‘Bulletproof’ Needs to Be a Standard Feature for Production Gear

当营销人员向世界各地的百家乐软件app最新版下载推销设备时, 都是关于, “Here’s the latest feature!” Or “We just added this!” Or “Now it can do that!” Part of this is because there are always new technologies to add. RTMP 就变成了 rtmp. H.265成功H.264. SRT support 就变成了 a must-have feature. Smart programming 就变成了 AI. 购买设备的人已经习惯了只看到有关最新功能的广告.

曾经有一段时间，生产装备出售后没有可能升级. 今天, 市场营销的另一个重要手段是通过软件或固件更新将新功能添加到现有硬件中. 这在整个行业中变得如此普遍，以至于买家现在完全期望——甚至要求——获得他们没有支付的新功能. “I saw that a new camera can do x. I want my old camera to do it too.” If it’s not added (or can’t be), they voice their disappointment on every form of social media available, 即使在新产品出现之前他们对产品非常满意.

这个讨论的另一个方面是，制造商正在制造突破传统生产壁垒的产品, offering amazing cost-to-feature ratios. “嘿, 我们做了这个小的手持项目，可以用来显示和评估你的视频, but now it also records, 流, and maybe even switches between inputs, 添加标题, 和更多的. All in the palm of your hand.” Or “We made a little camera that can now track you automatically, 对手势做出反应, and correct or distort images.”

但在营销炒作中经常被忽略的是对绝对可靠性的需求. 并不是每一件装备都要匹配竞争对手的新功能. But it does have to be “bulletproof.“如果视频帧率不是绝对稳定的，那么一大堆令人惊叹的功能又有什么用呢, 可靠的, 防弹29.97? 或者如果欧洲国家的用户无法获得绝对可靠的50帧/秒呢? 如果电池偶尔认为它完全耗尽了，那么尖端的AI运动跟踪有什么好处呢, and the device won’t boot up? What if the color from the camera always looks off? What if the audio metering adjustments don’t make any sense? What if 10 dB in this device isn’t the same 10 dB found everywhere else?

如果新功能损害了设备的基本可靠性，那它们又有什么用呢? 如果一个曾经工作良好的相机现在一直默认为黑白配置文件，并且每次都需要重置，那么过度宣传的固件更新有什么价值呢? 如果升级产品意味着使用标准协议连接到其他设备不再可能，因为现在设备只使用最新版本的协议, and those other devices can’t be upgraded?

我个人经历过所有这些升级后和不幸的附加故障, and I’m sure others have as well. 追求最新最好的、无所不能的、售价仅为传统设备零头的产品是有成本的. That cost turns out to be the lack of reliability. 虽然技术确实在制造更小、更便宜、功能更强大的设备, 为了追逐“最新、最伟大”的营销浪潮，它被推向了极限.

The problem is that nobody markets reliability. 这是预计的. People only see the icing on the cake. They have no idea that the cake itself is bad.

There is another cost: access to support. So, when an upgrade or new widget doesn’t work, or some aspect of it doesn’t work as you expect it to, you can’t reach someone in your own country or region—or at all. Or, if you can reach someone, they are a powerless customer service or sales agent, and they can’t actually resolve your issue. 或者这个问题会被带到一些社交媒体论坛或Discord频道, where it can be discussed, but rarely addressed or fixed.

我们很难在市场上把装备标榜为防弹装备，因为我们都认为它的核心功能已经达到了市场宣传的目的. This much is expected. 当然，它可以拍摄视频，切换摄像头，有一个非常好的变焦镜头等等. 但是，通常情况下，我们购买它是因为其他很酷的功能，使它脱颖而出. 然而, if the core thing—like the video itself it produces—has problems, there’s no mention of that in the marketing.

These days, we can no longer assume. 我们必须依靠那些很少的关键性的评论和测试，这些评论和测试的人不是与产品一起购买的，也不是由他们正在“审查”产品的供应商赞助的.“我们需要有人说一些负面的东西，指出设备的问题，这样终端用户才能做出明智的选择. 我们必须这样做，这样那些忘记将防弹可靠性作为绝对核心功能的制造商才能被追究责任.

问题是很少有百家乐软件能指出消极的一面. With vendor-friendly alternatives, 哪个公司在媒体上做广告，告诉人们它的设备有问题? You go through all sorts of media channels, and 都是关于 the perfect solution, 这个神奇的新工具, how this item does it all and solves everything—they’re all perfect. This is what gets the views.

问题在于，市场上不完美的设备比以往任何时候都多，我们不能指望每一辆车都有这样的设备. Gear that can’t deliver 可靠的 video. 特性 that work and then don’t. Devices that connect and then don’t. We’ve lost core reliability. Bulletproof needs to be a feature.

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