iomega LAME ALERT

So I bought this little NAS appliance a while back, before the floods thankfully, it sat around for a while and I just now got around to dicking with it.

First issue, insert the CD, choose "custom install" does it give me an option to install its software off the system drive? No, it writes to my SSD with no other option offered, then restarts the system abruptly without prompting, losing all my browser tabs and some work in the process.

I'm like, great, this is promising, I want to trust my data to these nincompoops.

So I poke around in the configuration utility after the reboot and there is a button for firmware upgrade with a link. Does the link go directly to where I can download the firmware? No, it dumps me at iomega's generic front page. So I navigate to support, a product finder, downloads, Aha there is the file I need...click on it...

"To continue downloading software from Iomega's website, you will need a "My Support" account. If you already have a My Support account, log in now to continue. If this is your first visit, please take a moment to create your new My Support account."

Now, I need yet another online account with a vendor like I need a hole in the head...plus I PURCHASED THE FUCKING GIZMO, am I not entitled to the damn firmware without signing up for eternal spam?

Anyway, just wanted to give folks a heads up, near as I can tell iomega are retard assholes and I am not trusting this thing as any sort of backup...also its newer version's reviews on Newegg are 2 eggs...avoid.

I cannot believe iomega still exists. As a storage vendor no less. Not sure if you're aware of their history, it goes back to the early 80s. They've had a few good ideas, but never seem to execute them reliably. Which is not ideal when your corporate focus is on data storage.

That said, I'm sure your NAS is fine, at least as reliable as the drives attached to it are. Sounds like a hokey pain in the ass though, I don't get why these things can't just download their own firmware updates, it shouldn't require navigating to a seperate web page at all. An FTP server with a static link to the latest version would work pretty good.

In my experience companies kinda lump software into the same bucket as light bulbs and carpeting. It's just another meaningless expense that adds no value and you can get away with a few burned out bulbs and stains.

srs

There are quite a few people who are astonished by the idea that a programmer should make anything more than minimum wage. They think it's just gorilla-type key-punching work that requires about as much skill as digging ditches.

Yeah, I know. They already got your money, now they are like "support? ha ha hey Leroy...this guy wants support ha ha ha HAHAHAHAHAHA"

I pasted my OP into a feedback window over at iomega, pointless I know but it made me feel better.

I agree with the 1st response. Once the ZIP drive went the way of the Dodo I thought Iomega would too. Somehow, despite rarely ever seeing their products anywhere, they're still around.

Though I'm intrigued by their pre-Zip history. I don't know any of it.

They were great for 5 or so years maybe, but the CDR came out for the regular user and that should have been the end.

I'm surprised to see all the hate for iomega, I have two of their StorCenter IX2-200's and I've no problems at all with them.

I suppose it would be nice to see an option to auto update... But firmware updates aren't so regular that this is a problem.

There is where my QNap is very good, it works first time no fuss, updates just pop up in the web portal on the device asking if you want to download, you can tell it to check for updates at different times etc

Anyone remember the Bernoulli Box?

What about syquest drives and Jazz drives....lol.

We can at least credit Zip and Jaz with with speeding the adoption of CD-R/RW. I remember using Zip disks to bring stuff from the ISP I worked at back home in the mid 90s. Until we got a CD burner at work.

dustNbone said:

Anyone remember the Bernoulli Box?

Click to expand...

God I feel old now. I once installed a dual 8" Bernouli box that for my fathers company when I was in Junior High School. I think they were 20MB, one of the drives was for live data and the second was for backups of the first and the hard drive in the computer.

dustNbone said:

We can at least credit Zip and Jaz with with speeding the adoption of CD-R/RW. I remember using Zip disks to bring stuff from the ISP I worked at back home in the mid 90s. Until we got a CD burner at work.

Click to expand...

Not only that but USB as well. Doing 100MB over parallel port was a pain, as well as setting up external SCSI for "portable" drives.

That said. I did own Jaz and Zip drives. Never had a failure, but no one else I knew had one, so anything shared had to be on cd.

adi said:

Not only that but USB as well. Doing 100MB over parallel port was a pain, as well as setting up external SCSI for "portable" drives.

That said. I did own Jaz and Zip drives. Never had a failure, but no one else I knew had one, so anything shared had to be on cd.

Click to expand...

I had Zip100, 250 & Jaz 1 & 2 GB drives and all in the end died with click of death.

mattfinch said:

I'm surprised to see all the hate for iomega, I have two of their StorCenter IX2-200's and I've no problems at all with them.

I suppose it would be nice to see an option to auto update... But firmware updates aren't so regular that this is a problem.

Click to expand...

I wouldn't necessarily call it hate. But it's not like Iomega is the household name it once was. I worked at my university's computer store in the late 90s and ZIP discs were required in quite a few classes back then. So that meant a drive also quite often.

My ZIP drive was great. I think I even still have the discs somewhere. And I wanted a JAZZ like you couldn't believe since it could hold all my data on one disc. I'm just surprised every time I see one of their drives for sale, usually more expensive than the more common brands without any noticeable benefit.