Am I the only one?

[bobcoy]

Does anyone else think HB should be testing these updates before they are released? Besides us I mean. There are always glitches when new stuff comes out. However how often and for how long can this go on? JMO Bob

[goodman_fishing]

If it makes you feel any better, Garmin seems to be doing the same thing in many ways. Each update fixes the glitches the last update made while creating some new quirk.

[bobcoy]

That is old school stuff. It is part of the game, some are much better than others. Even the best have some issues. However, I have not seen many, “glad they got that fixed” posts in this forum. I am not sure many of us are sure what is working the way it should before or after updates. It seems we have to learn new ways to do things so we can use our stuff. Sometimes I think we are learning to stop using things we used to catch fish before. I may be a crabby old man, but not every few weeks. This is not a normal situation. JMO Bob

[Phoenix Jim]

It’s always improvements so I am good with it. I like how they stay on top of it. I did stop creating favorite views since you always have to redo them

[bobcoy]

I am alone it seems. The only thing that I am sure was fixed is the units don’t turn on now unless you turn them on. I think it was your post than acknowledged that. I will “try” to keep my mouth shut on this matter.. Bob

[tajchauvin]

You’re not alone. Most just don’t want to argue anymore. I stopped with updates when my G2 units stopped getting supported and I will say that it’s been great. I know what works and what does not work and I focus on fishing.

[SLYDoggie]

Bob, I tried not chiming in, but I can't stand it. Do you really think that any technology company like Humminbird sends out software updates to their units without significant testing? There is no way for a company the size of Humminbird to test for all the permutations and combinations of ways people use their equipment. Things are going to happen. Personally, I'm glad that they have quickly jumped on the issues with this very new software interface rather than waiting for a typical release schedule to resolve issues.

[bobcoy]

I didn’t think so and I was in the industry almost 40 years. Not marketing just service. Just couldn’t stand it, had to say it.

[tajchauvin]

I didn’t think so and I was in the industry almost 40 years. Not marketing just service. Just couldn’t stand it, had to say it.

IMO the development environment is much different than it was 10 years ago. Agile development and containerization has really changed things. Less focus on testing and more focus on iterative software releases.

[bobcoy]

I know things always evolve, The results (evaluation is still the key). The customers (fisherman, are not IT gurus for the most part) need to jump through hoops to incorporate changes, updating perimeters and then figuring out the operational changes etc.. The more often updates come the more time has to be devoted to the process for the user. The updates on my iPhone are fairly frequent, but almost always little to no effort to adjust is needed. I am old and slower, extra effort is a chore. I am not quite ready to retire from fishing. It is my problem and I will try to stay quiet more often. Bob

[SLYDoggie]

I know things always evolve, The results (evaluation is still the key). The customers (fisherman, are not IT gurus for the most part) need to jump through hoops to incorporate changes, updating perimeters and then figuring out the operational changes etc.. The more often updates come the more time has to be devoted to the process for the user. The updates on my iPhone are fairly frequent, but almost always little to no effort to adjust is needed. I am old and slower, extra effort is a chore. I am not quite ready to retire from fishing. It is my problem and I will try to stay quiet more often. Bob

You can't really compare iPhone with tens of millions of customers to Humminbird (or even Garmin for that matter), with tens (or maybe hundreds) of thousands of customers (I don't know the numbers, but I would think it certainly isn't in the one million customer range). I think Apple can afford a lot more development cost as it is certainly spread over a larger population that I would guess replaces their units on an average of 2 to 3 years. I wouldn't even begin to guess what the average replacement age for Humminbird equipment is... since there still seem to be many people still running the numbered series units.

I also spent 42 years in IT at IBM and another large computer company, so I tend to cut technology companies some slack. OK, I've said my peace... I'm done

[elcaboing]

I am also in IT and love electronics. I have always updated to the latest and greatest as soon as a new version came out in all of my toys that I have had. It's very difficult to test every scenario out there. What I think HB should do, is maybe have a group of real world testers out there that they send the new software to and have them test it. Especially the people that have had issues in the past. Once they iron out most of those issues, then make it available to the general public. Again, won't catch every issue but might catch more than they are now. The one thing I really wish they would do, is make it possible to save all your settings prior to upgrading and then the ability to import them back. That to me is a very easy thing to do and is the only thing I don't look forward to when I upgrade.

[Derail]

I am also in IT and love electronics. I have always updated to the latest and greatest as soon as a new version came out in all of my toys that I have had. It's very difficult to test every scenario out there. What I think HB should do, is maybe have a group of real world testers out there that they send the new software to and have them test it. Especially the people that have had issues in the past. Once they iron out most of those issues, then make it available to the general public. Again, won't catch every issue but might catch more than they are now. The one thing I really wish they would do, is make it possible to save all your settings prior to upgrading and then the ability to import them back. That to me is a very easy thing to do and is the only thing I don't look forward to when I upgrade.

They could at least give us the option to save our settings. If after restoring defaults with our settings saved the unit was still performing incorrectly, then a restore without settings saved could be performed.

[Wayne P.]

They could at least give us the option to save our settings. If after restoring defaults with our settings saved the unit was still performing incorrectly, then a restore without settings saved could be performed.

I am just the opposite about saving settings. I rarely did it when it could be done--only did it then to learn how to do it. I prefer to redo all of them so I am familiar with what and how to make adjustments.

[bombercraw]

Does anyone else think HB should be testing these updates before they are released? Besides us I mean. There are always glitches when new stuff comes out. However how often and for how long can this go on? JMO Bob

YES ! I have been asking this question for years! They should be testing and proving them out to ensure all the bugs are worked out before rolling them out. But they don't and then we all have to deal with the problems.

[bombercraw]

Bob, I tried not chiming in, but I can't stand it. Do you really think that any technology company like Humminbird sends out software updates to their units without significant testing? There is no way for a company the size of Humminbird to test for all the permutations and combinations of ways people use their equipment. Things are going to happen. Personally, I'm glad that they have quickly jumped on the issues with this very new software interface rather than waiting for a typical release schedule to resolve issues.

If this is the case, they are not doing a very good job at validating the software updates before rolling them out. This has been a massive issue with HB for as long as I can remember. That's why everyone is so hesitant to do the updates if their units are working with no issue. Seems like every new update introduces problems that were not there before. Just my opinion for what it's worth.

[JACQUART21]

Of course they are testing the updates, that is not even a question.

This thread is very ironic to me. I remember not too long ago when a big improvement update did some great things for ML1 but caused other unintended issues. Then we were all angry that we never got a software update to correct the issue. Now we are angry that we are getting updates too fast that are poor quality.

We should be optimistic since HB has shown commitment to developing and improving the products we buy. Unless it's life or death, perfect should never get in the way of better. When improvements stop, that's when those products will go away and a whole other group of users will be pissed.

The good thing is, capitalism is alive and well in this industry and you have all the power to determine what you want to do with updating your units or moving to another brand completely.

[Diesel Pro]

Does anyone else think HB should be testing these updates before they are released? Besides us I mean. There are always glitches when new stuff comes out. However how often and for how long can this go on? JMO Bob

No you are not alone. I've been on the receiving end of many problematic glitches that would sure seem to be avoidable...

[Wackyjig]

I did software testing and product support up until recently. It's honestly a nightmare. It's tedious work and can take months to do properly.
The developers will roll out a revision that's supposed to fix xy&z.
99% of the time you can't just verify xy&z are good and send it out, you have to fully test every feature and function on the device because 1 change over here can effect 50 different things over there in software.
Many times, management skips the full test and sends it out anyway because they don't want to spend a penny more on that software version.
If it's actually being tested properly, there will be 2-3 times during the process that another revision will be released and you have to start back at square 1.
Meanwhile, the bosses are constantly asking how much longer it will take, why it's taking so long, why can't you skip steps etc etc because they're already wanting to start developing the next bigger update.
When bugs, glitches, issues are found, the bean counters decide how bad they are and if they should revise again or release it anyway. It's always released anyway with the plan to "fix it in the next one".
Even if we were given enough time to test properly, and we actually signed off on it, there would still be issues once customers got their hands on it because 1) we tested in lab conditions. Not real world so there will always be something encountered we couldn't replicate and 2) no shock here but some people are really just not bright and will find the most convoluted order of button presses that no sane person could think of to unlock a major glitch.

[bobcoy]

I understand the situation you have described. I have no way of expecting perfect with all the stuff that can be hooked to the “one boat network” at the same time. Maybe smaller updates that don’t blowout all the setups everytime. I am sure there are ways to make it a little less painful to users. A little consideration for the end user is all I expect. Bob