> Why is this not a firmware addition?

Have you ever played with the firmware on an A7S2 or one of the old jailbreakable models? That's why: while it may be based on Linux with some weird Android layer on which PM apps are based, it is an utter UTTER mess.

Sony is a camera company, not a software company, and it shows in whatever they touch.

I would have said "what about the playstation" but thats kind of a mess too.

You are right and it's mind-boggling how they do it.

Not having the 6000 is a real bummer since I was just getting excited to use mine as a webcam. It’s a shame... I remember my first digital camera was some 1.3 MP point-and-shoot more than 15 years ago and it was well capable of using it as a webcam.

No answers here... for me the meta-question is why are they so bad at user-facing software? (I don't really know about the quality of the firmware, it gets the job done, I guess). I like their cameras -- I own an NEX5N, a6000 and an RX100 -- but interacting with their mobile and desktop apps is always such a terrible experience.

My theory is most of imaging software & hardware is in Japan, and software is not a strong point there since it doesn't pay well. I bet it would be better if they could pay like FANG. Instagram alone probably make more money than the entire photography industry.

Samsung NX was going towards the 'smartphone pro camera' that we should be at by now, but they pulled out because they probably saw the future of it.

Hardware companies never do software well. It's a freebie.

Strangely, some are starting to do software better -- so they can monetize data they collect.

I wouldn't say never. But it really comes down to how a business views their product. If they view it as a hardware product that is supported by some software, then it will be shit. If they view it as a whole end-to-end solution where the entire experience is the product, then they will more often do it well.

Photography is weird in that the people still buying cameras pretty much just want the same old Canon/Nikon controls and menus that they are used to, and have a workflow already in place. It is really difficult to get these people out of that mindset even though it would be amazing if you were able to take a photo, it would get automatically uploaded to the cloud, where you can access and edit/publish it through any device. Even though this would benefit a lot of professionals, many wouldn't want to change their workflow to allow this.