On A scale of 1 to 10 how happy are you with the Way Firmware is being released

[jackastor]

I am curious, on a scale of 1 to 10 where 10 is totally happy and 1 is frustrated, how happy are you really with the way Kobo Is dealing with firmware release and issues...


(ease note that the first "9" should be read as 8... my bad.. thanks for the heads up.)


Don't hold back tell it as it is.

regards

Jack

[Breid]

I voted neutral because, perhaps I have been luckier than many posters on this forum, but I have had no major issues with firmware updates.

[Tzar]

About 3.

I am baffled by these firmware releases which are quite half-baked: some bugs are corrected, but then others that never existed before creep up, or existing functionality starts to break down. What gives?

I like my Kobo Reader very much (I first had a Touch and now a Glo), but frankly the hap-hazard firmware releases and evolution made me skipped on an Aura because of these issues. I am seriously considering buying a next-gen Kindle when Amazon will get a new one out and at that point Kobo may have lost me as a customer.

[treadlightly]

I'm a 7. They are fixing bugs with regularity. -1 each for:

-There are bugs that directly affect reading that still need to be fixed and should be addressed with higher priority than they are getting (e.g. long paragraph bug)
-They shouldn't change current functionality without making it optional (e.g. title bar for epubs)
-They should make firmware update optional (e.g. notify user, update? yes/no)

[Arios]

I really dont hate Kobo as I own the Kobo Touch and recently the Kobo Mini. Moreover the community here is "formidable", but how bugs are managed is far from good, particularly the old and important ones. So, just 2 for me.

EDIT: To be clearer I think the new updates break too easily and frequently what worked well before.

[FJames]

Looks like there are two poles so far, around 3 and 7. Personally I gave it a 7.

On the plus side:
- There are regular updates.
- The updates add genuine new features and improvements.
- It's possible to go back to any previous firmware release.

On the minus side:
- There's too much pointless fiddling with a UI that should be stable, and not enough fixing bugs
- It's annoying not to be able to turn off auto-updates when you sync other content

I think it balances more plus than minus.

[Ripplinger]

I'd much rather have far fewer updates where they fix current bugs. And then test it long enough to be sure they aren't introducing new bugs before actually pushing it onto everyone's readers. If it works as it should, you shouldn't need constant firmware updates.

My only reader before this to make any comparisons is the Sony x50 line. Only 1 firmware update that I'm aware of, but that's because it wasn't buggy, it just worked as it should and was as stable as you could get.

When users are purposefully avoiding downloading new firmware, Kobo has to realize there's a problem with their methods.

[david_e]

I vote 9.

I just read and I read quite a lot. The rare times I've needed to use the dictionary, I've had no problems, both Mini and Aura. Sometimes I need to adjust the font size and line spacing, not always. If it's comfortable to read the way it came from Kobo, I leave it alone. I think I've taken a few notes once and was able to look at them when I finished the book, so again, no problems.

Once I had a problem with italics being rendered as bold, half the book must have been in italics. I switched fonts, problem solved. Now, that has been fixed.

I'm a 3.

I have not run into major issues with the updates, however:

- Kobo has a tendency to make drastic changes to the user interface. Some people, understandably, get upset because it is no longer the product they bought. In my case, it leaves the impression that Kobo doesn't have much of a plan outlining the future of their products.

- Kobo pushes updates rather than letting customers decide if they want it. The only way to avoid these updates is to adjust your usage of the device or modify the device. (Adding to the fun, you can't predict when you're going to obtain an update so even the people who want the update are left jumping through hoops.)

- Kobo does not publish a list of fixed bugs. I understand why they don't publish a list of known bugs, but there would be a lot less confusion over whether to upgrade or not if a list of fixed bugs was provided.

- Kobo does not seem to fix a lot of bugs, even though some of those bugs should be trivial to fix. (Example: the PDF panning bug could be fixed by setting the refresh to 1 page within the PDF reader. It may be a kludge, but it will keep people happy and should only involve one line of code.)

- Kobo has yet to implement the "vaporize user who complains about Kobo's updates" feature, even though it would increase the sanity of posts of Kobo forums.

[frankenhooker]

I've gone for seven. All I do on my reader is open a book, read that book and then go on to the next, I don't even turn wifi on as I bought my device to read books, not check email or whatever. Since I bought my Kobo I've had four updates, only the first came up with a bug that managed to arse me off, that was the cover bug.

Since that one bug, I've been more than happy, in fact seven now seems a bit low. Then again I haven't bothered updating to the latest firmware, judging by reports I won't.

[sysKin]

I've gone for six:
+ never had any problems applying any of the updates
+ the firmware, in general, is reasonably good
+ they're releasing improvements with reasonable frequency

- they don't do follow-up updates to fix bugs. instead bugs just sit there until next larger update. at my work place, if a customer reports a bug, we strive to give him a new version (with just that bug fixed) on the same day. worst case next day. the point is that it makes us look GREAT in their eyes (the more minor the bug, the bigger greatness is achieved).
- firmware priorities don't match my own (for example responsiveness was always my #1 wish but I've never seen even minor performance improvement in the changes list)
- changes list is very superficial. if someone at Kobo thinks that listing bug fixes makes them look bad (because they admit bugs), I'd like to tell them they're imho mistaken.

The recent example of "priorities matching my own" mismatch (you know which one lol) might have affected the score a bit...

[VelvetElvis]

A 2 from me, for a couple of reasons.

- Incomplete/poor beta testing. It seems each release fixes one set of bugs, but introduces another set.
- More importantly, no published changelog. If you don't want to make a comprehensive changelog part of the user's reader experience, at least publish it somewhere on the web, where those interested in the minutiae can view what's changed, instead of having to rely on voluminous "bug report" threads on Mobileread.

[Xenophon]

I can't cast a meaningful vote, because I only got my first Kobo device this week. That said, the comments here in the Kobo forum seem to indicate a need for a somewhat more nuanced and responsive bug-fix/update process.

[BookBunny]

Neutral, because until they add a file/folder browser, I'm not touching their updates with a 7 foot pole. The firmware version that came with my device does all I want (sans above feature), so there's absolutely no reason for me to risk screwing that up for changes I don't need.

[Ken Maltby]

Originally Posted by BookBunny

Neutral, because until they add a file/folder browser, I'm not touching their updates with a 7 foot pole. The firmware version that came with my device does all I want (sans above feature), so there's absolutely no reason for me to risk screwing that up for changes I don't need.

I'm somewhat in your camp, as well, but that means you can't turn on the
WiFi, I take it. I also wonder if it automatically "phones home" when you
connect it to your PC? (I guess I could configure a firewall to prevent that.)

Stealth updating, not something I am in favor of.

Luck;
Ken