09-07-2012, 02:13 PM | #1171 |
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I'm seeing another problem. I've been jumping between books lately, and the book title on the sleep screen doesn't match what I was last reading.
For example: 1) I'll be reading book "A" 2) i slide the switch to go to sleep "A" - Sleep mode will be displayed at the top of the screen 1) I'll wake it up 2) start reading book "B" 3) slide the switch to go to sleep "A" - Sleep Mode will will be displayed on the top of the screen 1) I'll wake it up 2) start reading book "C" 3) slide the switch to go to sleep "B" - Sleep Mode will be displayed I think the problem occurs the first time it goes to sleep on a new book. Sorry if this was reported already. |
09-07-2012, 03:15 PM | #1172 |
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This bug was introduced with firmware 2.0 and they do not seem overly eager to fix it. But since 2.1 you have the option to display the wrong cover full screen or in a smaller version ...
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09-07-2012, 03:35 PM | #1173 |
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09-07-2012, 03:45 PM | #1174 | |
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09-07-2012, 04:31 PM | #1175 |
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09-07-2012, 07:56 PM | #1176 | |
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Quote:
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?)). |
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09-07-2012, 11:44 PM | #1177 |
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AMEN
@Murg: Nice and concise about how I've been feeling. I don't know about others but I've asked to be in the beta. Didn't even get a "Thanks for asking but we currently have all the beta testers we need." Just silence. I know I've been pretty vocal about my feelings on the 2.0 firmware release but when I am forced to upgrade and the upgrade is woefully lacking (buggy) and containing features that I not only dislike but hate and there are no features added that I like... on top of the feeling that none of us were expecting to be beta testers without agreeing to beta test... what can they expect. @Kobo: get a public beta test going. You get proper and more rounded out beta testing. The 2.0 should not have been released to the public the way it was regardless of the release in Japan. Sleep/Off mode displaying wrong covers, slow epub page turns, firmware the just won't install on some devices, crappy looking sideloaded fonts... Better to have stuck with 1.9.17 than to have had so many unhappy people. Fix bugs, let the public beta test, fix bugs, rinse repeat until the beta testers are happy... release. Add new features, beta test, fix bugs.... you get the idea. Most of the worst software and games are the ones that were rushed out the door with known bugs, just to get them out the door and start making money. "We'll fix the bugs later after release."... really great way to lose customers. By the time the bugs are fixed no one cares because the customers have moved on to other things. Sure you have their money now but they most likely won't buy from you again. |
09-07-2012, 11:50 PM | #1178 |
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@Taming: While we may not agree about the beta testing, kudos for standing up about it.
I'm curious as to why none of the other beta testers don't speak up? Taming seems to be the only one willing to stand up for being a beta tester and take the heat we are throwing off. |
09-08-2012, 12:44 AM | #1179 | |
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I'm not happy when people have problems and I know lots of the beta group are very active on here helping out where they can. I'd rather do that than get riled up over people complaining about things I have no control over. |
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09-08-2012, 03:11 AM | #1180 |
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Thanks, murg, for that clear statement of the issues. Whilst I don't get *really* worked up about it (for the simple reason that, for me, it has always worked as a reader), the inefficiency displayed by Kobo is very irritating.
Robko, thanks for your comment, too. I can see what you are saying, even if I don't have the same attitude. Longer replies later - work calls! |
09-08-2012, 06:43 AM | #1181 |
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I go absent from the board for weeks at a time. I do it when, from my perspective, people are rude and angry and do not seem interested in considering another POV. When being on MR is a stressor, rather than something I enjoy doing, I stop writing for awhile.
As Robko said, beta testers don't get paid to do this and we know only what we are told--which isn't much. For example, we found out about the new devices the same way everybody else did. I know that Kobo reads everything we write in the beta group and most of what is written in the sticky asking for improvements and changes and in threads like this. Beta testers will point to a thread on MR if something comes up and we want to make sure that folks at Kobo see it. As for why someone who asks to be included in the group gets no response, I don't have any special insight into this. I do know that it is important to me that people be capable of clearly articulating an issue without getting so angry that you just want them to go away. I would not be surprised to find that Kobo staff feels that way as well. If I were a staffer, I'd be looking to see what folks were like here, on MR, as an indication of what they were likely to be like in the group. It also may be that sometimes they just feel like they have enough testers. You may think we miss things, but we don't miss much. Keep in mind that we don't usually get to see the production builds, and bugs have been known to slip in there that were not in our last beta. As an aside: they are not big talkers/communicators. I am not at all surprised that they would choose silence over saying no and explaining why they did not elect to include someone in the beta group. We can write about bugs and never get a response, unless we ask directly if they have been able to replicate the issue. I know we are important to them, but they don't have the staffing to be able to assign a staffer to making us feel warm and cozy, much less to respond personally to things people say elsewhere. They do write on MR occasionally. I think it is pretty great that they do it at all. After all, this is not their official help site. I don't see much developer action on the other boards (well except for calibre--but MR IS the official support site there). I have come to understand that the Kobo developer group we work with is not all powerful. For example, some things that may seem to me to be development issues are really in the content folks' backyard. I also know that developers have advocated strongly for positions that were held by beta testers that involve different work teams. |
09-08-2012, 09:00 AM | #1182 |
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09-08-2012, 09:11 AM | #1183 | |
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FWIW, I am pretty sure that Kobo has never told us anything we are not free to share. We don't sign confidentiality agreements. I think they would have to be nuts to send devices out into the world before they were officially released. |
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09-08-2012, 09:15 AM | #1184 |
Gangnam style!
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09-08-2012, 10:47 AM | #1185 | |||
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Seems Taming summed up the problem with Kobo Beta testing rather well here.
Quote:
It was unfortunate for you Taming that you spoke up in defense of Kobo and the Beta testers as it gave all those who were angry that their Kobos were running as well as they were previously or borked altogether someone to focus their frustrations on. Honestly, at least for myself it was nothing personal towards you. I know if I had been ASKED to beta or was offered an option of beta testing, my attitude would have been quite different. I've participated in beta testing before. I know the drill. When I am asked or choose to beta test my goal is to help make the device or software the best that it can be, not to flame the developers. .... Quote:
.D. Here's a new firmware, tell us what bugs you can find... .B. We found this, this and this, .D. Ok we were able to replicate A & C, please give us more info on B so we can try and replicate... .B. I was able to replicate it doing this, then this and this .D. AHHH Ok we could replicate that, here is a new firmware fix for A & C while we look at B and try to fix it. .B. Yes we can no longer replicate A & C, they appear to be gone for now. That's good communication. What I expect myself to give and what I expect to receive from the person looking after the beta group. The person looking after the beta group does not have to be a developer but someone with good communication skills who can communicate to the developers the bugs that were found AND new features customers would like. He/She also communicates BACK TO the beta testers not only if more information is needed to pin down a bug, but where a bug has been fixed and if any new features have been added/changed and what specifically needs more testing. Perhaps I am reading more into Tamings comments than she meant but that is what I am getting. Quote:
Hmmm, maybe I wrote to much, wife just told me "Ok Shakespear your breakfast is ready." Man I hope I am not that hard to understand here |
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