What is happening here is analogous to someone selling you a very expensive phone (or other device) with a software package that is currently under development, with the claim that it will be functional "soon". So you go ahead and plop down your money, only to find out that in fact the software is more complicated that they originally thought, so it's going to take a "few more" years and a new device (or expansion thereof) to run that software.
Is it just me or does it feel like the technology world is doing this to consumers fairly regularly?
Around 7 months ago I got an offer from Oura that stated if I upgraded to the Gen 3 Ring that I'd have a free subscription for life. Where it would have nifty new features like workout HR tracking, and some other stuff. That those features required the Gen 3 ring.
At launch the new featured wouldn't be available. But, they'd soon be available.
I decided to get it as I was pretty happy with my Gen 2 at the time. But, then it took them 7 months to introduce the workout HR tracking and it doesn't work for me. It just says "failed to track HR" after each workout. My Apple Watch works perfectly for the same workouts.
Went I asked to return the ring for a refund I was told "the return period of 30 days expired a long while ago" with zero recognition that I couldn't even test the new feature when I bought the ring.
In another example I bought a MiniGita Robot which I figured would make my walks to and from the grocery store a lot more interesting. I enjoy robotic technology and I figured it would be pretty neat. It's designed to simply follow a person as they walk so it can carry a grocery bags worth of stuff.
When I initially tried the Robot it worked okay in overcast lighting, but struggled immensely with any kind of sunshine during the early morning or late afternoon. When it lost track of me it simply stopped and made a sad sound. The support team said new update would likely fix the issue and extended the return period start date to when the new version was launched. This was the right thing to do so I didn't return it. The new update came, but I had mixed results. I'm also having issues with the robot falling on its face if it unexpectedly goes off the sidewalk or there is uneven pavement. Even when I'm careful it still managed to face plant. The last time it was due to a pine cone. It doesn't have any protection for the front sensors and one of the lenses is now scratched. So the plan now is to return it and they'll refund me if their engineers determine its working per their expectation.
These days I mostly feel let down by technology. There are exceptions of course (like OLED TV's), but so much of it feels like were constantly being promised the next update will magically fix it.
electrek.co
