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Updating ebooks has become the equivalent of "we'll fix it in post", except that in this case the post-production is public. I'm not saying that most self-pubs knowingly turn things loose too early thinking it's okay to just fix it later, but I have seen things that make me believe that many think that an update makes it all okay. It doesn't. At worst, it's inconsiderate. At best, it's sloppy.
Mistakes do happen. I've got plenty of paper books in which I've seen the occasional error. All too often, however, the issues being fixed in updates are not "the occasional error" but rather glaring issues that never should have made into public view in the first place. Updates are all well and good, but they don't erase my first impression. When an author (or, in this case, editor) says, "it was fixed in an update", my only response is, "So? It wasn't fixed in the version I invested my time and/or money into."
I was once asked to read an updated version after expressing my opinion of a book. Not in a million years. Life is too short.
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