No upgrades for the Google Mini
As many of you know, Google just released a new version of the Google Mini, their low-cost search appliance. The new mini has a ton of new features, you can read about them here. It’s clear that many of these features require a brand new box like having a smaller server footprint.
Some features may or may not be dependent on new hardware; like faster indexing and higher queries per second.
However, many of the new options don’t seem related to hardware at all. These are: unlimited collections and front ends, additional crawling options, enhanced administrator interface, additional reporting options, Google Desktop for Enterprise, etc.
A friend just found out that the Google Mini they bought just over the return period, 30 days, can’t be upgraded with any of these new features! It seems like the amazing patching system they bragged about is only for security vulnerabilities and bugs.
Isn’t this the antithesis of a web-application? Sure, the server isn’t behind Google’s own management infrastructure, but it just seems so dated to have these kinds of limitations in this day and age.
Bad Google, bad!
Here is part of the response they got:
Thank you for your message to the Google Mini support team and for your interest in the new version of the product. As we have made improvements which depend upon next generation hardware, it is has not been feasible to offer the new features in a software only upgrade.
Google offers a generous 30 day risk free trial period with your purchase of the Mini (counted from the date on which your appliance shipped from our distributor). We understand that customers who are interested in the new product and have recently purchased the Mini may wish to exchange their appliance for a refund of the original purchase price.