I think the issue of "paying for upgrades" is an interesting one. I would be
happy to pay for firmware upgrades, either on an individual basis - like it
/ buy it - or on an annual subscription basis. I tried to convince someone
at Ten-Tec, during Dayton last year, to offer firmware upgrades for a fee.
The response was - NO WAY! People don't expect to pay for that! Well, ask
the owners of the Pegasus and the Jupiter and the Orion and the Orion II if
they would have paid to get a firmware upgrade in the past year - none got
upgrades since last May. I don't think the choice is between getting good
periodic frimware upgrades for a fee or getting good periodic firmware
upgrades for free :-)
Of course there could be "firmware people availability issues," but in the
long term, that is just a cost issue. After the warranty period, I pay for
maintenance on my car, my house, my stove, my dishwasher, my clothes washer
and dryer etc. etc. So what causes people to believe there is a "free
lifetime firmware upgrade policy" that goes with a ham radio? Clinging to
this belief will lead to "suboptimum" outcomes with firmware based radios in
the future. Whether its a "bug" or a "feature change issue" is in the eye of
the beholder. As Grant use to say on this reflector - its a bug if it
operates differently then someone thinks it should (He might have said that
about me :-).
If manufacturers like Ten-Tec continue to hold this "firmware - for free -
forever" view, they just won't realize the potential capabilities of the
radio because there won't be funding to pay for new "firmware
engineering/building." And, neither will their customers.
73, Merle - W0EWM
|