TweetFollow Us on Twitter

May 96 Crabbs Apple
Volume Number:12
Issue Number:5
Column Tag:Crabb’s Apple

Software Updates and OpenDoc

By Don Crabb

How many of you are happy with your mechanisms for updating software for your customers?

For that matter, how many of you are happy with the mechanisms that Apple uses to update your customer’s System software?

And what happens once OpenDoc makes an impact on your business? What happens when your own containers and your parts have to be updated? when other parts from other vendors that your customers will want to use with your containers have to be updated?

While we all might complain that the number of OpenDoc parts and containers is currently on the sparse side, we also know that this is going to change. Claris’s plan to make the next version of ClarisWorks an OpenDoc container par excellence will drive the creation of a lot of parts. And you can expect other major non-Microsoft Mac vendors to follow suit. By the time of the first customer release of Copland, we’re likely to be up to our keisters in OpenDoc. And the software update mechanisms that we and Apple have in place just aren’t up to the task that this plethora of smallware will bring.

Today’s Updates

How do you keep your customers up-to-date now? Let’s consider their pros and cons:

• Mailings to those who send in their reg cards. You might get 50% of your installed base that way, if you are extraordinarily lucky and persevering and happen to sell a killer product. But that other 50% misses, and that ultimately costs you money.

• A Web/FTP site. This works well for your more advanced customers, especially corporate or higher ed customers with the high-speed Net connections needed to suck down updates regularly and the IS staff to make sure they get paid for and redistributed among their Mac users. Web sites work less well if you have a substantial SOHO or K-12 user base, as they often don’t have the time or money or Net expertise to make the daily Net connections needed.

• Dealers. This can work if you mostly sell through large computer or consumer electronics superstores and you only expect to issue major upgrades. Otherwise, it’s expensive and doesn’t have a lot of reach.

• Mail-order dealers. Pretty much the same advantages and caveats hold as for large non-mail-order dealers. With catalog space at a premium for mail-order dealers, it’s likely to get even more expensive to update parts that way.

Keeping Track Now

Your customers, of course, can avail themselves of other sources of information about your latest wares (as well as Apple’s) and how to get them. One of the best of these sources is Level 6 Computing’s monthly software update report. It costs $150 per year ($97 per year for independent consultants) and comes as a comprehensive 24-page printed report, a disk with vendor contact information on it in setext format (along with clickable FTP sites and URLs), and a Web site (www.webcom.com/level6/). You can contact them at update@level6.com. If you don’t send your update information to Level6, I urge you to do so.

Posting information to the various Apple newsgroups (Guy Kawasaki’s Semper Fi and MacWay lists of course, as well many others), to TidBITS, and to the Info-Mac lists is also a must do, as well as notifying the usual suspects - MacWEEK, MacUSER, MacWorld, and Mac Home Journal among others.

But even when you use all of these methods for keeping your customers updated, even when you make multiple methods available to them for obtaining those updates, the simple truth is that you end up missing a lot of them. And the smaller you are, the more of a problem this is - it may even mean the difference between success and failure. If you doubt this, just look at the latest reports from The Hartsook Letter, InfoCorp, and other Apple-tracking agencies - these show that a small but nontrivial portion of Mac customers are lost each year simply because they did not know how to get software updates and assumed that updates were just no longer available on the Mac platform - so they moved to Windows to get the latest version.

Future Updates

Web design and technology will get better, as will the availability of the high-speed networking (ISDN, cable modems, ATM) necessary to bring all your customers to the Web update trough. But even with slicker Web sites and better navigation aids to find them, we still need a breakthrough in the way that we’ll deliver updates to our customers without them having to even think about it.

That breakthrough - simply put - needs two things. One, we and Apple have to simplify our upgrades. Just this past week I received update disks and several CD-ROMs for a dozen different Mac products I use anywhere from daily to once in a blue moon. But from the packaging these updates came in I hadn’t a clue which I should apply immediately and which I should dump. Only after reading all the paper stuff in the packages, the ReadMe files, and taking a good look at the files and installer provided, did I have a clue as to the importance of each update. And I do this sort of thing for a living. I don’t need to imagine how hard it is for others whose real jobs are not bit-twiddling, but use their Macs to get their work done. I don’t need to imagine, because I get a bunch of calls each day from these folks asking me what the hell they should do with the SuperWhizBangPro V.3 Updater 8.12 they just got in the mail. (And don’t give me that stuff about the version number meaning anything. I’ve had a release 1.2.3.4 that was critical to my operation and a release 2 that was a total waste of time.)

And two - we need a mechanism for better communicating the real point of an update (and why customers should pay for it, if it’s not a freebie).

Only after we’ve done both of these can we focus on getting it to customers in a painless and trivial way. My guess is that we need to look at the whole process as a continuum and not as a set of discrete problems. Rather than divorce the installer from the Web/FTP download widget from the email that was sent to the customer to start the process, we need to figure a way to build the three parts together as an “Update Object” that gets sent to the customer (via email, via a disk or CD-ROM in the snail-mail, etc.) every time we issue an update.

This “Update Object” would have the mechanism for obtaining the full update from its Net site, along with the chargeback method, and a clean, reasonable explanation of why your customers need it and what it does. Once they say yes, a simple button click would do all the rest. Pay for it. Download it. Scan their system for its compatibility. Set the proper installation options. Do the installation. Then test that installation went correctly (restarting, etc.), while fully informing the customer on their screen what was taking place. For the wireheads among your customers, the “Update Object” could also provide various manual interrupts or single-step action.

I suspect that if any of you think about this problem for a bit, you could architect the shell for this “Update Object”. I also imagine that if you license it to your fellow developers (and to Apple), you’ll win the gratitude of their customers, as well as yours (and you’ll make a few bucks along the way).

 

Community Search:
MacTech Search:

Software Updates via MacUpdate

Latest Forum Discussions

See All

Whitethorn Games combines two completely...
If you have ever gone fishing then you know that it is a lesson in patience, sitting around waiting for a bite that may never come. Well, that's because you have been doing it wrong, since as Whitehorn Games now demonstrates in new release Skate... | Read more »
Call of Duty Warzone is a Waiting Simula...
It's always fun when a splashy multiplayer game comes to mobile because they are few and far between, so I was excited to see the notification about Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile (finally) launching last week and wanted to try it out. As someone who... | Read more »
Albion Online introduces some massive ne...
Sandbox Interactive has announced an upcoming update to its flagship MMORPG Albion Online, containing massive updates to its existing guild Vs guild systems. Someone clearly rewatched the Helms Deep battle in Lord of the Rings and spent the next... | Read more »
Chucklefish announces launch date of the...
Chucklefish, the indie London-based team we probably all know from developing Terraria or their stint publishing Stardew Valley, has revealed the mobile release date for roguelike deck-builder Wildfrost. Developed by Gaziter and Deadpan Games, the... | Read more »
Netmarble opens pre-registration for act...
It has been close to three years since Netmarble announced they would be adapting the smash series Solo Leveling into a video game, and at last, they have announced the opening of pre-orders for Solo Leveling: Arise. [Read more] | Read more »
PUBG Mobile celebrates sixth anniversary...
For the past six years, PUBG Mobile has been one of the most popular shooters you can play in the palm of your hand, and Krafton is celebrating this milestone and many years of ups by teaming up with hit music man JVKE to create a special song for... | Read more »
ASTRA: Knights of Veda refuse to pump th...
In perhaps the most recent example of being incredibly eager, ASTRA: Knights of Veda has dropped its second collaboration with South Korean boyband Seventeen, named so as it consists of exactly thirteen members and a video collaboration with Lee... | Read more »
Collect all your cats and caterpillars a...
If you are growing tired of trying to build a town with your phone by using it as a tiny, ineffectual shover then fear no longer, as Independent Arts Software has announced the upcoming release of Construction Simulator 4, from the critically... | Read more »
Backbone complete its lineup of 2nd Gene...
With all the ports of big AAA games that have been coming to mobile, it is becoming more convenient than ever to own a good controller, and to help with this Backbone has announced the completion of their 2nd generation product lineup with their... | Read more »
Zenless Zone Zero opens entries for its...
miHoYo, aka HoYoverse, has become such a big name in mobile gaming that it's hard to believe that arguably their flagship title, Genshin Impact, is only three and a half years old. Now, they continue the road to the next title in their world, with... | Read more »

Price Scanner via MacPrices.net

B&H has Apple’s 13-inch M2 MacBook Airs o...
B&H Photo has 13″ MacBook Airs with M2 CPUs and 256GB of storage in stock and on sale for up to $150 off Apple’s new MSRP, starting at only $849. Free 1-2 day delivery is available to most US... Read more
M2 Mac minis on sale for $100-$200 off MSRP,...
B&H Photo has Apple’s M2-powered Mac minis back in stock and on sale today for $100-$200 off MSRP. Free 1-2 day shipping is available for most US addresses: – Mac mini M2/256GB SSD: $499, save $... Read more
Mac Studios with M2 Max and M2 Ultra CPUs on...
B&H Photo has standard-configuration Mac Studios with Apple’s M2 Max & Ultra CPUs in stock today and on Easter sale for $200 off MSRP. Their prices are the lowest available for these models... Read more
Deal Alert! B&H Photo has Apple’s 14-inch...
B&H Photo has new Gray and Black 14″ M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max MacBook Pros on sale for $200-$300 off MSRP, starting at only $1399. B&H offers free 1-2 day delivery to most US addresses: – 14″ 8... Read more
Department Of Justice Sets Sights On Apple In...
NEWS – The ball has finally dropped on the big Apple. The ball (metaphorically speaking) — an antitrust lawsuit filed in the U.S. on March 21 by the Department of Justice (DOJ) — came down following... Read more
New 13-inch M3 MacBook Air on sale for $999,...
Amazon has Apple’s new 13″ M3 MacBook Air on sale for $100 off MSRP for the first time, now just $999 shipped. Shipping is free: – 13″ MacBook Air (8GB RAM/256GB SSD/Space Gray): $999 $100 off MSRP... Read more
Amazon has Apple’s 9th-generation WiFi iPads...
Amazon has Apple’s 9th generation 10.2″ WiFi iPads on sale for $80-$100 off MSRP, starting only $249. Their prices are the lowest available for new iPads anywhere: – 10″ 64GB WiFi iPad (Space Gray or... Read more
Discounted 14-inch M3 MacBook Pros with 16GB...
Apple retailer Expercom has 14″ MacBook Pros with M3 CPUs and 16GB of standard memory discounted by up to $120 off Apple’s MSRP: – 14″ M3 MacBook Pro (16GB RAM/256GB SSD): $1691.06 $108 off MSRP – 14... Read more
Clearance 15-inch M2 MacBook Airs on sale for...
B&H Photo has Apple’s 15″ MacBook Airs with M2 CPUs (8GB RAM/256GB SSD) in stock today and on clearance sale for $999 in all four colors. Free 1-2 delivery is available to most US addresses.... Read more
Clearance 13-inch M1 MacBook Airs drop to onl...
B&H has Apple’s base 13″ M1 MacBook Air (Space Gray, Silver, & Gold) in stock and on clearance sale today for $300 off MSRP, only $699. Free 1-2 day shipping is available to most addresses in... Read more

Jobs Board

Medical Assistant - Surgical Oncology- *Apple...
Medical Assistant - Surgical Oncology- Apple Hill Location: WellSpan Medical Group, York, PA Schedule: Full Time Sign-On Bonus Eligible Remote/Hybrid Regular Apply Read more
Omnichannel Associate - *Apple* Blossom Mal...
Omnichannel Associate - Apple Blossom Mall Location:Winchester, VA, United States (https://jobs.jcp.com/jobs/location/191170/winchester-va-united-states) - Apple Read more
Cashier - *Apple* Blossom Mall - JCPenney (...
Cashier - Apple Blossom Mall Location:Winchester, VA, United States (https://jobs.jcp.com/jobs/location/191170/winchester-va-united-states) - Apple Blossom Mall Read more
Operations Associate - *Apple* Blossom Mall...
Operations Associate - Apple Blossom Mall Location:Winchester, VA, United States (https://jobs.jcp.com/jobs/location/191170/winchester-va-united-states) - Apple Read more
Business Analyst | *Apple* Pay - Banco Popu...
Business Analyst | Apple PayApply now " Apply now + Apply Now + Start applying with LinkedIn Start + Please wait Date:Mar 19, 2024 Location: San Juan-Cupey, PR Read more
All contents are Copyright 1984-2011 by Xplain Corporation. All rights reserved. Theme designed by Icreon.