Firmware Upgrades For Everything

Posted by michael on Friday February 27, 2004 @09:55AM from the upgrade-to-toaster-2.0 dept.

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."

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Sounds like extortion to me.... by TheLinuxSRC · 2004-02-27 09:57 · Score: 0, Redundant

Some cell phone patches require a proprietary cable ($25) that will then wipe out your phone book.

So, you are sold something that does not work as advertised, and to get it to work as advertised you have to spend $25 on a $2 cable? Only to find out you just lost your address book? Hmmmphh.