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Why Johnny Won't Upgrade

jacquesmattheij.com

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Re: Why Johnny Won't Upgrade

#161

Post by jacquesm »

stubish wrote: post #141

Taring everything with the same brush. There was a time, not so long ago, when it was impossible to install Windows over the Internet because so many other machines were compromised and your machine would, with certainty, also end up compromised before it had gotten as far as applying the latest service pack. Then we got automatic updates, and we all breathed a sigh of relief because things got better . We had empiri…

There is nothing wrong with automatic security updates, I make that pretty clear in the article and don't understand why you come to the conclusion that I wrote that 'all automatic updates are bad'.

The second bullet in the list reads:

"should be incremental and security or bug fixes only"

Re: Why Johnny Won't Upgrade

#162

Post by asdff »

iliketosleep wrote: post #145
orev wrote: post #106

I had been using a great app that’s been around since before the iPhone came out (PocketMoney on Palm). They rewrote it for IOS, and it was able to import the database from the Palm version. Really great. Then sadly the author died, and it languished for a while until it was sold to someone else. The new owner seemed to try to keep it going, but then finally gave up last year and crammed an absolutely awful “update”…

If it's an option for you, it is possible to downgrade most apps if you jailbreak your phone and install a downgrade tweak.

Some apps are growing wise to holdout users, and force you to update to continue using services. That's ultimately been the death knell in every jailbreak effort I try, some essential app will eventually force me off the jailbroken iOS version.

Re: Why Johnny Won't Upgrade

#163

Post by Legogris »

AnonHP wrote: post #98

This is an area where iOS sucks. Having faced some undesirable consequences in the past from greedy and/or downright malicious developers, I don’t have automatic updates turned on for apps. But what makes things worse is that iOS doesn’t provide a way for a user to downgrade an app to a previous version. Since syncing app binaries to computers was also long removed (from iOS 9), the only special version of iTunes (12…

I don't want to defend Apple or iOS here, but Android (talking OS upgrades, not apps) is even worse, by far. Depends on the manufacturer and I imagine Google is one of the less horrible ones, but pretty much every update for Samsung Galaxy:

* Changes the UI in some way I don't like

* Re-enables intrusive, annoying and concerning background services and their permissions and notifications that are painful and time-consuming to disable

* Occasionally adds new ones of the above to the pile

* Contains important security fixes that all users should receive as soon as possible

* Doesn't provide detailed information on what the update actually includes ("The security of your device has been updated" is the ONLY information for the past four updates despite other obvious changes being co-bundled.)

It's a mess.

Re: Why Johnny Won't Upgrade

#164

Post by denkmoon »

FridgeSeal wrote: post #153
cringepirate wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No you got it the wrong way around. The power is in the hands of the user. > That will never happen as long as shareholders are the only people that companies are legally beholden to The user has a choice not to use products that are made by companies that don't respect them. > That will never happen as long as developers insist that their happiness is more immportant than that of their users The user can simply stop…

> The user has a choice not to use products that are made by companies that don't respect them. Yeah, much like how I get a choice to not use Jira at work, or to not use Facebook Messenger or not use LinkedIn right? The argument that everything ultimately comes down to individual user choice ignore so many externalities that it’s borderline unrealistic.

I have a social life without facebook, and I have a job without linkedin. You don't need them, you choose to use them.

Re: Why Johnny Won't Upgrade

#165

Post by blackoil »

tomc1985 wrote: post #146
cringepirate wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The last time I checked there was many competitors to Adobe in almost all the products they offered. You aren't forced to use their software at all. In any event you can slowly move away from using a companies products. It isn't a all or nothing proposition.

> The last time I checked there was many competitors to Adobe in almost all the products they offered. You aren't forced to use their software at all. Dude, if you're a professional graphic designer, you're using an Adobe workflow. The amount of friction that you would encounter in your daily work for any other choice is simply too high.

In other words, Adobe products are providing high enough value that people don't find it feasible to move away from it. If it is pure network effect, we should be seeing a regular but increasing decline in their market share.

You can't have the cake and eat it too.

Re: Why Johnny Won't Upgrade

#166

Post by FridgeSeal »

denkmoon wrote: post #164
FridgeSeal wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The user has a choice not to use products that are made by companies that don't respect them. Yeah, much like how I get a choice to not use Jira at work, or to not use Facebook Messenger or not use LinkedIn right? The argument that everything ultimately comes down to individual user choice ignore so many externalities that it’s borderline unrealistic.

I have a social life without facebook, and I have a job without linkedin. You don't need them, you choose to use them.

I have a social life without Facebook yes, but I have a huge chunk of friends who use it to communicate and organise things. Another example: I go mountain biking - local clubs use fb pages and groups almost exclusively to inform people about trail closures, updates, events, etc.

Re: Why Johnny Won't Upgrade

#167

Post by gsich »

cortesoft wrote: post #90
1vuio0pswjnm7 wrote: post #39

Everyone is entitled to an opinion and has the right to share it. Even in the case it may be unpopular amongst certain groups. As an end user, I do not like automatic updates (which may or may not be "upgrades"). I try to avoid software that relies on this approach wherever I can. I consciously choose software that is not in constant flux, unless something is broken. There is not a single software author that I trust…

> I prefer to evaluate software before I install it. How do you do this?

VM?

Re: Why Johnny Won't Upgrade

#168

Post by naavis »

mattnewton wrote: post #142
stubish wrote: post #141

Taring everything with the same brush. There was a time, not so long ago, when it was impossible to install Windows over the Internet because so many other machines were compromised and your machine would, with certainty, also end up compromised before it had gotten as far as applying the latest service pack. Then we got automatic updates, and we all breathed a sigh of relief because things got better . We had empiri…

It’s funny you mention Microsoft, because I have a windows machine to play games on. It regularly updates itself and re-enables telemetry I had disabled, shows spammy news in the start menu and ads for Microsoft products in my toolbar, and reinstalls skype every time I try to get rid of it.

I wonder if there are some differences between Windows 10 versions (like Home, Professional etc) there. I have never had that happen. I have Windows 10 Pro.

Re: Why Johnny Won't Upgrade

#169

Post by a_imho »

stubish wrote: post #141

Taring everything with the same brush. There was a time, not so long ago, when it was impossible to install Windows over the Internet because so many other machines were compromised and your machine would, with certainty, also end up compromised before it had gotten as far as applying the latest service pack. Then we got automatic updates, and we all breathed a sigh of relief because things got better . We had empiri…

Once upon a time I shared an office with sysadmins. Patch Tuesday was not something to be taken lightly.

On the serious side, imo the fundamental problem is control. Opinions align along the lines how strong one feels about their computing freedom.

Re: Why Johnny Won't Upgrade

#170

Post by gsich »

chrisseaton wrote: post #28
stan_rogers wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, that sounds inefficient for one of the parties - the provider. The provider isn't using the software to get work done, and doesn't incur training costs, etc. The provider's pet efficiencies cost the users real money (in the "a million here, a million there, and pretty soon you're talking real money" sense).

I can’t imagine any software update so drastic as to require ‘training costs’. Most reasonable people can figure out where a menu item has moved to.

Maybe if you use that program daily.
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