Double-Secret Updates - You're Just "Little People"

[Mike G]

So OTAs come out, most recently the one for the GT-PE (2.8.2 I think)..and what does that do for the customer?

Oh, little things, you know...stuff.

And that's by no means all...what about the OBCC update from earlier this week? What was that supposed to correct or enhance?

The list goes on and on...very little in the way of clues as to what these updates are supposed to do for us but that in general we should be glad that we are so blessed.

So I guess @Ford Motor Company thinks we just don't need to know these things about why our cars are getting these updates, I guess because we're just "little people".

I get more info from Apple on what they want to change on my iPhone than I do from Ford on any topic I can think of, from reservations, to orders, to tracking. And after-sales it's the updates that have no explanation for why they're important. It takes smart folks on these forums to Sherlock this stuff out, and even at that many times the smart folks don't even know in the end.

Ridiculous.

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[KevinS]

If it bothers you, why don't you turn off automatic updates altogether and await information sent from Ford in the mail?

Many of the updates aren't necessarily relevant unless they're fixing a problem/error code a specific vehicle may encounter.

 

[Mike G]

If it bothers you, why don't you turn off automatic updates altogether and await information sent from Ford in the mail?

Many of the updates aren't necessarily relevant unless they're fixing a problem/error code a specific vehicle may encounter.

Right...and for some reason it's not important to tell people why an update that was offered for their VIN is important. There must have been some reason for it.

And to the second part of your response...are you saying that the only things that are important are either recall notices or other things like CSPs that Ford may send snail-mail about?

So we shouldn't wonder about the other updates (that we don't get letters about) that we're offered, and why Ford thinks it's needed for my VIN, but doesn't need to explain why that is?

Okay....

 

[KevinS]

And to the second part of your response...are you saying that the only things that are important are either recall notices or other things like CSPs that Ford may send snail-mail about?

Yes, that's what I'm saying. You jumped on the merry-go-round of this forum and then complain that you're dizzy.

95%+ of Mach-E owners have no clue about any of this stuff, and don't care.

 

[Neil4Real]

Most companies hardly go into detail anymore on updates unless there is actually a new feature. I agree that those that received the charging curve update, and similar additions, should have had release notes that stated that, but bug fixes and performance improvements is pretty par for the course in most cases. Especially when it is just bug fixes and performance improvements.

Since you used Apple, Apple has gotten very, very bad at release notes. Hell, for most of iOS 15 betas they had barely any items listed, people had to dig into the code to find out what was added or changed. Even iOS 16 beta doesn't list most of the items it brings, just the major changes. You have to stay on forums where people post the changes they notice.

 

[Mike G]

Most companies hardly go into detail anymore on updates unless there is actually a new feature. I agree that those that received the charging curve update, and similar additions, should have had release notes that stated that, but bug fixes and performance improvements is pretty par for the course in most cases. Especially when it is just bug fixes and performance improvements.

Since you used Apple, Apple has gotten very, very bad at release notes. Hell, for most of iOS 15 betas they had barely any items listed, people had to dig into the code to find out what was added or changed. Even iOS 16 beta doesn't list most of the items it brings, just the major changes. You have to stay on forums where people post the changes they notice.

Agreed. It would be nice if we knew. That's all I'm saying. It shouldn't have to be a detective story.

Mike

 

[Neil4Real]

Agreed. It would be nice if we knew. That's all I'm saying. It shouldn't have to be a detective story.

Mike

Yeah, but you're lambasting Ford like everyone else gives you super detail involved release notes, it just isn't the case anymore. Hopefully once Ford gets all vehicles "synced up" they'll start having more fruitful release notes.

 

[Mike G]

Yeah, but you're lambasting Ford like everyone else gives you super detail involved release notes, it just isn't the case anymore. Hopefully once Ford gets all vehicles "synced up" they'll start having more fruitful release notes.

Well I just read that post on 2.8.2 and it kinda said "nothing to see here, move along" and it was irritating.

I'm over it.

And as for lambasting them...I consider it constructive criticism and would hope they'd take it that way. All the things I said about reservations, ordering and tracking....I'm not taking any of that back.

Mike

 

[rcechinel]

Right...and for some reason it's not important to tell people why an update that was offered for their VIN is important. There must have been some reason for it.

And to the second part of your response...are you saying that the only things that are important are either recall notices or other things like CSPs that Ford may send snail-mail about?

So we shouldn't wonder about the other updates (that we don't get letters about) that we're offered, and why Ford thinks it's needed for my VIN, but doesn't need to explain why that is?

Okay....

Well, that's the world of software these days. It's hard to relate to it when you think of a car, and I get it, but that's what SaaS (software as a service) companies do every day, and you don't notice. And not only to the little guy. For example, Microsoft doesn't tell their giant customers of every change they push, let's say, to your office 365 applications. They do a bunch of those per month. This is what we call the CI/CD model (continuous integration, continuous delivery). You sign up for a subscription of a software offered in the cloud and you don't control the lifecycle anymore. Big change.
Maybe they will give more details, it would be nice, but it's not a requirement in the model and they are not alone.

 

[Maquis]

 

[SWO]

The drama...

 

[Logal727]

Would you even know what the changes meant? It’s probably all boring stuff like we moved some pixels around in the menu. It already says “to prepare for future updates”

 

[SnBGC]

If it bothers you, why don't you turn off automatic updates altogether and await information sent from Ford in the mail?

Many of the updates aren't necessarily relevant unless they're fixing a problem/error code a specific vehicle may encounter.

Turning off Auto Update doesn't change anything much. The update notices still appear in the car. Information regarding that update is the same.

 

[Thesmoothdome]

Yes, that's what I'm saying. You jumped on the merry-go-round of this forum and then complain that you're dizzy.

95%+ of Mach-E owners have no clue about any of this stuff, and don't care.

True, but the other 5% are on this forum and that's who wants to know.

 

[MG101]

Just tell the customer what then need to know. The more info they get, the more "problems" they seem to find. Like how analog gauges forf temp or oil pressure are made to settle right in the middle of the "normal" range and fuel gauges are dampened so they don't bounce around. The average person doesn't have clue what is going on so feed them just enough to let them know everything is ok or not ok.

The only thing that bothers me just a little is how cute they make the release notes. Don't try so hard, just make it dry.

You know what I hate? Who ever decided that tpm systems should display the actual air pressure the tires are at. Oh your left front is at 33 and the rest are at 34 and your gauge at home says they're at 32?...ok.

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