Dirk, I appreciate that, and agree that everybody has the right to decide what they feel strongly about, and to act on the basis of those feelings. Problem for Tesla is that the union of all of those customer likes/dislikes is a vast, sometimes contradictory set of feelings. So, they cannot possibly please everybody. I think what we are dealing with here is their (and our) learning experience regarding the software-based "evolving" car. Sure, other makers update software, but they don't - for better or worse - often update major features, performance, or UI via software. That is an ambitious undertaking, and we are seeing the fallout - both good and bad. Personally, I'm along for the journey, taking the good with the bad, and so far net-net have a better car each year. For those who feel they've reached a pinnacle on a certain release, I can appreciate the desire to stay there... however it will be increasingly difficult for Tesla to service them, and certain service needs may necessitate an update at some point to some features they do not like. I see no way around that.
tomas, thanks for a well argued, thoughtful post.
I think you make a very strong point. Yes, this is daunting for Tesla. The question I'd like to post as a follow up is... "now that we all see this, what's the best way forward". Here are some ideas
#1: push forward and force people to be on the latest firmware
#2: allow people to stop updating
#3: be more thoughtful when taking things away and make more of these things optional
#1 makes things much easier for Tesla, but will get a few people very upset; yes, Tesla is the first car maker with this model of adding major new features (YAY!!!) via software updates, and of taking things away (BUHHHH!!!!!) via software updates. This isn't something that has been done and tested in the market yet. There's a massive risk in this approach that you will eventually turn a certain share (maybe even a large share?) of your early customers against you
#2 makes things very complicated for Tesla. Especially when trying to do repairs and address service issues. I don't buy into the whole "we need to reinstall the firmware because you got a new folding mirror and we can only reinstall the latest version" - that's not credible. But what is credible is that they keep innovating, keep improving components (like the inverter, like the battery thermal management) and that it may not be possible after certain service procedures to keep you on the same firmware because that older firmware may not support the latest rev of your hardware
#3 is interesting - it could lead to options hell: there are 571 different options on the settings page! Which leads to validation hell. But on the flipside this may mean that Tesla could take a more deliberate approach. Yes, you want to redesign your UI (why? seriously, WHY?) - but when you do so, don't take information away that used to be there. Don't put design over functionality. Take the feedback you get during the beta test more seriously.
OK, this was more written from the point of view of /MY/ concern than that of green1 and wk059 - but even for their situation it applies to some degrees. Be more deliberate in what you enable (was it smart to allow autosteer on all roads? Come on, you KNEW that people wouldn't not turn it on just because you said so in the warning page... be real). And once it has been enabled, be very, very deliberate in what you take away. And expect backlash. And maybe communicate with a plan how you'll get back to what may be reasonable use (I think it was wk059 who talked about driving with autosteer on in busy two lane traffic BECAUSE it acts as additional safety net. So not with hands off the wheel but very much with hands on the wheel. So may the software could detect that and allow itself to be used as additional safety tool.
Ok, I'm rambling more than I wanted. It's sometimes really hard to make a concise point because this is complicated. What I'm trying to say is that what they are doing right now which is "none of the above" plus "no communication of what the goal is" is not helpful. And it would be better if they picked a path, clearly communicated it and tried to respond to their customers' concerns. I'd love to have a conversation with Tesla about what it would take for me to say "yep, I'll update to v7.2".
- - - Updated - - -
Just got my car back from the service center. Here are the release notes for 2.9.40 - notice the new LAUNCH MODE!!! :biggrin:
You haven't had ludicrous added, have you? This is for a regular P85D?
Still not enough to make me want to switch to v7, but at least something to hopefully add a different topic to this thread
