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Why Johnny Won't Upgrade

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Re: Why Johnny Won't Upgrade

#361

Post by Google234 »

cwingrav wrote: post #354
megablast wrote: post #301

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple is one of the few coMpanies you should trust for this.

From the article, "It said the lithium-ion batteries in the devices became less capable of supplying peak current demands, as they aged over time. That could result in an iPhone unexpectedly shutting down to protect its electronic components. So, it released a software update for the iPhone 6, iPhone 6s and iPhone SE which "smoothed out" battery performance."

The alternative is that your phone shuts down

Re: Why Johnny Won't Upgrade

#362

Post by Google234 »

rightbyte wrote: post #258
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…

Can you downgrade the firmware? I feel like I am at the whim of anti social behavior and conspiracies at some anonymous office with auto updates enabled. The Scrum Agile morning standups at Toaster Corp. could just as well be in my kitchen pushing user hostile features for "business reasons" or enforcing ideologically pure ways to use their toaster.

Downgrading might also break apps and streaming services.

Re: Why Johnny Won't Upgrade

#363

Post by krageon »

throwaway_pdp09 wrote: post #334
Silhouette wrote: post #319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately, even if you have a right to send something back, it's not always practical. Typically those consumer rights only protect individuals, leaving businesses (even small ones, who are at a similar disadvantage to consumers in not being able to negotiate anything with huge manufacturers/suppliers) with little if any protection. One key difference from days gone by is that modern devices often contain large a…

> it's not always practical Any reason why not here? > consumer rights only protect individuals he's an individual. It was not apparently a business expense > with little if any protection If you're in the EU you've got protection. > that modern devices often contain large amounts of private data It's a TV so in this case so what (in general, perhaps, but don't most devices have encryption?) > And it's all rather aca…

The way you address it is unfortunate, but I think you make a salient point about the learned helplessness of a lot of people. That's what's moving companies to do ever more evil things, they're not some unstoppable force - they're just being enabled.

Re: Why Johnny Won't Upgrade

#364

Post by pantalaimon »

Google234 wrote: post #361
cwingrav wrote: post #354

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the article, "It said the lithium-ion batteries in the devices became less capable of supplying peak current demands, as they aged over time. That could result in an iPhone unexpectedly shutting down to protect its electronic components. So, it released a software update for the iPhone 6, iPhone 6s and iPhone SE which "smoothed out" battery performance."

The alternative is that your phone shuts down

I still remember when phones had replaceable batteries.

Re: Why Johnny Won't Upgrade

#365

Post by krageon »

markdown wrote: post #312
HenryBemis wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tip/suggestion: Make a separate Google account with fake name/suername for reviews on Google. I have a few Google accounts. Only one is my actual name. Especially for games and reviews I use an aliased account (just like I use an alias here). Google can still track me I guess (IP) but a single dev will never find who UnrealName UnrealSurname is. And I do tend to leave brutally honest and detailed feedbacks whether po…

You can't create a Google account these days without a phone number, and you can't reuse phone numbers. Worse, in my country, you need to register to get a phone number (anonymous /unregistered sims were outlawed a few years ago).

You can get digital disposable phone numbers online

Re: Why Johnny Won't Upgrade

#366

Post by Silhouette »

dt3ft wrote: post #184
viraptor wrote: post #54

I like the main idea here, but the points listed are a bit extreme. Specifically this one: > should never update a user interface without allowing the previous one to be used as the default Are you ready to pay for the ongoing support of all legacy interfaces, including the ones you're not using and which are possibly not used by anyone in the world (no telemetry)? Are you ready for all the bugs and security issues t…

It took a while to find a comment that points out the cost of maintaining legacy UI. It is highly likely that no customer is willing to pay for support of legacy anything, let alone UI. "Jonny" sounds like the kind of person that wants to purchase software at a one-time cost, and then expect free lifetime upgrades (which include all the outrageous demands such as supporting legacy UI). Make your own software Jonny, s…

"Jonny" sounds like the kind of person that wants to purchase software at a one-time cost, and then expect free lifetime upgrades (which include all the outrageous demands such as supporting legacy UI).

I think Johnny sounds like the kind of person who wants to buy software once, then simply have it keep working the same way indefinitely unless he chooses to buy a newer version. The only updates Johnny wants for free are the ones that fix defects in the original product that should never have been there in the first place like security vulnerabilities.

I don't see how Johnny's position is unreasonable. If you bought a fridge or washing machine and it turned out after some years that a design flaw created a dangerous situation, you would expect (and in some places, the law would require) the original manufacturer and/or vendor to recall the product and make it right. Software developers have enjoyed a free ride on this issue for many years, which was OK when the culture was that they would issue free bug fix updates from time to time voluntarily. If that is no longer the case and they're not going to fix important problems without also forcing other changes that the user might not want, maybe it's time software developers stopped getting a free ride on shipping poor quality products in the first place.

Re: Why Johnny Won't Upgrade

#367

Post by krageon »

zelos wrote: post #306
asdff wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

That’s not necessarily out of malice, though. Quite possibly the older version is using some server endpoint or format that the developer has deprecated and they want to reduce their maintenance burden.

> That’s not necessarily out of malice

It is not malice, it's laziness and stupidity. Most apps are so trivial it is absolutely not necessary to break compatibility when you release a new version.

Re: Why Johnny Won't Upgrade

#368

Post by 3r1kB »

Lio wrote: post #159
cs702 wrote: post #8

As a user of software, I couldn't agree more with the OP that automatic updates: > should always keep the user centric > should be incremental and security or bug fixes only > should never update a user interface without allowing the previous one to be used as the default > should never be used to install telemetry or spyware or to re-enable it if it was previously switched off > should never be used to install other…

I’m not sure it’s even to do with economics. Certain people just like to mess about with UI because changes excite them. Slack recently moved the profile settings from the left of the screen to the right. It hasn’t been replaced by anything on the left. Someone just decided to move it, they probably have some pseudo science about “design weight balance” to justify moving it. Really it’s change for change’s sake.

This! I came here to post something about Slack and their forced update. Click on a notification by accident and BOOM you have a new version with a new layout, even without shutting the software down. With every update they shuffle stuff around without adding much functionality. I guess the designers need to keep themselves busy or something. I hate forced updates like this

Re: Why Johnny Won't Upgrade

#369

Post by krageon »

Akronymus wrote: post #290
taneq wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So to sum that up, Johnny Won't Upgrade because like as not, the writers of the updates are The Enemy.

I literally only update apps on my phone when the old version becomes unusable [1] or when the new version actually provides something of worth. For desktop software, most seem to, sadly, be self updating or a website. For example, youtube now has a miniplayer when playing a playlist on desktop. I find that "feature" to be absolutely atrocious and would rather do without it. But due to it being a website they changed…

I do the same thing and I get an unbelievable amount of salt about it from my colleagues (most of them programmers), even though they have the same issues I do and complain about the same things. It's just not understandable at all.

Re: Why Johnny Won't Upgrade

#370

Post by throwaway_pdp09 »

Silhouette wrote: post #336
throwaway_pdp09 wrote: post #334

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it's not always practical Any reason why not here? > consumer rights only protect individuals he's an individual. It was not apparently a business expense > with little if any protection If you're in the EU you've got protection. > that modern devices often contain large amounts of private data It's a TV so in this case so what (in general, perhaps, but don't most devices have encryption?) > And it's all rather aca…

This is a much bigger issue than just TVs. And you seem to have ignored my entire final paragraph, which was about what I think we need to do to improve the situation. I am doing my part; I contact my representatives to draw tech issues to their attention, for example, and I donate to various relevant campaign groups. But I am only one person, and it will take more than just me and a few people like me to effect chan…

> This is a much bigger issue than just TVs.

You start somewhere

> And you seem to have ignored my entire final paragraph

which culminated in

>> sadly, it seems a lot of people either don't care enough to do that instead of moaning on Twitter of Facebook and then accepting their fate.

which is you accepting your fate, it seems. You suggested nothing useful, only moaned that others couldn't be bothered.

In summary you built up a case of hopelessness and accused others of it.

How come I often get results when I bug manufacturers? Your apathy superpower is painful to see. Thank you but that's quite enough, I prefer to get results instead.

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