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

[kobokobe]

Couldn't decide between 2 and 3, so just picked 3. Which is interesting, because had this been a 5-point scale, I would've given it a 2.

[the.Mtn.Man]

I've owned a Kobo Touch for close to two-years, and I've not had any significant problems with it, and what minor problems I have had were fixed in one firmware update or another along the way. I'm completely happy with my Kobo.

[kaufman]

I'm kind of in the middle. On the one hand, I like that they are making the effort to fix problems and add features. On the other hand, I am annoyed that they are making significant (to me, anyhow) functionality changes without adding an option to keep the old behavior.

IMO, epub display took a big step backwards this release. It would have been nice if they had added an option to retain the old functionality.

[MacEachaidh]

I'm not clear on if we're to score on the content of updates, or their method of distribution. Responses in this thread seem to be a mix of the two.


> For myself, I am grateful that updates appear to continue for the Touch. I wonder how long they'll continue?

> On the other hand, I really dislike that updates are pressed on users without choice. Log in to get a newly-purchased book, and whammo you've got an update that *may* not have positive consequences for your system or how you like it to function.

> The updates take sooooooo long. Even just syncing your desktop takes sooooooooo long it's kinda irrritating.

> I dislike the increasing focus on merchandising in the UI. I know Kobo is a business, I know the readers are an adjunct to book sales, but frankly I want them out of my face. I bought my Touch to read books, not as a bookshop app, and I wish Kobo would decide which it's going to be, and stick with it. (It was my choice to buy a Kobo, sure, but it's become much more of a persistent billboard than the device was when I originally bought it.) If Kobo needs the book sales to justify the device, then give us a version that doesn't pimp us every chance it gets. The market being what it is, I doubt it woud be any (much) more expensive.

> I dislike that most updates seem to arrive already broken. Where's the beta-testing or QC?

> I like some of the new features they've introduced over the last few updates (like the evolving shelf feature), and evidence that they listen to user feedback. Sometimes the development seems so slow, though. t comes in little drips rather than substantial flow.

> I'd really like to see substantial changes, when they come, be options or customisable, rather than 9as it appears) being a case of "some people have said they would like this better, so we'll make it the standard for everybody". That's a recipe, it seems to me, for annoying a huge number, maybe a majority, of your users.



So. I have no idea how to boil all that down to a single score.

[guma]

Originally Posted by TechniSol

I think we're all grateful that Kobo continues to provide updates, but I think most of us would prefer they "get all their stuff in one sock" and stop releasing firmwares they have to immediately replace due to creation of new bugs, while still leaving many other bugs unaddressed.

I'm not seeing 'immediate replacements' for buggy firmwares. That would be bugfix releases .... But I agree that there is a mismatch between quantity and quality of firmware releases. The quality of the firmware and of KOBO's firmware testing is just pathetic - and that is BECAUSE many of the annoying (to some people) bugs (and missing options) are actually, from a technical point of view, very easy to fix (and easy to spot even in unsystematic testing).

(I voted 1).

[teija]

I'd say 3 or 4, not because I'm not pleased that bugs ARE getting fixed (I'm very impressed with the timeliness of the updates), but because it seems that every update brings OTHER issues into the works and breaks things that were previously working.

Also, a user should have a CHOICE whether to initiate the firmware update or not (just like on iOS). I LOVE my Mini, but right now I am not using Wifi OR plugging it in to my computer because I don't want the firmware to update and introduce the glitches I don't want... A bit annoying as I can't update my book list for now.

[JSWolf]

I too am not a Kobo owner so I won't be voting.

I was really interested in the Aura HD when it first came out. But the more I looked into the Aura, the less I was happy with the firmware. I didn't like the wasted space at the bottom of the screen. Then another firmware update came out that took away space from the top of the screen. One of the reasons for better an Aura was to have more screen space then I do on a 6" reader. But because of the wasted space at the top and bottom, I'm not getting enough screen real estate to justify $170 + the cost of a cover.

What I notice from reading the Kobo threads is that the firmware is rushed. It's not properly tested. Bugs seems to come and go. A fixed bug is not one that is guaranteed to stay fixed. I don't get how the management allows such buggy firmware to be released on a regular basis.

Kobo needs to stop trying to add new features and actually fix what is broken. If they can do that, then I do think Kobo would be in a very good place given that they seem to have good hardware. But good hardware isn't much good if the firmware is buggy.

[Ken Maltby]

I agree that almost all the "problems" or "failings" of the AuraHD are firmware (FW)
related not so much hardware related.

It seems to me that the design philosophy is more geared to creating a very tight
lock-in to the Kobo servers and store, and much less to a good reading experience.
It seems they feel the need to have all the features of a teenager's cellphone, as
something they see as features the consumer wants in an ereader. (Makes me wonder
about the focus group they are using, how many of them could even be readers?)

The change in FW that I would prefer would be for them to create and offer the FW
to have an "AuraHD Simple". It would have none of the "Social" features, no "Awards",
no recommendations, and "Syncing" would be optional. It would get rid of the "shelves"
and problem prone cover display user interface, and keep the covers as the first page
of the book, not a factor until loading the book for reading. It would provide us Readers
with words not pictures, from which to select our reading material . A hieratical listing,
that the users can manage themselves.

The unnecessary (and unwelcome to some of us) features have created an overly
complex and error prone architecture that saps the power of CPU. Power that could
better be applied to improving the reading experience. There is no reason the 1000mHz
CPU can't properly handle the 10's of thousands of ebooks that older 400mHz devices
have no problem with.

Kobo could easily have both available, but I doubt that the corporate mindset that
is apparently dead set on a locked-down ecostructure would ever consider this
approach.

Luck;
Ken

[theonna]

Ken Maltby
I agree with every word.
In the mean time could they just enable file browser and make sync optional?

[PeterT]

Sigh.. when will people accept that ALL the Kobo supplied reading software on ANY Kobo eReader is tightly tied into the database and NOT into the file structure of the device.

[Ken Maltby]

Originally Posted by PeterT

Sigh.. when will people accept that ALL the Kobo supplied reading software on ANY Kobo eReader is tightly tied into the database and NOT into the file structure of the device.

And that is the major source of their problems. The database as an improved
settings table, has some added value, but it is an annoying overreach to try
and manage the reading of files through the database. Every non-Kobo file
is made without consideration of the data placement and construction needs
of your database.

Henry Ford: "Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants
so long as it is black." It seems that policy may have changed, could
customer comments/requests have had some impact?

I see no reason to "accept" things as they are, if that means I should not
ask for and suggest what I feel would be improvements. I fully expect that
Kobo will not be overly moved by my comments. I do think that hackers
could be looking at an opportunity of a lifetime.

Personally, I think Kobo will find their approach counterproductive in the
long run, much of it seems based on an "interconnected" social environment
fad. It is an unnecessary risk when they could easily have both.

Luck;
Ken

[xor_]

Not going to vote on this, because that's silly. But I have to agree that the single biggest annoyance is the database getting involved unnecessarily.

If you can't parse a file, that's fine. Reject it transparently. But there's no reason for a single malformatted ebook to make the whole device almost unusable. I've spent way too much time fixing books to prevent the database from choking.

That said, I haven't seen database choking in 2.5.2. Not sure whether they actually modified something, or whether I've finally koboified my books and reading habits.

[JSWolf]

I would not mind the firmware with the feature set it has now as long as they fix the bugs and the wasted screen space. They are very important to be fixed. I cannot (in good conscience) buy an Aura HD because of the firmware problems. I'm not going to be a beta tester for them when they don't even listen to the beta testers. Heck, they don't even listen to users as well.

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I would not mind the firmware with the feature set it has now as long as they fix the bugs and the wasted screen space.

Then buy that bug free device that does not waste screen space from Kobo's competition, because there is nothing compelling you to buy the Aura.

[theonna]

Originally Posted by BWinmill

Then buy that bug free device that does not waste screen space from Kobo's competition, because there is nothing compelling you to buy the Aura.

What's compelling is hardware and possibilities.
It is a shame that with all the great hardware Kobo stays the slowest of the all on market devices.