Running late for college, and the scooter is stuck in an update

Software trying to update when it is started is such a common pattern, despite almost always going against user intent. When I start software, that&#x27;s because I want to <i>use</i> it. It&#x27;s pretty high on the list of times I don&#x27;t want it to become temporarily unusable while it updates itself.<p>Doing the same with vehicle firmware is a sad but predictable state of things.

The fundamental mistake of software engineering here is not <i>when</i> the &quot;scooter&quot; updates, but that it updates at all.<p>Not everything that uses electricity requires an embedded computer connected to the internet.<p>We could ask the question as: Give me a list of good reasons why a scooter should be connected to the internet?<p>We might get answers like:<p><pre><code> The built in map or GPS needs updating The pricing list for hire needs changing The battery monitoring software has changed </code></pre> Every one of these reasons, and many more, have nothing to do with the operation of the device qua scooter. Everything it did yesterday it could do equally well today.<p>The problem is modularity, specifically the poor coupling and cohesion of subsystems within the design. Everything in our list relates to something other than the function as a scooter; like navigation, payments, telemetry.<p>In a properly designed system these have to be seen as essentially separate systems with diverged functional requirements. Each could operate and update in its own way if necessary. The default behaviour of the &#x27;scooter&#x27; system should be to keep operating as a scooter, regardless.

Automatic updates are terrible and the first thing I do when I get a new device or reinstall an OS is try to figure out how to disable them. Sadly, I am losing this battle and more and more stuff insists on updating behind my back, without me commanding them to update. This should be unacceptable. When I buy something I should be in full control of what it’s doing, not the manufacturer. I dont care if the software is vulnerable to CVE-1234567 or if there are lots of great bug fixes or if the manufacturer simply really really really wants me to see the yet-another big UI update it’s done. Updates should be done when I say they are done (or not), on my schedule, and only after I know what the update changes.<p>I don’t want to hear the manufacturer’s excuses. I know “most people” are clueless and leave security problems unpatched. “Most people” have also gotten accustomed to being abused by their software products that are out of their control. I’m not “most people” and I won’t tolerate being treated like this by device manufacturers. The product gets returned if I have no control over what it does.

This reminds me of a friend who missed a dinner date because his Tesla update took way longer than usual.

Honestly I&#x27;ve never understood <i>any</i> sort of software update or new user guide or changelog appearing <i>when the user starts the software</i>.<p>You know why I&#x27;ve just launched this game in Steam? Why I&#x27;ve just opened this shared meeting whiteboard software? Why I&#x27;ve opened my bank&#x27;s banking app? Because this is the moment I want to use it.<p>If I open Skype it&#x27;s because I need to be on a video call within the next 15 seconds. It doesn&#x27;t matter what the popup says or does or how valuable it might be - I&#x27;m dismissing it, because I need to be on a video call within the next 15 seconds and it&#x27;s between me and that.<p>How could a UX team possibly conclude that the precise moment a user shows unambiguous intent to use your product, is the best time to get in their way?

I get a similar thing teaching a coding club.<p>I&#x27;m not sure how the machines are set up, as I have an aversion to Windows from my time as an NT &#x27;certified professional&#x27;, but at least one machine will spend 10 minutes &#x27;updating&#x27; during any class.<p>No doubt you can turn this off or set update time windows or whatever, but I&#x27;m not the admin for these machines. At least the updates generally work. For my kids&#x27; machines at home, almost anytime they boot windows, it will do an update, and a good percentage of the time, the update will fail, and brick the machine, requiring a complete re-install.

If I&#x27;ve learned one thing from 30 years in software it&#x27;s:<p>Minimize the number of things in your life that need software updates.

My car tells me it has an update pending when I start it up; it then allows me to choose to update now or to schedule it for later - defaulting to 2.30am - the dialog includes a warning that the car could be unusable for an hour or two.

Reminds me of that early Airbus issue where the fly by wire system would suddenly go &quot;rebooting, please wait&quot; in the middle of a flight :)<p>It was on the earliest fly by wire versions as far as I recall, and was fixed pretty quickly :)

Uber drivers would love this feature.

We live in a shitty utopia