From Paul Bowden, Nottingham, UK
Chris Stokel-Walker describes the nightmare of not being able to make a cup of tea while your kettle updates itself (11 May, p 23). This does raise an important question: why do we put up with things that are so badly engineered that they need fixes after we have bought them?
A bicycle maker that had to visit your house to fit new wheels would soon go out of business. So why do we put up with this for software-controlled gadgets? Isn't every vital update admitting poor design?
