A lot of software these days automatically updates itself by downloading and installing updates. Whereas this can be convenient and helpful, I've learned it can also be a bad thing.
I think I dislike auto-updating software because of bad experiences in the past. I don't have a problem when the update is a fix to a problem. But often times software developers use this auto-updating mechanism to new or unwanted software. Microsoft's Windows Update has been guilty of this, I suddenly find software on my system that I didn't want. This is frustrating for someone who likes to maintain control over their computer.
Adobe is another gross violator. Adobe products like Reader and Flash are constantly updating and reinstalling crappy Adobe software like Adobe Air. It's to the point where I won't install anything Adobe on my system.
This problem is not isolated to computers either. The other day my Internet-enabled TV automatically downloaded and installed a new firmware update. After the install the volume was greatly increased, about 3 times it's previous level. I think Vizio realized they screwed up because the next day it downloaded another update, now the volume is only about twice as loud as before.
Again, my complaint isn't with making fixes available. It's with the unilateral way in which these fixes are applied. Please, offer us the consumer a way to select the updates, update manually, or even opt out completely. Put the control in our hands.
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