announced that deliveries would begin in July; however, the timing for the first deliveries of the R1T has shifted to September.....
"

From the email dated May 27th, the link now reads " Launch Edition deliveries are now planned to start in September and be completed in spring 2022." This leaves the same wiggle room, as well as "shifted" does. Plans can and do sometimes change. The good news is the LE completion date has remained the same. I had already set my expectations to that date anyway, even though I have a fairly early pre-order number. One final note, RJ mentioned "earlier this summer", when we were notified of the shift from June to July, but we were notified May 27th, which is late spring. Not significant to me, but his statement was factually incorrect. Just being picky. ?

Sorry I can't ease your frustration on the camp kitchen situation. Venting helps, except you're putting yourself out there for criticism. Could make you more frustrated. Good luck ?

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