I can't quite tell whether or not I'm pleased or upset right now, with my latest electronics purchase. I just downloaded a firmware update for our new television: put it on a USB key, put it in the USB port on the back of the TV, and the new, semi-expensive HD LCD now works correctly via HDMI.
Is this a good thing?
Time was, consumer electronics just seemed to work, period. If they didn't work, you returned them for a replacement, but the notion of them not doing what they were designed to do was considered rather a failing.
But now, having spent a fair bit of money on a new television set, and another fair bit on an satellite HD-DVR to take advantage of it, I am left wondering if I should expect consumer devices to work like, well, consumer devices, or if things are now going to function with the reliability and interoperability of computers, which are, essentially, still hobbyist devices.
Am I to be thankful that a firmware upgrade has fixed my TV, or should I be indignant that yet another old faithful piece of household equipment has become simply "good enough, we can fix it later"? The computer world is used to this, and there's a fairly significant buy-in with computers: you know you're getting rapidly-changing technology when you buy one. But televisions have generally Just Worked, or sometimes even Work Better If You Hit It On The Side Really Hard. I can't imagine how hitting my new TV could possibly result in anything good. And with the switch to digital coming, this is the sort of thing that will only become more prevalent. Goodbye forever, coat-hanger antenna, and hello, driver updates for your microwave oven.
It's a little perturbing to imagine a world where nothing is quite done at release. What if the old joke about Microsoft Cars is, in fact, where we are heading?
