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Firmware Upgrades For Everything
eggoeater writes "Forbes Magazine has an article discussing how more portable electronics are not only suggesting firmware upgrades, but requiring them in order to get all the features! Apparently the new Lyra A/V Jukebox will sometimes display a message stating that 'this feature will be available in future upgrades.' In addition, the article states that some patches are difficult and dangerous depending on the component. Some cell phone patches require a proprietary cable ($25) that will then wipe out your phone book. This raises concerns over alienating users that aren't tech-savvy and how this could affect perceptions of portable electronics as a whole."
I wouldn't have much of a problem with this if it weren't for the fact that updates tend to break stuff as often as it fixes them.
Even mobo manufactures say to upgrade only if the update fixes a specific problem you are having.
Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
You ship the product when marketing decides it needs to be shipped, not when it's done. You make all the required features exist so that the bullet points are covered in the specifications, even if they don't work right all the time. The fixes come later, in the order of the number of complalints.
It sucks, but that's the way it is. Your product is either first, or it needs to be 10 times better than the other guy's product.
My other first post is car post.
3. Make enough money on Product so that they can stay in businness and produce product "V2" that actually does have features X, Y, and Z (or maybe just X and Y).
Hopefully that staves off 4 for a while.
Worked for TiVo, sort of.
My other first post is car post.
Now I've found my telescope (Meade ETX-125AC) Autostar computer can be upgraded, but with a special cable for my purchasing pleasure. Hm.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Consider this: most items that require firmware updates attach in some way to a PC, and get those updates through the PC.
What if there were some kind of a standardized firmware upgrade protocol (kind of like the windows automatic updater service-thingy) that kept track of your devices, notified you when updates were available, and flashed the updates for you?
End user no longer has to be very savvy, but rather just has to have the firmware updater software installed. Updater reaches out to product web services (provided by manufacturers) for each product it is aware of, and checks for updates, and downloads 'em.
Network devices (such as wireless routers) could find their own manufacturer, and update themselves (or not, of course, depending on user prefs)
Something I learned a long time ago. Don't EVER make a purchase you'd find useless if a promised future feature/accessory/upgrade doesn't actually happen! I've seen companies promise accessories down the road that don't actually happen. Features that should only require a firmware upgrade turn out not to be possible without a hardware change. My personal favorite for a while not has been HDTV upgradable TVs - a couple of years after you buy that new TV, are you SURE that company would be happy developing new accessories for "last years model" or do you think they'd MUCH
rather sell you this years model... Are you sure that new DRM standards aren't going to cripple the possibility of that future accessory upgrade you were promised?