When I broke the story on the lens firmware update last week, I pretty much expected what would come next.
You see, Nikon has chosen to create a 1.91MB (Mac) or 6.99MB (Windows) installer that does one thing: it creates a folder on your desktop (not anywhere you specify, but only on your desktop), into which it puts a 57KB (that's kilobytes) file and a copy of a license agreement that isn't the one you agreed to on the Web site (yeah, really; read them carefully and you find that they're different, and they're not even the same type of document as one is a Terms and Conditions, the other is a License Agreement).
So how fast do you think my In Box started filling up with "Nikon doesn't understand software" messages? Yeah, pretty much that fast. Moreover, by making a small little binary file into an installer, Nikon makes the update only work for Macintosh and Windows users. Linux and other OS users need not apply. Plus, since you have to install a program you'll trigger the Admin priviledges request for password on your machine. At least one email message was from someone who won't do that unless the program is known to come from a safe source (downloads not being considered safe without previous vetting). Plus some people object to their systems being strewn with one-use programs and extra folders like this. Well, not some: many. Well, not many: most. Well, not most: all.
Now, it would be one thing if this were a program that could fetch all firmware updates and make them available with a click on your system. Heck, attach Growl notification so I know when a new update has been downloaded. Oh, wait, that's what Nikon Message Center is supposed to do for Nikon Software. Only it has almost never actually done that for me. Ever. On either machine it's installed on. I write books about that software, so I kind of keep track of it, you know. How many times has Nikon Message Center notified me of something I needed to update? Once, and that was only when I came back to my desktop from a month of traveling and the message itself came 15 days after the update was actually available and days after I started using the desktop again. Oh, and Nikon Message Center 2 keeps telling me that I should update something I've already updated. (Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do...)
So I can't blame the guy who doesn't want to enter his password. If the installer creator can't get the right license agreement in the file, what are the odds he didn't write to the desktop correctly?
The quality level of most of Nikon's software is questionable, at best. Let me put this fimware installer program in context: I used to have people who worked for me that did installers. If one had come back with this as an answer for a 57KB file, he'd be hearing my screams in his sleep.
But let's put this into some other context:
- Some D800 models certainly have a focus issue.
- Tech support for Capture NX2 can take ages to get a solution (I just got an email from someone who finally had their problem identified after 12 months of looking by Nikon: it seems they can't deal with more than 251 color profiles in all folders).
- The results from my NikonUSA repair surveys show some considerable problems with getting repairs done right the first time.
- Products are shipped (Nikon 1) where virtually every user is guaranteed that they'll miss a picture someday because a key dial has moved.
I'm not going to make an exhaustive list otherwise you'll still be reading this article tomorrow; I just want to illustrate the variety of quality issues Nikon is currently facing.
We buy Nikon cameras because they are state-of-the-art in terms of features and potential performance. For the most part, Nikon has the design and manufacturing of cameras down to a science. Once they get something right they tend to just keep doing that. No issues there. The problem is that there are a lot of things that Nikon isn't getting right. Is the company and its practices state-of-the-art? No. And this firmware update is just another in a long line of things that show us that.