Vertex Cerebra website gone?

[twistedfinn967]

So, I went to check in and see if by some miracle there was any progress on the never materializing Cerebra and from my end, it appears that the website is gone. Anyone have a clue? And please, anyone whom DOESN'T have a clue, keep your snide remarks to yourself.

 

[SuncrestReef]

Is this the correct website? It appears to be online: https://www.vertexaquaristik.com/us/en/products/

There's a 40+ page thread about the Cerebra and it sounds like the company isn't responding to anyone. See https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/what-ever-happened-to-the-vertex-cerebra.305286/

Sounds similar to what recently happened with the MindStream.

 

[lexinverts]

I have some inside information that Vertex is essentially bankrupt and the project is over.

I’m sorry for all those who lost money and waited for years for this project to come to fruition. :-(

@Tobe71 can weigh in here, since this information came from his Facebook users group.

 

[piranhaman00]

Wow that website is pretty detailed and easy to navigate for being shutdown. Did people pre order or something?

 

[Kayvon]

I have some inside information that Vertex is essentially bankrupt and the project is over.

I’m sorry for all those who lost money and waited for years for this project to come to fruition. :-(

@Tobe71 can weigh in here, since this information came from his Facebook users group.

Wow no wonder I've been having a hard time finding any replacement parts anywhere. I thought the company was doing well?

 

[vangvace]

Wow that website is pretty detailed and easy to navigate for being shutdown. Did people pre order or something?

Many did and BRS hyped it up in some of their videos.

 

[twistedfinn967]

Is this the correct website? It appears to be online: https://www.vertexaquaristik.com/us/en/products/

There's a 40+ page thread about the Cerebra and it sounds like the company isn't responding to anyone. See https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/what-ever-happened-to-the-vertex-cerebra.305286/

Sounds similar to what recently happened with the MindStream.

No, that's not the website. Thanks though for the link to the other thread. It appears that things have been "nuked from orbit"

 

[Sleepydoc]

No, that's not the website. Thanks though for the link to the other thread. It appears that things have been "nuked from orbit"

Which website were you referring to? But the one @SuncrestReef linked seems to be up.

 

[twistedfinn967]

Which website were you referring to? But the one @SuncrestReef linked seems to be up.

Vertex had a Cerebra specific website/forum for everyone who had the cerebra. It was a private forum. I guess I should have been more specific in my initial post. My apologies. And yes, the one SuncrestReef linked to is up.

 

[Sleepydoc]

Vertex had a Cerebra specific website/forum for everyone who had the cerebra. It was a private forum. I guess I should have been more specific in my initial post. My apologies. And yes, the one SuncrestReef linked to is up.

It's hard to read anything either way into the public site still being up -a web site like that will stay up until it's actively taken down, so there will be no difference whether things are completely normal vs things imploding and they haven't gotten to or bothered with taking it down.

The closed cerebra forum is another thing. The fact that it was taken down with no notice is puzzling. It could be that there was some sort of server error or malfunction and it was inadvertently taken down or crashed, or that Vertex is imploding and the project is dead. If it was the former, I'd expect it to come up again in the next few days but it's odd that there was no other communication, unless the issue also affected other systems. If it's the latter, I almost would have expected them to just leave the site up but abandon it. Taking the trouble to take the site down without also making any other notifications is a bit odd, and if they took the cerebra forum down, why not take the other web page down as well?

Like everything else with the cerebra, all anyone can do is wait. The fact that the immediate conclusion of most people is that Vertex is closing shop does say something, however.

 

[Lonny]

Vertex had a Cerebra specific website/forum for everyone who had the cerebra. It was a private forum. I guess I should have been more specific in my initial post. My apologies. And yes, the one SuncrestReef linked to is up.

I can't even get to the log in page. Thought maybe it was on my end till I saw this post. There goes three plus years down the drain

 

[twistedfinn967]

The annoying part is not knowing. I don't wanna go and buy an Apex or GHL and then have a Cerebra show up on my doorstep. I've had plans and ideas on hold for way too long.

 

[Sleepydoc]

The annoying part is not knowing. I don't wanna go and buy an Apex or GHL and then have a Cerebra show up on my doorstep. I've had plans and ideas on hold for way too long.

I agree - the lack of communication is vexing to say the least. Even a web page saying "site down due to technical difficulties - we'll be back soon" or "Permanently closed - thank you for your business" would be nice.

If you want a controller, my advice to you is to go with Neptune or GHL. Both of which are solid controllers with a track record. Look at the best case scenario - Vertex gets their site back up soon and actually responds to some emails. Then you have the cerebra controller which is still in beta and a company with a spotty support record. If you're ok playing around with it and doing beta testing then fine, but understand that's the case. If you're looking for a solid controller with the kinks and bugs worked out it will be at least 6-12 months before you could even think about considering the Cerebra.

 

[Kyl]

Something really wrong in this hobby with all the business parties involved in this, from Vertex themselves to the retail partners that were hyping and selling this. Marketing is really turning out to be an insidious sleaze in this hobby, far more than I've seen in other niche interests.

I would hope, should this actually finally ship and be somewhat successful, that Vertex refund the 'beta' owners in some fashion. It's the least they could do for using you over the last three years in multiple ways, the least of which as an interest free loan.

 

[TheHarold]

Something really wrong in this hobby with all the business parties involved in this, from Vertex themselves to the retail partners that were hyping and selling this. Marketing is really turning out to be an insidious sleaze in this hobby, far more than I've seen in other niche interests.

I would hope, should this actually finally ship and be somewhat successful, that Vertex refund the 'beta' owners in some fashion. It's the least they could do for using you over the last three years in multiple ways, the least of which as an interest free loan.

Its the typical Kickstarter game. New company has a cool idea, gets millions of funding before they have a working product, collapse. Money disappears.

And it’s shocking how many (seemingly intelligent) people fall for it. Too much money in this hobby lol

 

[Sleepydoc]

Its the typical Kickstarter game. New company has a cool idea, gets millions of funding before they have a working product, collapse. Money disappears.

And it’s shocking how many (seemingly intelligent) people fall for it. Too much money in this hobby lol

This is a bit different from a kickstarter idea that flops. Vertex was a well known company in the marine aquaria world that had been around for years with many products already on the market. Controllers had also been around for several years, so while they may have had a different take on the interface, the concept of a controller was not new. Given this you can forgive people for buying into a new controller from Vertex.

As far as the retailers go, this post is informative. I think the retailers got taken for a bit of a ride on it as well; if you believe @Ryanbrs (and I have no reason not to,) vertex presented the controller as a completed product. BRS wisely saw the potential issues and sold it as a beta device. I'm sure they and premium aquatics have taken heat from customers over the cerebra. If you read the post above, it sounds like BRS would probably do it differently if they had to do it over. My only issue with the retailers is that there were several things which didn't make sense or add up when V1 was released and they seemed to accept them without asking a lot of questions.

If you followed the story over the past 3 years, from when it was first announced for sale, to its release, the subsequent announcement of the ground-up rebuild and all the delays, there have generally been two groups of people. Those who believed (or believed in) Vertex and the cerebra and those who didn't. All along, it's taken some faith to believe that Vertex would eventually produce a viable product and the events could be interpreted differently, depending on whether you believed them or not. Even now, things are looking pretty grim but we just don't know for sure.

 

[TheHarold]

This is a bit different from a kickstarter idea that flops. Vertex was a well known company in the marine aquaria world that had been around for years with many products already on the market. Controllers had also been around for several years, so while they may have had a different take on the interface, the concept of a controller was not new. Given this you can forgive people for buying into a new controller from Vertex.

As far as the retailers go, this post is informative. I think the retailers got taken for a bit of a ride on it as well; if you believe @Ryanbrs (and I have no reason not to,) vertex presented the controller as a completed product. BRS wisely saw the potential issues and sold it as a beta device. I'm sure they and premium aquatics have taken heat from customers over the cerebra. If you read the post above, it sounds like BRS would probably do it differently if they had to do it over. My only issue with the retailers is that there were several things which didn't make sense or add up when V1 was released and they seemed to accept them without asking a lot of questions.

If you followed the story over the past 3 years, from when it was first announced for sale, to its release, the subsequent announcement of the ground-up rebuild and all the delays, there have generally been two groups of people. Those who believed (or believed in) Vertex and the cerebra and those who didn't. All along, it's taken some faith to believe that Vertex would eventually produce a viable product and the events could be interpreted differently, depending on whether you believed them or not. Even now, things are looking pretty grim but we just don't know for sure.

All good points. I guess I had mindstream in my head when I made that post.

 

[Blue Lip]

I believe Vertex is no more. They strung people along and had many send in the parts to make the Cerebra they owned inoperative.

 

[Blue Lip]

From Toby

 

[Blue Lip]

Toby was Vertex # 1 cheerleader.