is there any reason why we can't just download the SD card image and flash it to an SD card ourselves?
I'm a linux user (don't have windows on any of my computers, never have, and never will) and would have no problem creating or using an SD card to upgrade my kobo.
in fact, for me it's the ONLY way i can upgrade. I don't and won't run closed-source software on my computers so even when you release a linux version of the kobo desktop program, i won't be installing or running it.
(the fact that the kobo presents as a USB storage device and books can be just copied onto it, plus the fact that it's well supported by Calibre were the two main reasons i bought a Kobo rather than some other reader. and Kobo seems to be a very open-source friendly company)
putting up a web page with instructions and download links to the SD image would also be useful to Windows and Mac users who accidentally brick their kobos while upgrading ("the cat pulled out my usb cable!" - betcha didn't have a cat in cable-attack mode in the office while testing
. they could download and flash the image immediately instead of calling customer support and waiting for the post.
and for future updates, it would also make it easy for us users to revert to a previous version if there was a problem or something we really disliked (like the sleep/power-off changes with the current new firmware).