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While I can sympathize with the author, this really has nothing to do with Barnes and Noble and everything to do with the consumer computing experience being wa

by ohazi 12y ago

While I can sympathize with the author, this really has nothing to do with Barnes and Noble and everything to do with the consumer computing experience being watered down to the point where you no longer have any reasonable control over your device. The same thing could just as easily have happened on iOS or on Android, and the author would be just as fucked.

EpicEng 12y ago
This was on android, so you're right on that point. Sounds more like more poor engineering to me though.
javert 12y ago
It has everything to do with Barnes and Noble: Apparently you can't get a person who is not reading from a script when you need help. That is a big problem.
- ohazi 12y ago
  He was taking notes on a device that isn't designed to save them in a standard format or let you back them up. Why does the rep's script have anything to do with it? His notes are gone, and there's nothing she can do about it.
sswaner 12y ago
The user should have a reasonable expectation that an app upgrade won't wipe data. Barnes and Noble failed to invest in enough quality (either design quality or quality assurance) to at least offer a warning that data would be lost. However, as others have said - you should have had a backup.
- ohazi 12y ago
  But that's the problem... this isn't a reasonable expectation. I get that everybody wants their software to feel like magic nowadays, but a more realistic expectation is that programmers are human, software is buggy, and things are going to break every now and then. If there's any chance that this breakage is going to be a problem for a user, then developers of the app (and the operating system!) should really be providing some way for the user to take preventive measures. This can even be done automatically, but it needs to be a little more robust than an "app updates shouldn't wipe user data" guideline. This is one of the reasons you're not going to see tablets replace desktops/laptops with real operating system in the business environment any time soon.

by ohazi 12y ago

EpicEng 12y ago

This was on android, so you're right on that point. Sounds more like more poor engineering to me though.

javert 12y ago

It has everything to do with Barnes and Noble: Apparently you can't get a person who is not reading from a script when you need help. That is a big problem.

ohazi 12y ago
He was taking notes on a device that isn't designed to save them in a standard format or let you back them up. Why does the rep's script have anything to do with it? His notes are gone, and there's nothing she can do about it.

sswaner 12y ago

The user should have a reasonable expectation that an app upgrade won't wipe data. Barnes and Noble failed to invest in enough quality (either design quality or quality assurance) to at least offer a warning that data would be lost. However, as others have said - you should have had a backup.

ohazi 12y ago
But that's the problem... this isn't a reasonable expectation. I get that everybody wants their software to feel like magic nowadays, but a more realistic expectation is that programmers are human, software is buggy, and things are going to break every now and then. If there's any chance that this breakage is going to be a problem for a user, then developers of the app (and the operating system!) should really be providing some way for the user to take preventive measures. This can even be done automatically, but it needs to be a little more robust than an "app updates shouldn't wipe user data" guideline. This is one of the reasons you're not going to see tablets replace desktops/laptops with real operating system in the business environment any time soon.