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Why Johnny Won't Upgrade

jacquesmattheij.com

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Re: Why Johnny Won't Upgrade

#271

Post by saagarjha »

Joeri wrote: post #216
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”…

There are very convoluted ways to backup and restore apps and data on iOS, even to go back to an older version of an app, but they require a lot of fiddling (literally, with fiddler), and if the app has changed its data format you need to have a backup of the old data in a format that can be restored. It would be nice if apple added time machine to iOS and iPadOS and let you restore any previous version of an app and…

Not only does Apple not care, they themselves have pushed updates to iTunes to remove this functionality…

Re: Why Johnny Won't Upgrade

#272

Post by ancarda »

If I open the Play Store on my Android, I see 28 updates pending. Why haven't I hit Update All? Well, lets see what the release notes say (i.e. why should I update):

    New features added and bug fixes.

    Information not provided by developer.

    Bug fixes and enhancements.

    Information not provided by developer.

    (Description makes it clear it will break something for me).

    We're always making changes and improvements :)

    Information not provided by developer.

    (App adds some bullshit AR stuff I don't want or need).
I did update Firefox and Telegram though.

Re: Why Johnny Won't Upgrade

#273

Post by whatch »

jiggawatts wrote: post #252

Don't forget: "Never slow down the user interface". I have a 4K Sony television that was their flagship model when it was new, but a couple of years ago they "updated" it with a new version of its OS that looks identical but is incredibly sluggish. Not technically broken, but frustrating to use. Moving around between menu items is a good 2-3 seconds, up to 10 in some cases. There is literally nothing I can do about t…

Maybe it's because I've never owned a dedicated TV and used a lot of computer monitors, but I've always treated TV as just another kind of output device, not independent system.

They try to use "smart" features to promote their products, but instead what they do with them shortly after the purchase has exactly opposite effect.

Also some of them (Samsung) intentionally break some (or all) smart features in some cases [0]. Even if they are legally allowed to do so (And of course they do. Who reads TOS...), it makes me really uncomfortable to buy any "smart" TV. It's a pity one cannot buy a dumb TV with quality picture and sound today.

[0]: https://www.archyde.com/samsung-blocks-the-tvs-of-russian-us...

Re: Why Johnny Won't Upgrade

#274

Post by mschuster91 »

shifto wrote: post #237
mschuster91 wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Even if I am able to wrest control away from the manufacturer (e.g. "jailbreak" the device) I may not be able to revert to a prior version because the hardware identifies itself as being physically unable to run the old software. coughs in Nintendo Switch

It seems the Switch has 64 burnable fuses. What will they do after the 64th update?

Right now they're at 36 releases, gonna get interesting for sure

Re: Why Johnny Won't Upgrade

#275

Post by whatch »

pmontra wrote: post #270
saagarjha wrote: post #268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Guess what? The new TV uses that software too, so it’s about as slow.

Maybe it's got a faster CPU/GPU. Saw that happen with computers and then phones for some 40 years.

It's much better with computers, though. I am able to decently run modern games on 2015 gaming PC.

My 2015 flagman phone from meizu seems to have the same processing power as potato. And I don't even play games on it.

Re: Why Johnny Won't Upgrade

#276

Post by tonyedgecombe »

rraghur wrote: post #250
tonyedgecombe wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there an open format for bookkeeping data? I suppose you have ledger-cli but that's hardly useful for normal people.

Or as someone posted here on HN a while ago - sqlite?

Too far down the stack. It may be the OP's data was already in sqlite but that doesn't help even if the next application uses sqlite because the schema will be different.

Re: Why Johnny Won't Upgrade

#277

Post by dt3ft »

cgrealy wrote: post #225
dt3ft wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you pay for your software through a subscription, of course, no problem. You paid for software once? Well, tough luck. Your older versions will no longer be supported because we can't afford developers because you stopped giving us money. There is no way anyone is going to be supporting old formats while providing free updates. This makes no business sense.

That very much depends on the license. Many licenses include future updates. I am far more likely to pay for software that supports file formats in the future.

> Many licenses include future updates.

May be so, but likely not in the long run. Developers don't quite want to work for free, and providing free updates is a bad business model if licensing model is "one time fee".

They may say "free updates" to lure you in, but updates are only provided for your version. As soon as a new major version comes out, your current version will stop receiving updates. You will have to upgrade to the latest version at some point, and this upgrade is definitely not going to be free.

You get what you pay for.

Re: Why Johnny Won't Upgrade

#278

Post by throwaway_pdp09 »

It took me 3 days to initally install visual studio first time. The next install only took a day. These days it's down to a couple of hours (I know what not to do). Visual studio tells me there's an upgrade available. Am I going to risk it? Am I hell, I've got work to do. It's supposed to be a business tool not a toy, why doesnt' MS treat it as one?

Re: Why Johnny Won't Upgrade

#279

Post by dayjobpork »

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.

Have you ever used any complex software, especially aimed at specific skills / occupations? It's like they throw darts at balloons to randomly select which UI elements are being moved each release. I've used Word every day for years and I still struggle to remember where uncommon functions are in the ribbon. Going from an older Photoshop to the most recent, finding the correct icon means I have to stop and figure out what it is now, slowing me down. I flat out cannot figure out the new Photoshop start up interface and immediately reenable the old one. Every person at work who upgraded to Office that changed the Save UI to the online shit absolutely flipped their shit.

Software companies are forever forcing unwanted changes on users who use the software all the time, and it absolutely and costs time and money to retrain staff to be able to keep doing the work they were already trained to do. No user or company wants existing functionality changed

Re: Why Johnny Won't Upgrade

#280

Post by donpott »

OkGoDoIt wrote: post #136
prawn wrote: post #113

My App Store updates badge is triple-digits. I resist updates as long as possible because they are almost always riskier than the rewards they bring. They introduce ads, or cloud features I never wanted, they force subscriptions, they add tracking. At one point, I used my ancient text editor for 10+ years without updating it. I've used Sublime Text 2 for many years with no interest in updating it (though I'm sure it'…

Same here, I’ve had automatic updates disabled for years and I turned off the notification badge for the App Store. Unfortunately some apps phone home and determine they are not the latest version and then refuse to let you use them until you upgrade. Mostly banking apps, which I guess maybe I can excuse, but also Facebook messenger. Once FB messenger pops up with that notification that I need to “upgrade in order to…

WhatsApp too. My version of it "expired" yesterday and wouldn't work until I updated it.
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