Quote:
Originally Posted by taming
There is an active beta process happening for Touch firmware. You know you don't want short cuts or to see the next version rushed out, right?
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The beta process is obviously broken. The last two releases have had such sufficient problems that Kobo had to make emergency changes to the release just so it wouldn't brick readers.
This suggests a number of things.
First, firmware development doesn't have clear release feature specs. Otherwise why are changes being made so close to the release date? Why are changes to basic functionality being made so close to the release date (missing top margin, anyone?)?
Second, Kobo doesn't have clear release procedures. Firmware releases are not clearly delineated. There were three different releases of 2.0.0, with two different internal release/build numbers.
Third, alpha testing is insufficient to catch very basic errors. Not being able to load the released firmware is a very basic problem. Not having top margins in sideloaded books is a basic problem. Automatically deleting changed sideloaded books is a basic problem.
Fourth, the beta testing scheme is either too small and/or the beta testers are taking shortcuts. Either there are not enough people banging away at the proposed releases to encompass a reasonable subset of the global audience, or the beta testers are not going through the proper motions to load the new software (you yourself have mentioned doing this).
Fifth, Kobo seems to be unfamiliar with the concept of a public beta. If they released the new firmware as a public beta, we'd all test it and give feedback back, without all the rancor that is visible in this, and other, threads. As the firmware is just beta, we would be quite willing to allow it to have problems. Kobo is sort of doing this, in a backhanded way, with the Japan firmware (2.1.1) being manually loaded by non-Japan customers.
Sixth, when the inevitable release foul-ups occur, Kobo doesn't fix the bugs first and release new firmware. It seems to maintain its existing future release schedule, and the bugs get fixed in the next regularly scheduled release.
Seventh, Kobo doesn't respect it's customers. It forces firmware updates on you, without asking. I think it forces Desktop changes on you without asking. I know of no technology companies that force updates on their customers. It has turned my full Kobo Touch into a Kobo Touch with Offers, in that I'm now getting a whole bunch of recommended books being downloaded to my Touch, consuming my limited disk space with the images from these books, and having two or three of the five menu options on the Home page leading to marketing pages. If I want recommended books on MY device, let me choose to put them there.
I want an eReader that just works. That lets me read books. The current Kobo software doesn't. For instance, who's the idiot that decided if a book file on the Kobo changed, it should be automatically deleted? The Kobo should never delete a sideloaded book unless specifically told to do so by the user. This is the very definition of a no-brainer.
The main problem with all of this is that Kobo is competing with Amazon and B&N. They have to approach things from a smarter direction, and frankly they are showing that their not-quite-so-smart marketing people are calling the shots on the technology side. They are very clearly showing that they are not a customer-centric company. They are showing that they are unable to allow their customers to have usual usage patterns (have you tried to use multiple accounts with a Touch? (notice the disappearing annotations, anyone?)).