Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Software Update, iPhone
iPhone: it is all about the firmware
Many people are eagerly awaiting the big, big software update for the iPhone. You know the one, it'll add full Exchange support, chat, and free money for everyone! However, Russell Beattie thinks we're all overlooking one point: the ease of updating the iPhone.Russell makes a great point, and one that I have been thinking about myself. We all have lots of electronic devices which are all running some flavor or another of software. When was the last time that software was updated? And how was the software update experience? Now compare that to the fast click at which Apple is releasing updates, minor though they may be, and how easy it is to apply them. Night and day, at least in my experience.
Once again the Apple experience is leading the pack here.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Vic said 6:13PM on 8-23-2007
Apple is not leading the pack here, Nokia and Sony are. Apple requires you to connect to iTunes to do updates, but Nokia can do it over the air. You just click the update button. Same with the PSP.
http://www.slashphone.com/64/5100.html
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Luigi193 said 6:13PM on 8-23-2007
I am sorta confused on what the heck this post means...
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nickbonanno said 6:17PM on 8-23-2007
Scott is right, most "smart phones" are quite annoying to update and to the normal folk updating is a bitch. With iTunes its easy as pie.
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Fred said 6:28PM on 8-23-2007
Unless you use iFuntastic. Which I knew would be a bitch going into it, but let's face it. Apple NEEDS to get the update out the door as soon as they have it done.
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Kevin45 said 6:37PM on 8-23-2007
As much as I like the iPhone, this isn't anything new. A number of companies/programs have been doing this for some time now. You know, like Firefox and Thunderbird, and various hardware manufacturers (you DO know what Firefox and Thunderbird are, I hope :-). It can also be annoying/scary: "OMG! Why is my computer trying to connect to the internet?!"
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Quix said 6:47PM on 8-23-2007
"Fast click???" It's been two months since the iPhone release and Apple has issued two *minor* updates, neither of which addressed any of the major software-related gripes being voiced by users since day one. Where's my unified mailbox? My landscape Mail orientation and wider keyboard? Cut and paste? Etc. etc.?
Apple needs to pick up the pace. Two months in the tech business can be more like two years. Apple's competitors are hard at work catching up - definitely a daunting task for them, but a task made much easier if Apple is standing still. You can't just walk the cutting edge, you have to run.
I love my iPhone, but I'm getting anxious to see some serious functionality updates.
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Phil said 6:58PM on 8-23-2007
I think this guy (http://cheeseheadtech.blogspot.com/) is saying what he didn't. There's some insight here that makes sense.
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rothgar said 7:17PM on 8-23-2007
I would have to agree with Vic and say that Sony is leading this pack (I have no experience with nokia). The PSP and PS3 get updates almost every month and are as simple as going to the menu and saying update. If you are on the psp you have to plug it in or at least have more than 75% battery though.
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dbTodd said 7:20PM on 8-23-2007
I thought the post was aimed at appd beyond the iPhone also. If so, I think all the apps that use Sparkle are a very good example of how "updates" should be done. They are flawless in the procedure.
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Reg Muffet said 8:15PM on 8-23-2007
@Vic, I have to disagree about Sony and the PSP.
Yes, if you know what you are doing, but it is not nearly as simple as Apple's method.
Case in point: I have a neighbor with 3 young children and she wanted me to show her/them how to make videos to play on the PSP.
They had 2.0 era firmware, because the only time they'd applied updates was when a new purchased game prompted them to.
As PSP enthusiasts know, videos on the PSP only got good with 3.30+ firmware. So not only didn't they have the right setup for getting videos running, but getting newer firmware proved difficult.
They couldn't get the PSP onto their network, she has a Mac so the firmware updaters couldn't be downloaded, and no recent games they've bought have any later firmware.
Their PSP is still stuck on some 2.x firmware.
(I'm tempted to offer to install an "OE" one, but that wouldn't be ethical.)
By contrast, if my neighbor got an iPhone (I've given her a few demos and her jaw has dropped each time so it's quite conceivable in the future) I'm sure she'd have no trouble at all keeping up with the latest firmware.
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Wysiwyg said 9:06PM on 8-23-2007
I'm with luigi193 here. What the heck is this post about? To me, gone are the times when you shouldn't even have to bother with software updates - an poor excuse to release shoddy software before it was ready. C'mon, even videogames - videogames! - requires software updates now!
Damn, i miss my NES. Yes, you can call me old school.
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Wysiwyg said 9:07PM on 8-23-2007
Avast, "a poor excuse". Arrrr!
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Allan Clark said 9:51PM on 8-23-2007
I kinda posted this in May, but my blog is a bit too boring to be noticed :( I worked at a Smartphone manufacturer then, and received very little interest when I commented this.
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Allan Clark said 9:52PM on 8-23-2007
Seems my URL was dropped. Let me try again: http://wp.chickenandporn.com/2007-05-06/react-differently-ipod-trains-us-to-make-iphone-a-success/
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Brian Cohen said 10:10PM on 8-23-2007
It doesn't get any easier than the iPhone. PSP is also good, but firmware update takes 4 or 5 times longer than the iPhone. I've also owned SonyEricsson UIQ Symbian phones. Firmware updates last up to an hour and I was always holding my breath. iPhone wins!!!
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JeffDM said 11:05PM on 8-23-2007
I updated a Samsung Glint when I bought it, it's over the air and only took five minutes. The update checker is a little out of the way though.
Updating over the home Internet probably saves Apple money though.
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ishcabittle said 12:35AM on 8-24-2007
So all the kids who haven't hacked their phone don't know the dramatic shift towards instability that added apps produce. I say better to release software that is stable four, five, even six months after initial release than release crap that freezes my phone. I got rid of my Treo for a reason.
Erica's apps not included, of course.
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Matteo said 2:59AM on 8-24-2007
SonyEricsson phones, after a long series of complaints by the users, got the ability to insall firmware updates a long time ago. There is a special software that allows you to install the updates. I own a k800i.
This is not a smartphone, so updates are basically just bug fixes (no new features), but I found it nice that I could install everything on my own, without having to go to a service center.
Why am I talking in the past?
Because SonyEricsson only created their software for Windows!!! How lame is that??
Anyway, iPhone has a nice feature, but it is not a new one and also not much more user friendly compared to SonyEricsson's.
I should, however, point out that it is WAY better than the one for Windows "smart"phones (where "smart" has just been put there for marketing purposes). I had a Windows Mobile based phone and it was horror at it's finest! (both hardware as well as software where useless).
I cannot tell anything about Nokia, since I never owned one (and here I might just be the only person in Europe who can claim that).
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basscadet said 4:54AM on 8-24-2007
5+ years ago, a friend bought a Bosch washing machine that could get its firmware updated. Let's stop admiring the obvious, it's a freaking phone.
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Iscariote said 10:46AM on 8-24-2007
Matteo: Go into the settings menu on your K800i and click "Update service". You can update the K800's firmware over the air.
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