Noel Chiappa wrote: > In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if some vendors don't actually have an > incentive for *not* releasing new code for existing boxes, because in some > markets (e.g. the USA), the market for these sorts of boxes is close to > saturated (as in, a high percentage of potential buyers already have one). > So, the only way for these vendors to make a major sale (since people are > unlikely to want to pay significant $$$ for a code upgrade - plus to which > most people aren't going to want to fuss with upgrading anyway) is to > obsolete the old boxes, forcing purchase of a new one... Like desktop computers These products are being marketed on the basis of improved features to people who already have one... You got a new one because: Your dsl provider cpe is so flakey you want to chuck it. You've switched from dsl to cable. Your dsl cpe has only one ethernet jack on the back. Your cable cpe doesn't nat all your machines and your printer keeps crashing due to all the broadcast/probe traffic on your local segment. Your old one is 802.11B or G and you want G or N You want a gigabit ethernet switch included instead of 100Mb/s your old router had. The current one offers inadequate wireless coverage. You signed a contract for the the foo service offering from your cable/dsl/fixed wireless/cellular carrier and it came in the mail. > > We all agree on the long-term vision. It is hard to get people to desire a software feature on the device that they turn on and forget about and that it is worth running out and buying an upgrade especially if the one they have is still nominally working... New technology washing machines use less water and power, destroy fewer clothes and clean better, but when was the last time you upgraded? > Not necessarily. > > Noel > > _______________________________________________ > Ietf mailing list > Ietf@xxxxxxxx > https://www1.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf > _______________________________________________ Ietf@xxxxxxxx https://www1.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf