Ethics of Canon & the 7D

[Michael Murie]

Originally Posted by John Vincent

That said, do manufacturers ever have an obligation to upgrade firmware (assuming the camera works as advertised) or warn potential buyers that something better is months away?

Or is it always you take what you get, period. Anyway, I have found the responses to be very interesting.

Unless the thing stops working, then I don't think they do have an obligation to "update" the product...however, you can't overlook keeping customers happy. I was actually shocked that Canon did release a firmware update for the 5D in the first case; it's one of the few times I can think of Canon or Nikon doing such a thing.


Re: announcing stuff ahead of time.
That's also a tough issue as it will obviously effect sales negatively. Also, I remember back in the 90's Microsoft got a bit of a rap for "Press Release Technology;" sending out a press release for a new technology that was still months from release (and in some cases never was really released.) It was an effective tool not so much for informing customers about what was coming, as for causing them not to buy competing products.