man & nature # 17 ~ tower of babble
Tuesday, July 22, 2008 at 08:08AM 
4 porches in the rain • click to embiggenYesterday, my ire, which was directed at SquareSpace, stemmed from the fact that the upgrade caught me entirely by surprise. To be fair to SS, they had posted an announcement somewhere in what, to me, are the bowels of the Administration section of the blog software - a place that I visit rather infrequently. There really is no need for me to go there on any kind of regular basis.
Even if I had visited that section, found the upgrade notice, and click through to read it, what I would have found was a typical PR/sales piece about how great things are along with a long list of new and improved features - something that I may have glanced at but not really paid a lot of attention to. As far as I am concerned, The Landscapist is chugging along just fine, thank you, and I don't really have any plans to change anything at the moment so all of the swell new stuff just doesn't matter to me at all.
At the very bottom of the announcement was this little bit:
As always, clear your browser caches to ensure you receive the updated code. If you experience problems (and there will be some small problems!) — please write in immediately.
Of all of the info on the announcement, this bit is all I care about. One would think that this little bit would be the first thing on the announcement, in bold type, maybe screaming red in color. One would think that an email blast to every SS subscriber might be in order. One would think that, if a change is being made that will effect everyone, every means available would be used to be certain that everyone knew about.
To be certain, I am, and have been, happy with SS. They respond in good time and good fashion to support issues. I like their sense of design and utility in the templates that they offer. The ability to customize their templates is pretty easy for a non techno/code/geek person. All in all, to repeat, I am very happy with my experience with SS and would recommend them to my friends and neighbors.
That said, my ire regarding this issue is a more general one regarding the entire software industry. An industry that seems to think that the end users of their products have nothing more to do with their time a than to track and implement - "implement" is a sorry understatement for the amount of time and effort involved in many cases - an endless stream of upgrades, patches, fixes, etc.
Simply put, the software industry has us running non-stop like hamsters on a wheel. Have you ever owned anything in your life that requires / required the constant attention, maintenance and cost that software does? Think about it. Is there anything you own that owns you as much as software? And, like compliant protoplasmic slugs, aka, good little consumers, we just lie there and take it.
Reader Comments (8)
Software is a weapon of the clever against the powerful. Most of us just get caught in the middle. It's a revenge of the nerds.
Its a demented industry: "improved" means "more features to learn", and usability is dismissed as "aesthetics".
If road bridges were built like software, they'd demand to see your degree in mechanical engineering before you were allowed to cross.
I so much agree. I've just got back from an all day software development meeting. Here I represent a Very Big Customer, and we're complaining much the same thing: not enough telling us what's changed, not enough fixing fundamental problems, too much bells and whistles (sorry, enhanced features).
If any other industrial product were as unreliable, we'd send it back, sue the manufacturer or not buy the product again (or all 3).
The worst part is, you don't "own" anything. Take a good look at the software users agreement that you are required to agree with. You're allowed to use it, but you never own it.
if you think Gravitas does not like software, ask him about his cell phone.
I'd like to believe we've got options. There is the distinct possibilty that I'm deluding myself, but there is always the ability to Turn It Off. (Something like that famous command from the "War On Drugs": Just Say No.)
There are alternatives to Microsoft's Office Monopoly, there are alternatives to Adobe's strangle hold, there are alternatives to Autodesk's attempted rule. But we have to stop following the herd, and perhaps sacrifice a few "features."
Of course this doesn't really address the Squarespace issue, a change that came pretty much out of the blue. I too can't believe that all subscribers didn't receive email notice that this new version was coming, a version that has no backwards compatability.
On the other hand, aren't we all glad we're not still using photoshop version 1.0.
Linux. Free.
Nice paddles! Do you really leave them out on the porch?
"Nice paddles! Do you really leave them out on the porch?"
Everybody leaves everything everywhere up here in the park. You could probably get into any car in the Adirondacks (without Jersey plates) and drive away with it if you wanted because almost everyone leaves their keys in the ignitions.
So not answering for gravitas, but I'd guess yes, he does leave them on the porch.