![]() But it was probably actually an honest assessment of the difficulties of building, testing, and operating a complex service at massive scale.Īnother Google example is version 3 of its Android operating system, aka Honeycomb, which the company rushed to market so tablet makers could answer the success of Apple's iPad and so programmers could adapt their apps to bigger screens. In practice, it was silly, given how many people relied on it. People ridicule Google for having left Gmail in beta for years. I also think we'll see more a more continuous parade of point releases-bug fixes, performance tweaks, and modest new features. I don't expect everything to move toward these "silent updates," but I think we'll see a general shift in that direction. Some programs-Chrome, for example, or Windows Update if configured as Microsoft recommends-automatically download new software updates and install them without user input. Now that Internet connections are coming to electronics-printers, smartphones, tablets, and more-you can expect upgrades to be easier. But each improvement was a cumbersome manual process. And another major video change arrived nearly a year and a half after the camera's debut. Now that's changing, too.Ĭanon turned my SLR into a much more powerful videocamera with a firmware update more than half a year after the 5D Mark II went on sale. The Internet has gradually eroded that, introducing features such as Windows Update and antivirus definitions that can catch up to malware faster.Įlectronics were left out for awhile. But in earlier days, it was hard to distribute software, especially big packages that came on a CD. First, of course, came software, a product that's famously mutable. It's taken a while for the electronics industry to adjust to the idea of firmware. Manufacturers that wait lose out to those that don't-especially when they're selling not just a solitary product but something like a smartphone or tablet that's the foundation of an ecosystem of apps, content, and social networks. Second, the competition is incredibly fierce. ![]() And when you're buying something like a car or a pair of shoes, that's not unreasonable.īut in the age of networked electronics, things are different, for two reasons.įirst, through the miracle of firmware and the Internet, a product can change after you bought it. That's the way commerce has worked for ages, with manufacturers' reputations taking a hit if they shipped goods that were faulty or that fell short of promises. ![]() It's not unfair to expect a product to work when you buy it. But-at least for the companies that are paying attention-today's process can deliver a better product sooner, regardless of its version number. So yes, it's true that companies are often foisting version 1.0 on us when it ought to be labeled version 0.9. That's because the fact that we've all become involuntary beta testers also means that manufacturers are listening-capturing our crash logs, seeing the features we use often or not at all, uncovering the baffling step where we abandon a process. But it's time to be practical here, because the situation isn't going to get better anytime soon.Īnd, perhaps contrary to customer opinion, I think the system we have now actually works better for customers. I certainly don't like it when new products fall short. ![]() Today's exhibit: Amazon will update the Kindle Fire software in the next two weeks to address shortcomings in a product on the market for only a month. Commentary If you're one of those people who thinks a manufacturer actually should finish a gadget's software before putting it on sale, it's time to get a grip.īecause in the electronics world, those days are gone.
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