I understand the frustration, and I think it would be totally unfair if Sony were selling brand new A1 with all the new features and left the current owners with no firmware updates, but that's not what Sony is doing. You knew exactly what A1 was capable of when you purchased the camera and nothing has changed in that functionality. Canon and Nikon might be releasing more frequent updates, but this could very well be their approach to show continuous improvements by intentionally holding some functionality at the initial release. If I remember correctly from my DSLR days, Canon and Nikon weren't really any different than how Sony is behaving now.
The only place where you see software based improvements (although mostly security patches and bug fixes) all the time is the smartphones space. They know they can't sell you a new $1,000 phone every year, so they need you to tap into their monthly subscription plans and keep you engaged to sell you a new phone every couple of years and related accessories (wireless earphones, wearables, etc.).
I am not saying Sony shouldn't release a new firmware. I hope they will to keep their customers more loyal to the brand, but don't keep your hopes up. Sony isn't really doing anything outside of industry norms. Also you can't just sell the product at a high initial price and then turn that into a subscription based feature model down the line. If anything it will piss off more people. "Why do I have to pay $500 for AI tracking? That feature is available on a $3,000 camera and I paid $6,000 for mine." It is a real slippery slope and very hard to keep everyone happy.
I understand the frustration, and I think it would be totally unfair if Sony were selling brand new A1 with all the new features and left the current owners with no firmware updates, but that's not what Sony is doing. You knew exactly what A1 was capable of when you purchased the camera and nothing has changed in that functionality. Canon and Nikon might be releasing more frequent updates, but this could very well be their approach to show continuous improvements by intentionally holding some functionality at the initial release. If I remember correctly from my DSLR days, Canon and Nikon weren't really any different than how Sony is behaving now.
The only place where you see software based improvements (although mostly security patches and bug fixes) all the time is the smartphones space. They know they can't sell you a new $1,000 phone every year, so they need you to tap into their monthly subscription plans and keep you engaged to sell you a new phone every couple of years and related accessories (wireless earphones, wearables, etc.).
I am not saying Sony shouldn't release a new firmware. I hope they will to keep their customers more loyal to the brand, but don't keep your hopes up. Sony isn't really doing anything outside of industry norms.
Mar 11, 2023 at 09:03 AM
Previous versions of ramesesthe2nd's message #16191232 « A1 to get firmware update in February? »
