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Why is there no user-facing firmware update/recovery feature, so that at least tech-savvy users can resolve the issue themselves? Or a reset feature that revert
by Nextgrid 5y ago
Why is there no user-facing firmware update/recovery feature, so that at least tech-savvy users can resolve the issue themselves? Or a reset feature that reverts to the factory firmware located on a separate, read-only chip?
Ah yes, it's to prevent people downgrading or running "unauthorized" firmware when they inevitably start adding user-hostile "features".
- jaywalk 5y agoIt's probably more about cost savings than anything else. Why add a USB port and the associated functionality required to do manual updates when it's got a fantastic remote update capability?
- Nextgrid 5y agoIt doesn't need extra hardware. Most routers have some rudimentary TFTP boot mode that can be accessed by powering it up while holding a certain button. The device already has Wi-Fi, so the same mechanism can be used - if powered up in recovery mode, it'll scan for a specific SSID and then TFTP boot from a specific IP on there.
- gpvos 5y agoThe percentage of microwave users that could perform such a trick rounds down to zero.
- Nextgrid 5y agoSo is the percentage of router users... and yet those debug modes are there because they cost nothing and can be useful in "oh shit" moments like these.
- macintux 5y agoA router being down is potentially catastrophic for a household/business. Certainly more important (under most circumstances) than a microwave oven.
- rootusrootus 5y agoEh, I think you're being uncharitable. My 80 year old mother could definitely figure out how to hold down a button while turning the thing off and on. We've been living with some version of that reality for decades.
- gpvos 5y agoAlso to set up a wifi network with a particular SSID and a device on that that runs a TFTP server?
- Zancarius 5y agoIf it has a companion app for a phone (which this appears to be), you could easily have the phone do this for you. Not unlike setting up a wifi hotspot. Just have support walk them through a menu on their phone for an "advanced" feature they just tap on, then hold the button on the microwave. Voila! (Granted, I did tech support long enough to know this isn't easy; if someone can follow instructions, however, it should be doable.)
- rootusrootus 5y agoMy mom is pretty adept with her iPad. If she was instructed to download an app, load it, and then stand in the kitchen after doing the button-push on the microwave, it would be completely within her ability. She knows what a wifi network is, she knows the password for hers. She is definitely slowing down a bit with age, but she rarely requires me to come over and help her with such things, at most she just asks for more confirmation these days before she says yes to a prompt. That last part could also be because I harp on it every time the topic comes up, that under no circumstances should she be answering yes or ok to any random prompts that she isn't very familiar with already, and please call me if she's at all questioning the legitimacy of what she sees.
- ajford 5y agoI wonder if that percentage of tech-savvy "elderly" is going up over time. I know I remember hearing that about anything computer related 20 years ago, but many of the people in the upper age ranges now lived with computers for a majority of their life. My grandma is not tech savvy, but can follow directions pretty well. My spouse's grandma is tech savvy to a certain level and manages her own computer and photo library. I know either of them would likely be able to hold down a button and follow some set of directions to join a wifi and upload a file.
- sebazzz 5y agoTrue, but is still easier than to replace the PCB or the entire unit. A technician might need 15 minutes to do the procedure.
- jjulius 5y agoTo be fair, if we're talking about cost savings, it would be a lot cheaper if they didn't bother with paying devs to push firmware updates to a fucking microwave that should just work on it's own.
- aeyes 5y agoAs a consumer I want a button which I can press for 10 seconds to reset the device to how it came out of the box. That should include any firmware updates because remote bricking happens all the time.
- wubbert 5y agoA better question is, why do microwave ovens now need internet connections and software updates?
- Nextgrid 5y agoI don't disagree, but at least if you're going to be putting software on there, do it properly and leave an escape hatch.
- jws 5y agoA model number search reveals that it can be controlled by Google voice commands and there is an app which presumably does something. It is a high end (costs 12x what I paid for my last microwave) with browning elements. If that is the device you cook with you are probably wanting more out a microwave than a single big red button that says “+30 seconds” on the front. Programming your defrost, cook, and browning cycle is probably nicer on an app.
- apexalpha 5y agoI mean I can think of a few options: - Pre heat oven remotely - Check on the food remotely - Have (and update) settings for specific food? I mean it's not the worst thing to connect online.
- jandrese 5y agoWho preheats a microwave oven?
- rainsil 5y agoIt's a combination microwave/convection oven.
- zepearl 5y agoI would never ever dare to preheat remotely (and having an open Internet connection that has the potential to allow that would be a nightmare for me). My current owen actually forces me to at least open once the hatch before allowing it to be switched on (I guess that it's to force me to check if anything was previously left inside).
- ChrisRR 5y agoOr more likely because that costs money to implement "never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity"
- someotherperson 5y agoThat's on a personal level. As far as companies go, it should be "never attribute to stupidity which is adequately explained by malice." This also goes for assuming good faith -- when companies reach a certain size, the mantra instead becomes "always assume bad faith."
- jjulius 5y ago>Or more likely because that costs money to implement Kinda like how paying devs to push firmware updates to a damn microwave costs a lot more money than making a microwave that just works and doesn't need OTA updates?
- pixl97 5y agoYes, but you cant sell the 'regular' microwave for more because its special. And there is no way to sell marketing data with a regular microwave.
- yk 5y agoI agree, the actual question is, why don't run they point of cooking ads already?
- beeboop 5y agoI'm personally waiting for DRM protected hot pockets, to know I'm getting genuine Hot Pockets (TM) in every bite.
- buildbot 5y agoThey honestly probably didn't think of it, or it was the lowest priority in Jira.