An intersection nearby was recently upgraded. It’s great: extra lanes, fresh white lines, new tar, working traffic lights. And it didn’t take very long. The workers started and finished this year.
Compare that to most other road upgrades. Along some main routes, all we see are the roadworks and delays. No actual new and improved road.
Update it to break it
Thinking about road upgrades led to thinking about software upgrades.
I could say that software upgrades are more like the current state of the R101 than the new intersection. But that’s not true. Software upgrades are more like those quick and dirty pothole patches. They look good, but leave even bigger potholes when it rains.
Yesterday Renier was installing software updates. He said, rather euphemistically: “It’s not going well”. Lewis is more vocal. Every time Windows updates, he rants about something else going wrong. Usually Teams.
Teams, by the way, is one of the most detested applications. Along with Jira and Outlook. That’s the feedback from developers. I believe the world’s worst software is SARS e@syfile. (As you know from my many previous rants.) The word “e@sy” in the name adds insult to injury. Every upgrade causes a new problem, and none of them improve it. I suppose it keeps the SARS call centre agents busy.
Where is the up in upgrade?
I understand the need for bug fixes. We prefer to call them updates – who wants to admit to having that many bugs? But they should be like the cleaners in a 5-star hotel. You don’t see them, you don’t hear them, but your room looks perfect.
I tried to think of the last software upgrade that I liked. I went through the list of all the software that I use. I couldn’t remember one upgrade that made me happier.
The worst upgrades and updates are those that mess with the hardware. How can it not find my camera? It was working a moment ago.
The next worst are changes to the user interface. Now I waste time because the menu options have changed. It is possible to make a user interface more intuitive. But most of these changes are window dressing. New fonts and colours to give it a “fresh” look. Aagh! I’m using it, not wearing it.
Don’t forget the upgrades aimed at the least competent user. All the useful features are now behind a “simplified” interface. It’s like being punished for being a skilled user.
Who is to blame?
There are good reasons for upgrades. Bug fixes, hardware improvements, compliance requirements.
But upgrades are also about revenue. User lock-in, features that are only in the “Pro” version, planned obsolescence, market perception. If you want to sell it now, you need to include the words “AI-enabled”.
Blame the software vendors. But we’ve bought into the concept of upgrades. Upgrade your car. That extra status means higher payments, premiums, and maintenance costs. Upgrade your house – have more debt and never-ending maintenance.
Sometimes this rat race is for the birds. A simple life sounds simply wonderful. What do you think?
I