Comments on: Why Is Software So Selfish?

By: brian

brian — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:44:58 +0000

I agree that this is pretty much an issue with windows only. As a user on windows until I was 16, as soon as I started using a mac/linux at that time (4 years ago) I realized how nice it was not to have things pop up every time I plugged something in, or a box saying my hardware is ready to use or is not until the computer restarts. Even networked printers, because of Apple’s (open source) Bonjour networking protocol, I plug a printer into my Apple Wireless base station, open up printer prefs on my mac, and it shows up. Simple as that, the drivers download if necessary and I’m off to the races. No HP windows popping up or weird software to install. Same thing in linux, I plug in a USB printer or anything else, it just gets recognized and is ready to use. Windows has come far since I stopped using it as my primary OS 4 years ago, but not far enough. This is one of my largest issues with it.

Fortunately, there are some ways around this, but only if you’re on a network with a printer server running a windows server OS. But that’s just more money.

By: rjamesking

rjamesking — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 09:24:45 +0000

hey if it has a CaT5e port on the back near the usb then you can plug that into the router and it will work as long as you have used the printer on that PC/MAC

hope it helps
James

By: SeanC

SeanC — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 00:55:03 +0000

I can think of two prevailing reasons for this trend: one is that peripheral companies like concise bullet point features for advertising. It doesn’t matter if a feature is poorly implemented, because that’s hard to explain. The other reason is that “average” users don’t know how to use the functions built into their operating system, so they rely on programs to “auto-configure” themselves, or to run other “user-friendly” step-by-step wizards to perform relatively simple tasks.
My peeve with this isn’t so much the disk–I do like you and don’t even put it in–it’s that they skimp on simple technical documentation. If I get a new router, I need to know what the default IP address and default username and password are. I set up the rest myself. Very few routers I’ve used actually print those anywhere in the documentation. I generally have to look for this online. Similarly, a network printer I got didn’t simply tell me the name by which it would be recognized in Windows (and XP isn’t so great with UPnP network printers, I guess). Anyway, Linux detected it and “just worked” within seconds. In windows I had to do some guesswork to finally get it working. Interestingly enough, even though Brother (the company that makes the printer) has a strong track record for compatibility, they focused their documentation on Windows and OSX, and in both cases only explained how to make things work with their (self explanatory) bundled software, instead of devoting those pages to how to make the device work Windows, OSX, or Linux.

By: Eric

Eric — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 00:41:35 +0000

Easiest thing to do is to build your own computer. Install your own OS and software. The truth is, retail stores no longer make money selling computers, which is why they sell you services and warranties. Also, HP, Dell, etc. make money by including the bloat-ware on their PCs.

If you haven’t heard of Acronis, you should now (http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/). I can’t even begin to say how much of a time saver is it to restore your system from an image.

Change what programs and services you want to start up when you boot into windows via MSCONFIG and the registry (Run folders).

Other than that, keep your system defragmented and clean from all the things you can get through the internet and your computer will run like new, guaranteed. (Disclaimer: Results may not be as expected if you have hardware failures.)

-Eric

By: Randy

Randy — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 23:24:00 +0000

It’s b/c in the end, software is about money. It’s not about doing it well or doing it beautifully.

Software is created so that people who wrote it and the companies that pay these people, can be paid. That’s why we get such bloatware and unnecessary stuff (logitech drivers, or yahoo toolbar anyone?), b/c they want to somehow get you to click something that will generate more revenue for them.

I would tend to think that even the programmers that write such stuff gag at how it all ends up to the consumer.

By: FranK

FranK — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 20:16:37 +0000

“Isn’t this what all software does?” Actually, no – that’s a very Windows-centric problem. Using Linux, things obviously work way differently (though “dependency-hell” can come up anytime). Being a Mac guy, there is much to be said for the Mac software ecosystem, which is way more well-behaved than in the Windows world. For some reason – maybe the examples set forth by Apple, the developer tools, or the Human Interface Guidelines – software on the Mac overall seems to be programmed with much more usability in mind.

By: DubbaEwwTeeEff

DubbaEwwTeeEff — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 19:58:28 +0000

I’ve been using TI’s graphing calculators since the 6th grade, about 12 years now – and believe me, if you think TI Connect is bad you should see what it replaced. If anyone ever mentions TI-Graph Link to you, run screaming from the room.

I definitely agree with you though, it’s as if every peripheral company out there has their own rebranded version of the same buggy, ugly management software, which for some reason NEVER uses the Windows GUI style and ALWAYS has to run on startup. The good news is with Windows 7 almost everything magically works without the bloatware – even my printer. Hopefully the trend continues.

By: Shelby Munsch

Shelby Munsch — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 19:38:44 +0000

You’re entirely correct. It’s often a similar experience for the majority of hardware and peripherals these days. Your Logitech mouse came with something, didn’t it? Every printer EVER has some sort of crap I don’t want running all the time. The core functionality is THERE for software developers, look what happens when you plug in a old “Plays for Sure” MP3 Player. It autodetects it, mounts it as a drive and lets you just drag and drop your music onto it.
The big deal about Windows 98 was “Plug’n'Play”. You didn’t need to download or install any software. You just plugged a device in and it worked. Why do hardware companies insist on following incredibly outdated programming and design practices? Provide me with an INF, a DLL, and maybe a SYS file or two (for Windows).