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Few quick thoughts.
Diag connector cables for cars (at least non-US) are about $25. They are a 16 pin to RS-232 or 16-pin to USB. I believe all EU and Asian vehicles made in the past 4 or 5 years can use either protocol and prior to that they used just RS-232. I thought US cars had begun switching to this several years ago as well.
Dave & Shane, I am not bitching at either of you. I apologize if you thought I was
I have 100K written down as the version on our boat according to diags. My son though thinks it might be 100J. Either way, very old software.
If CC informed their dealers when they began including the ZO unit in the boats that the dealers needed to obtain the cable and that with the cable they could update all ZO units and that they should make sure that ZO had the latest software installed when a boat was sold then I agree that the dealer is at least partially at fault. I have no idea what efforts CC took to educate their dealers about new technology and how to update it. I assume that this is a dramatic shift from the old world where dealers had to know mechanics, fiberglass, and electrical systems.
I still have concerns with ZO and with AWSA's decision to give them an effective monopoly however. I believe that a well designed device such as this should allow for updates using a standard cable and protocol that is ubiquitous throughout the world and is already used by millions of devices. Requiring a special cable that is this expensive and only for this application seems to me extremely short-sighted. Not just from my standpoint of being a consumer who purchased a product expecting it to work correctly and then being surprised by the extra cost, but also from the standpoint of someone who doesn't live near a dealer and must purchase the cable separately if they don't want to send their unit in to ZO and not have it's use for some time. Building on this is the issue of a software glitch requiring a re-load of software for an individual or during a tournament. If someone doesn't have the special cable they are SOL. Yes, stuff happens, and with many mechanical failures you have to wait on parts to be delivered. This is a software driven product though which is good and normally has the benefits of being able to get updates for bugs and new features and fix problems with a relead. Much of this benefit is lost though by their decision to go with a proprietary interface.
Diag connector cables for cars (at least non-US) are about $25. They are a 16 pin to RS-232 or 16-pin to USB. I believe all EU and Asian vehicles made in the past 4 or 5 years can use either protocol and prior to that they used just RS-232. I thought US cars had begun switching to this several years ago as well.
Dave & Shane, I am not bitching at either of you. I apologize if you thought I was
I have 100K written down as the version on our boat according to diags. My son though thinks it might be 100J. Either way, very old software.
If CC informed their dealers when they began including the ZO unit in the boats that the dealers needed to obtain the cable and that with the cable they could update all ZO units and that they should make sure that ZO had the latest software installed when a boat was sold then I agree that the dealer is at least partially at fault. I have no idea what efforts CC took to educate their dealers about new technology and how to update it. I assume that this is a dramatic shift from the old world where dealers had to know mechanics, fiberglass, and electrical systems.
I still have concerns with ZO and with AWSA's decision to give them an effective monopoly however. I believe that a well designed device such as this should allow for updates using a standard cable and protocol that is ubiquitous throughout the world and is already used by millions of devices. Requiring a special cable that is this expensive and only for this application seems to me extremely short-sighted. Not just from my standpoint of being a consumer who purchased a product expecting it to work correctly and then being surprised by the extra cost, but also from the standpoint of someone who doesn't live near a dealer and must purchase the cable separately if they don't want to send their unit in to ZO and not have it's use for some time. Building on this is the issue of a software glitch requiring a re-load of software for an individual or during a tournament. If someone doesn't have the special cable they are SOL. Yes, stuff happens, and with many mechanical failures you have to wait on parts to be delivered. This is a software driven product though which is good and normally has the benefits of being able to get updates for bugs and new features and fix problems with a relead. Much of this benefit is lost though by their decision to go with a proprietary interface.
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