‘Ship Today, Update Tomorrow’ ⇥

Mike Isaac, for Wired magazine:

The problem is, when a manufacturer rushes a product to market, consumers often suffer the brunt. Whether it means cutting corners on user-experience testing, or fast-tracking hardware/software integration between the device and its OS, a quick rush to market is often self-defeating, leading to a speedy release of a half-baked product.

Isaac makes a number of excellent points, but I think he missed a big one. Thousands of people will be unwrapping a Kindle Fire as a Christmas or Hanukkah gift and before using it, they’ll have to update the software. It’s a brand new product that needs to be finished by the user. It’s why giving furniture from IKEA is kind of a dick move unless you’re prepared to build it.

(via Shawn Blanc)