I recently got a new router (D-Link DIR-655), and with it came a neat feature called SharePort that allowed me to plug in a USB printer into the router and have it shared with the entire network. I thought it was a great idea, so I plugged the printer into the router and fired up the network printer dialog.
Thirty minutes later, I wasn’t thinking this “feature” was so neat anymore: it wouldn’t work at all, no matter what I did with it. Finally, I gave in and put in the CD into my computer. Lo and behold: the SharePort installer.
Once the software was installed, everything worked, although the interface was less than sleek. But now whenever I need my printer I need to have a memory-consuming software running.
Really, guys? Is this the best you can do? And for that matter, isn’t this what all software does?
Virtually every single application I have installed has put itself onto the desktop with a distracting icon. Half of those will start up automatically (eg. MagicISO virtual CD application). And maybe a tenth of those will work the way I want them to work.
It’s sad that every camera I buy comes with a CD that installs a load of photo tools I don’t need… I have Photoshop CS4, and I don’t need your stupid image software.
It’s sad that all the computers in my house came with so much junk (like games and apps) pre-installed that it ran slower than a sloth. It’s even sadder that all the HP computers I had came with a stupid HP Advisor software that ran 24/7.
It’s sad that printers force you to run their CD, and even drivers come with junk (see the stupid HP dialog box that runs every time you print, reminding you to use Vivera inks). Because with every single time this happens, I just feel like cowering.
Whenever I get gadgets these days, I don’t run the CD. I plug it in and see if it works. And you know what? A lot of the time, Windows 7 detects it. I smile, and I’m happy for the rest of the day because I didn’t even open that CD.
What has happened? Why are all applications so obnoxious? TI Connect (application to install software to my graphic calculator) doesn’t need a special spot in my Control Panel list! It doesn’t need a desktop icon either, nor does it need to start automatically.
Take a look at the below two options. Which one seems more intuitive?
Which one’s more intuitive? I say the second one. I hope you agree.
I’ve been using TI’s graphing calculators since the 6th grade, about 12 years now – and believe me, if you think TI Connect is bad you should see what it replaced. If anyone ever mentions TI-Graph Link to you, run screaming from the room.
I definitely agree with you though, it’s as if every peripheral company out there has their own rebranded version of the same buggy, ugly management software, which for some reason NEVER uses the Windows GUI style and ALWAYS has to run on startup. The good news is with Windows 7 almost everything magically works without the bloatware – even my printer. Hopefully the trend continues.
“Isn’t this what all software does?” Actually, no – that’s a very Windows-centric problem. Using Linux, things obviously work way differently (though “dependency-hell” can come up anytime). Being a Mac guy, there is much to be said for the Mac software ecosystem, which is way more well-behaved than in the Windows world. For some reason – maybe the examples set forth by Apple, the developer tools, or the Human Interface Guidelines – software on the Mac overall seems to be programmed with much more usability in mind.
It’s b/c in the end, software is about money. It’s not about doing it well or doing it beautifully.
Software is created so that people who wrote it and the companies that pay these people, can be paid. That’s why we get such bloatware and unnecessary stuff (logitech drivers, or yahoo toolbar anyone?), b/c they want to somehow get you to click something that will generate more revenue for them.
I would tend to think that even the programmers that write such stuff gag at how it all ends up to the consumer.
Easiest thing to do is to build your own computer. Install your own OS and software. The truth is, retail stores no longer make money selling computers, which is why they sell you services and warranties. Also, HP, Dell, etc. make money by including the bloat-ware on their PCs.
If you haven’t heard of Acronis, you should now (http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/). I can’t even begin to say how much of a time saver is it to restore your system from an image.
Change what programs and services you want to start up when you boot into windows via MSCONFIG and the registry (Run folders).
Other than that, keep your system defragmented and clean from all the things you can get through the internet and your computer will run like new, guaranteed. (Disclaimer: Results may not be as expected if you have hardware failures.)
-Eric
I can think of two prevailing reasons for this trend: one is that peripheral companies like concise bullet point features for advertising. It doesn’t matter if a feature is poorly implemented, because that’s hard to explain. The other reason is that “average” users don’t know how to use the functions built into their operating system, so they rely on programs to “auto-configure” themselves, or to run other “user-friendly” step-by-step wizards to perform relatively simple tasks.
My peeve with this isn’t so much the disk–I do like you and don’t even put it in–it’s that they skimp on simple technical documentation. If I get a new router, I need to know what the default IP address and default username and password are. I set up the rest myself. Very few routers I’ve used actually print those anywhere in the documentation. I generally have to look for this online. Similarly, a network printer I got didn’t simply tell me the name by which it would be recognized in Windows (and XP isn’t so great with UPnP network printers, I guess). Anyway, Linux detected it and “just worked” within seconds. In windows I had to do some guesswork to finally get it working. Interestingly enough, even though Brother (the company that makes the printer) has a strong track record for compatibility, they focused their documentation on Windows and OSX, and in both cases only explained how to make things work with their (self explanatory) bundled software, instead of devoting those pages to how to make the device work Windows, OSX, or Linux.
hey if it has a CaT5e port on the back near the usb then you can plug that into the router and it will work as long as you have used the printer on that PC/MAC
hope it helps
James
I agree that this is pretty much an issue with windows only. As a user on windows until I was 16, as soon as I started using a mac/linux at that time (4 years ago) I realized how nice it was not to have things pop up every time I plugged something in, or a box saying my hardware is ready to use or is not until the computer restarts. Even networked printers, because of Apple’s (open source) Bonjour networking protocol, I plug a printer into my Apple Wireless base station, open up printer prefs on my mac, and it shows up. Simple as that, the drivers download if necessary and I’m off to the races. No HP windows popping up or weird software to install. Same thing in linux, I plug in a USB printer or anything else, it just gets recognized and is ready to use. Windows has come far since I stopped using it as my primary OS 4 years ago, but not far enough. This is one of my largest issues with it.
Fortunately, there are some ways around this, but only if you’re on a network with a printer server running a windows server OS. But that’s just more money.
Shelby Munsch
Thursday, 8 October, 2009 at 12:38You’re entirely correct. It’s often a similar experience for the majority of hardware and peripherals these days. Your Logitech mouse came with something, didn’t it? Every printer EVER has some sort of crap I don’t want running all the time. The core functionality is THERE for software developers, look what happens when you plug in a old “Plays for Sure” MP3 Player. It autodetects it, mounts it as a drive and lets you just drag and drop your music onto it.
The big deal about Windows 98 was “Plug’n'Play”. You didn’t need to download or install any software. You just plugged a device in and it worked. Why do hardware companies insist on following incredibly outdated programming and design practices? Provide me with an INF, a DLL, and maybe a SYS file or two (for Windows).