Of course everything you say is very pertinent. If you have read...

Of course everything you say is very pertinent. If you have read my posts over that period you will know that I have said much the same thing about communications.

However, given my background in scientific equipment and instrumentation I have acquired some insight into how comparable new technologies get developed, and I have seen many similar stories about the problems that get encountered and gradually get solved, bit by bit, issue by issue. There are issues you don't know are there until you find that the things you thought were straightforward exposed some other factor you had no idea about. You study them in ways that are complex and hard to explain at first, then you see what is going on and you find some way to control the issue in question and suddenly you are back in control, but now you see other possibilities that can either bite you or help you climb even higher. It does not matter if the problems are based more in physics or chemistry or electronics, the solutions come about as you investigate them. It is almost impossible to explain what you are doing to non-specialists, and it's either a brave man or a foolish one who tries to do so. In this case I think it is very much all of those issues because I recognise the patterns and the circumlocutions that are given to explain that there is an unforeseen delay and we are trying to work out a solution. It all just takes time and head scratching, but you get there in the end, once you understand what the actual problem is. I also have a reasonable glimmer of what the problems are from their generalised descriptions, and they make perfect sense that they occur, and that they can be solved by doing "X". That gives me a good degree of hope that a) they are up to the job, b) they have made serious headway, and c) that its just taken a few years longer than anticipated.

How close are we? I can only judge that by the "hum" of how they are saying what they say, but it sounds like they believe they are very close. Fred and Danny got stung by the feedback when they said a few years ago that the finish line was "imminent", then it clearly was not. I don't think they want to repeat that, but it has all the flavour of imminence in the way that Fred puts it across. He might be trying to cover his cards, and play with a poker face, but I think he can see the colours of the cards in his hand, even if we cannot. And he has a big pile of coin on the table. That's a good sign. If I had any cash left I would be asking to be dealt in around now!

But again, I have to say it. I'm just explaining how I see things. I know nothing, so I could be completely wrong.
He could be bluffing. So don't take my word for anything!
The question is, will we bet along with him? Or against him? Your call.