Why Johnny Won't Upgrade • Hacker News Board

Re: Why Johnny Won't Upgrade

#431

Post by paultopia » Thu, Aug 27, 2020, 1:35 PM UTC

Thank you! So often, I've credulously consented to an 'upgrade' only to find that the new software refuses to work without malware-level access to my system (looking at you, Palo Alto Networks globalprotect[1]) or turns around and demands that all kinds of other software be updated for no reason (looking at you, homebrew), or just randomly perturb the user interface, seemingly only for the purpose of forcing users to pay for training to learn how to use the new one (looking at you, Microsoft and adobe), or being a bug-ridden half-baked mess (looking at you, Apple). DEVS, STOP IT.

This happens with hardware too. My building upgraded its (collectively paid for) cable internet from 100mbps to 250mbps. The cable company showed up and replaced the perfectly functional old modem/router with a "new" one theoretically capable of faster speeds, except that it runs blazingly hot and drops the wifi connection constantly; I suspect because 5mhz is actually overheating. I actually regret accepting free extra speed, and will probably end up ponying up 400 bucks for an eero mesh setup to fix the free upgrade that screwed over my whole network.

[1] this VPN software is malware. It demands the right to snoop on every system folder it can get its hands on and all kinds of admin details, for the privilege of... accessing university libraries. https://twitter.com/paulgowder/status/1296932684707631109?s=...

Re: Why Johnny Won't Upgrade

#432

Post by grishka » Thu, Aug 27, 2020, 1:36 PM UTC

echelon wrote: post #357

grishka wrote: post #332

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A smart TV is dumb as long as it never sees an internet connection.

It could encode signal in inaudible high frequency audio that the Facebook app passively listens for.

I'm sure it does not because modern mobile OSes would alert the user to it, but even if it did, there's an easy fix: don't install the app. For when you do need Facebook, use the mobile website.

Re: Why Johnny Won't Upgrade

#433

Post by scarface74 » Thu, Aug 27, 2020, 1:37 PM UTC

yyyk wrote: post #404

Google234 wrote: post #361

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The alternative is that your phone shuts down

The alternative is that Apple could tell the user the phone battery was going bad, so they'd buy a new battery rather than a new iPhone. The other alternative is that Apple could test the battery and apply the throttling only when appropriate (rather than generically over entire models). Weirdly, both decisions contributed to Apple's bottom line. What an odd coincidence.

They did not slow down the battery “generically over entire models”. They slowed it down when the battery was degraded. Wouldn’t it be much easier for Apple just not to issue OS updates for older phones if they wanted to encourage users to get new phones?

Re: Why Johnny Won't Upgrade

#434

Post by bsanr2 » Thu, Aug 27, 2020, 1:40 PM UTC

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…

I think the general consensus is that unless you own an OLED (in which case you want to stay in the native environment for the features that will help preserve the display's longevity), it's better to grab an Android TV box and run everything through that. If you have a Z9D, I'd say it's getting old enough that that would be a decent route to take (since otherwise it's still a better TV than pretty much anything out today).

Re: Why Johnny Won't Upgrade

#435

Post by kps » Thu, Aug 27, 2020, 1:42 PM UTC

panpanna wrote: post #349

eru wrote: post #326

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> People who routinely reset their ecosystem tend to lose then get forgotten. ARM seems to be doing well and they release binary incompatible chips every so often. And resetting had long been the norm in the world of games consoles. So I wouldn't take what we observed in the personal computer industry as a universal truth. It's probably rather contingent.

When did ARM ever release a binary incompatible CPU? For the application space they have the old armv7 and the new armv8. The latter can actually run armv7 in aarch32 mode.

Cortex-M only runs Thumb instructions, not the original instruction set.

Re: Why Johnny Won't Upgrade

#436

Post by mcv » Thu, Aug 27, 2020, 1:47 PM UTC

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…

There needs to be some sort of warranty on these kind of updates on devices like there. It's similar to when Google remote-bricked old Nest devices. They should be required to take responsibility for actively breaking our devices. It's a loophole in the law that this is legal.

Re: Why Johnny Won't Upgrade

#437

Post by oblio » Thu, Aug 27, 2020, 1:47 PM UTC

scarface74 wrote: post #430

oblio wrote: post #313

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://interestingengineering.com/apple-to-pay-up-to-500-mi...

I’m sure AppleTV’s will slow down when the batteries get older and they won’t tell you to replace the battery,..

It's just proof of planned obsolescence. For phones it happens one way, for TVs another way.

Re: Why Johnny Won't Upgrade

#438

Post by scarface74 » Thu, Aug 27, 2020, 1:49 PM UTC

unionpivo wrote: post #246

zxcmx wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Context matters. So 3d sculpting software or CAD do not deeply need automatic updates, although it can greatly reduce support requests (e.g. something in the OS changed, software is now crashing, need to install update). The state of play in 2020 however is that operating systems and browsers 100% need automatic updates for security issues. The reason we have them is because of all the bad things that happened when w…

I have been in IT for over 20 years now. I have had orders of magnitude more problem with updates than with malware/viruses/hackers. The thing is with malware/viruses/hackers sooner or later something will get through any defences, so you need robust recovery system anyway. And most updates that brake systems are not even security updates. I wouldn't mind automated security updates, but many many many maybe most vend…

I have been in IT for over 20 years now. I have had orders of magnitude more problem with updates than with malware/viruses/hackers.

Until you get hit by this....

https://www.giac.org/paper/gcih/201/microsoft-iis-superfluou...

It was the first widespread IIS vulnerability that almost hit me. The tl;dr version: All you had to do was encode a shell command in the url bar if the site was running IIS and it would execute it on the server.

Re: Why Johnny Won't Upgrade

#439

Post by igneo676 » Thu, Aug 27, 2020, 1:52 PM UTC

criddell wrote: post #422

shifto wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Does every update require a fuse to be blown?

No. They can choose if it's a minor-enough update and not blow a fuse

Re: Why Johnny Won't Upgrade

#440

Post by scarface74 » Thu, Aug 27, 2020, 1:54 PM UTC

wolco wrote: post #398

tomc1985 wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, you don't need them, but have fun filling in those blanks on your own time for 10x-100x the effort. Hope none of those missed connections are important, and I hope nobody gives you a pregnant pause after you insist, "no, I don't use Linkedin" at your next networking event. Network effects are strong. Too strong.

You are buying into the hype. Most people will find work through indeed linkedin may give you a 5% boost. If you say you don't have a resume.. Why would you need facebook messenger installed when you want fb events. Just login to the web version click events.

That’s just it. I don’t have to “find work”. Work finds me. I would have never found my latest job - working for BigTech in the comfort of my own home on the East Coast - if a recruiter hadn’t contacted me out of the blue. Every job I have gotten since 2012 (5) has been through a contact who found me through LinkedIn. Why would I reduce the ways someone contacts me?