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I’m blanking on the term d’art, but I see this similar to the common practice of blocking out features in an MVP where you let users click on things that aren’t
by zaroth 7y ago
I’m blanking on the term d’art, but I see this similar to the common practice of blocking out features in an MVP where you let users click on things that aren’t implemented yet in order to measure which features you should actually go and build next. It’s a neat way to quickly get real-world data on what people will pay for and what features they want.
The alternative would have been waiting to ship these customers their new cars until the software was ready. Shipping it early with the explicit notice that eventually the software will arrive which will limit access properly is a win-win for everyone. Customers get their new car sooner, they get free access to a bunch of features they didn’t pay for, and the option to upgrade is always there if they do want it in the future.
Clearly these owners are getting a software upgrade, which is implementing new software checks to provide the correct functionality as ordered based on their SKU.
In my past company we also shipped features to customers without all the software limits enforced in firmware in order to get the build out to the field. I imagine it’s a fairly common practice, as we tend to code those features last, as nothing depends on them, and you can always ship without them when the sales guy is selling based on the price sheet, not whether the software actually implements the check. As long as customers don’t start to believe the check will never actually ship, the bug sat Unassigned.
- Deimorz 7y ago> I’m blanking on the term d’art, but I see this similar to the common practice of blocking out features in an MVP where you let users click on things that aren’t implemented yet in order to measure which features you should actually go and build next. I've seen that called "fake door" or "painted door" tests.
- throwaway2048 7y ago>Clearly these owners are getting a software upgrade, which is implementing new software checks to provide the correct functionality as ordered based on their SKU. that is some pretty absurd spin
- zaroth 7y agoHardly; it precisely describes what is occurring. Calling it a downgrade seems to me to be the absurd spin. It's clearly not a downgrade, as the feature checks weren't even implemented in the previous versions. I understand what the headline is trying to say, but it's a total misnomer to call it a downgrade.
- throwaway2048 7y agoOnly in a very pedantic sense that nobody cares about except people that want it to look better than it is.
- zaroth 7y agoI think a fair headline would be “Tesla Finally Implements Software Limits for Base Model 3 Package”. Or perhaps, “Free Ride for Base Model 3 Owners Comes to an End”. I think it’s interesting and newsworthy that Tesla shipped the cars initially without the limits. I don’t think it’s fair to present this as a downgrade. What they actually did was give some customers something extra for free for several months.