One of the most common complaints that I hear against S60 and Nokia is that of OS updates. When the Nokia N95, the first S60v3 device to sport Feature Pack 1, was released, owners of current S60v3 handsets such as the venerable N73 were in outrage. ‘Why can’t we get Feature Pack 1?!” they screamed, and with good reason. Windows Mobile devices typically received updates from Windows Mobile 5 to the newer Windows Mobile 6, so why is Symbian/S60 any different?
Kirollos over at TheN95Blog has an interesting solution, that Nokia should offer OS upgrades on a paid basis. The general assumption (shared by yours truly) is that it would be entirely too expensive, both in time and money, for Nokia/S60 to develop a version of the new Feature Pack for every older handset. Also, where do you draw the line? Do only S60v3 Feature Pack 1 devices get the update to Feature Pack 2, or do all S60v3 handsets? Also, what about when Feature Pack 3 comes out? update them all over again, even if sales are slowing for the older handsets? Thus, a paid update *should* cover most of the issues.
However, on the other hand, Nokia would then have the problem of spending the time and resources on making an updated firmware and hope that there is demand to offset those costs, and also make sure doing so didn’t cannibalize the sales of new handsets.
I haven’t really decided whether I think it’s a great idea or not, but I thought it was an interesting suggestion. What do you think? Would you pay for an update for your FP1 device and if so, how much?
