So there are plenty of comments about Patrick Martin of Nextion on this forum. I’m not trying to encourage negative comments about anyone, but there does seem to be something very strange about this guy and it makes me wonder about him. I have a few questions, maybe others know the answers:
Who is Patrick Martin? Odd that he does not appear to Chinese. It’s not just his name (many Chinese folk adopt western names), his language is more like a well practiced German speaking English.
How did he get involved with Itead? What’s his relationship with them?
Actually what is the setup between Itead, Nextion and Sonoff? I find Itead to be easy and friendly to deal with, especially the PCB group that I warm to more and more.
Like I said, I don’t want to encourage more scorn for Patrick, I’m sure he’ll read this and he really doesn’t need to be made any angrier than he already is. I’m just very curious.
Seems likely that a Patrick Martin playing with a Nextion display would be THE Patrick Martin. And it does look like the guy on FB. That would mean that Nextion isn’t even his day job!
edit: removed facebook screenshot of patrick’s personal page
Unfortunately, Patrick has a complete lack of people skills and empathy.
Being a condescending douche bag doesn’t help either.
This type of “nerd” is completely unsuitable in a role that deals directly with end users, read as: paying customers. Some of whom who can develop products that result in large commercial sales for a company.
This behavior can’t easily be modified - it’s who he is.
He is simply in the wrong job.
The Nextion brand could evolve into much bigger and better things, if both Patrick and Gerry were not involved.
One of my industrial clients has been told that Nextion (which is a Itead sub-entity) has a mutual exclusive agreement with TJC, so that TJC would sell and support exclusively the Chinese market, while Nextion would sell and support exclusively the American and European markets. Nextion would care about the needed certifications and the documentation in English language, and about the required export licenses, which, they said, explains the difference in retail prices.
That doesn’t yet shed any light on Patrick’s role, I admit, but that would perfectly explain why they basically insist on Nextion not being TJC, and TJC intentionally not selling and supporting outside mainland China. In ever case, I don’t believe that someone outside China could take such decisions which makes it rather probable that some people here overestimate greatly Patrick’s position.
That makes sense - Nextion is Itead - Patrick is just a rude tech employee with a bad attitude
I couldn’t work out how Patrick managed to sew up the exclusive western distribution of TJC manufactured panels
Anyway, he’s done a lot of damage, and I think he’s put in motion the undoing of Nextion, as people are now actively working on alternative English language easily programmed panels
I think reinventing the wheel is not needed. There are enough HMI solutions on the Western Hemisphere market: Siemens, 4D Systems, …, you name it. It would rather be silly to turn away from an otherwise great product (the alternatives are all more expensive and more difficult to program) just because a forum admin has hurt my pride…
Still not sure… If you could import TJC panels at a commercial level, you’d have to pay VAT and customs / import duties (which is not the case when you order a small quantity on banggood or on similar retail platforms) and add all the whistles and bells of CE certification, the price difference with Nextion tends towards a minimum. And even if the price was somewhat higher - it’s not you who pays, it’s the people who will buy your final product which contains (among others) a HMI. That’s why the companies for which I work from time to time stay actually with Nextion.
@Fjodor you are right. Nextion is still much cheaper than anything else (non TJC). My applications can wear their prices easily. It’s just the support and lack of a friendly relationship that irritates.
@Traxxtar I’ve often thought about that. Pretty much everything I do involves Chinese companies these days. Then again, so many Chinese companies that want Western business have English speaking staff. So easy to be english (or american) and lazy!
My action on this was to express my concerns to itead directly, letting them know that my experience in the nextion forums has tarnished my overall view of itead. I’m far more likely now to seek out any other tasmota compatible smart switch than a sonoff, and itead is no longer my first choice in PCB making and premade prototyping boards. I’m sure I personally dont make even the smallest difference in their revenue, but it’s the squeaky wheel principle. everyone needs to let itead know they are unhappy with nextion’s support and looking for alternative products.
@chrwei My inclination was the same. I think it’s important that whoever is Patrick’s boss or at least Iteads head, needs to be aware of the depth and breadth of dissatisfaction. But I could not find a contact name. Did you discover a name?
I too have stopped using iTead for PCB fabrication, and now use either JLCPCB or PCBWay.
Both are very good for my usual double-sided boards, which includes 0.5mm pin pitch QFN foot prints.
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