5 ms·

I am not surprised. I have, never once in my life, felt that a piece of software from a hardware OEM was well written. They tend to be universally highly buggy,

I am not surprised. I have, never once in my life, felt that a piece of software from a hardware OEM was well written. They tend to be universally highly buggy, heavily bloated, have highly confusing UI, prone to crashes and full of security holes. This includes software from Sony, Asus, HP, Samsung, RealTek, Nvidia, AMD, Logitech etc. I guess software development just not part of their culture and is an afterthought. The worst is that they bundle this software as a value add that the other OEMs don't have, thus wasting money on something that people almost never use instead of just discounting the price with that money. My favorite UI gripe is having to get the idea to click on the folder icon on this screen to disable the front panel audio detection for a RealTek sound chip. http://cdn.windows7themes.net/pics/enable_front_audio_jack_windows7_2.jpg http://cdn.windows7themes.net/pics/enable_front_audio_jack_w...

bellerocky 12y ago
Does this include Apple?
- wfjackson 12y ago
  It doesn't include Apple or Microsoft(which is a Surface OEM I guess).
  - acchow 12y ago
    or HTC.
- gadders 12y ago
  It should definitely include iTunes for Windows.
- digikata 12y ago
  No, but it tells you exactly why Apple can sell products at a premium.
AceJohnny2 12y ago
Wait, I have a RTK audio chip. I've always been annoyed by the front-panel override with no option to disable it. BRB, raging out
mirkules 12y ago
I used to work for a primarily-hardware company, writing software, and we suffered from much the same politics and software quality problems you describe. There are really two issues at play: 1) Hardware companies have to employ the waterfall model. Agile is not even a word in their vocabulary. This is because once a product is on the shelves or in the customers' hands, it is infinitely more expensive to recall and fix products. When all you have is the waterfall hammer, everything looks like a nail. 2) Culture plays a huge part. Senior management "knows best" despite your best efforts to convince them otherwise. My boss once described it as "a huge ship that sails down the river. Once the ship is on its way, it is really hard to change direction or stop it".
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- bashinator 12y ago
  This is why the Internet of Things terrifies me. You think these clowns wanna be responsible for promptly releasing security updates for the lifetime of every piece of hardware they've ever shipped?
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
  - brave-new 12y ago
    In the end the clowns will only ship the hardware. That is Internet of Things IMHO will go through the same evolution as the PC industry.
    - pjc50 12y ago
      More likely the mobile industry: no, you can't upgrade your ancient Android. You'll have to buy new IoT devices every year and throw the ones with security holes in the landfill.
      - pjmlp 12y ago
miles_matthias 12y ago
Are there any software companies making major consumer products like TVs yet?
SamReidHughes 12y ago
I've found one exception: the software on Panasonic Toughbooks was good when I used it. Well, it wasn't buggy, didn't seem bloated, didn't have a confusing UI, and didn't crash. It was not the greatest in UI design in every way (it was a bit clunky in a Win32 sense), but it was the first time I thought that the OEM software on a laptop was being friendly to me.

bellerocky 12y ago

Does this include Apple?

wfjackson 12y ago
It doesn't include Apple or Microsoft(which is a Surface OEM I guess).
- acchow 12y ago
  or HTC.
gadders 12y ago
It should definitely include iTunes for Windows.
digikata 12y ago
No, but it tells you exactly why Apple can sell products at a premium.

AceJohnny2 12y ago

Wait, I have a RTK audio chip. I've always been annoyed by the front-panel override with no option to disable it. BRB, raging out

mirkules 12y ago

I used to work for a primarily-hardware company, writing software, and we suffered from much the same politics and software quality problems you describe. There are really two issues at play: 1) Hardware companies have to employ the waterfall model. Agile is not even a word in their vocabulary. This is because once a product is on the shelves or in the customers' hands, it is infinitely more expensive to recall and fix products. When all you have is the waterfall hammer, everything looks like a nail. 2) Culture plays a huge part. Senior management "knows best" despite your best efforts to convince them otherwise. My boss once described it as "a huge ship that sails down the river. Once the ship is on its way, it is really hard to change direction or stop it".

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
bashinator 12y ago
This is why the Internet of Things terrifies me. You think these clowns wanna be responsible for promptly releasing security updates for the lifetime of every piece of hardware they've ever shipped?
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- brave-new 12y ago
  In the end the clowns will only ship the hardware. That is Internet of Things IMHO will go through the same evolution as the PC industry.
  - pjc50 12y ago
    More likely the mobile industry: no, you can't upgrade your ancient Android. You'll have to buy new IoT devices every year and throw the ones with security holes in the landfill.
    - pjmlp 12y ago

miles_matthias 12y ago

Are there any software companies making major consumer products like TVs yet?

SamReidHughes 12y ago

I've found one exception: the software on Panasonic Toughbooks was good when I used it. Well, it wasn't buggy, didn't seem bloated, didn't have a confusing UI, and didn't crash. It was not the greatest in UI design in every way (it was a bit clunky in a Win32 sense), but it was the first time I thought that the OEM software on a laptop was being friendly to me.