[TenTec] The Age of Consumer Beta Testing

[Robb Urie]

Never heard of the problem you mentioned with the MINI, possibly with the 
'02/03 with
the CVT tranny.

The two MINIs in my garage work just fine, kinda like my Orion.

Robb, NØRU
Poquoson, Va.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: <PaulKB8N at aol.com>
To: <tentec at contesting.com>
Sent: Wednesday, July 12, 2006 2:25 PM
Subject: [TenTec] The Age of Consumer Beta Testing


> I've watched with interest how this community has bashed Ten-Tec's efforts
> to raise the performance bar with their new radios.  All I can say is take 
> a
> look around you.
>
> Microsoft releases major operating systems with security flaws so serious
> that they invite hackers to come in.  The Mini-Cooper automobile has such
> serious bugs in it's processor that it doesn't properly shift between 
> gears.  My
> new Sony Viao notebook computer would crash inexplicably (and  continues 
> to do
> so) and no one could tell me why.
>
> Folks, this is life as we know it.  Few, if any, products with complex
> software instruction sets arrive in the customer's hands bug-free.  We are 
> in the
> age of consumer beta testing, like it or not.
>
> Compared to the volume of laptops, automobiles, and software  releases, a
> radio like the Orion is almost a "one-off" item.  With a  sample size of 
> just a
> few thousand, of which their use is segmented in niche  activities (such 
> as CW
> only, phone only, contesting, DXing, etc), it may be  impossible to find a
> common cause for a particular bug.  In effect,  some of the patches simply 
> treat
> the individual symptom, not the collective  root cause!
>
> The concerns expressed are certainly legitimate, there are serious issues
> with both radios.  It is particularly disturbing that the code expertise 
> lies
> in the hands of a very few individuals.  Yet, we have to face the  reality 
> that
> these radios, with all their flaws, still have capabilities beyond 
> anything
> we've imagined before, and at a cost of less than an 1960 Collins S  Line 
> in
> today's dollars.
>
> This can be a constructive and proactive forum, and recognizing the nature
> of software-based products, I hope we are part of the solution, not the
> problem.
>
> Paul, K5AF
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