I had to install Oracle SQL Developer after not having to touch anything Oracle for a long time. Easy enough right? Found the latest download through Google, and clicked on the link - now I'm greeted with ODN sign on screen. Why does an essential free tool from a vendor ever need a "free" account to access? Luckily I got the logon right (from my previous life) the first time. Since it's registered under an outdated email, I'd like to get it updated. Going to the Account Update screen... finding no obvious way to update the email??
Two major friction points here, which means I'm not coming back to Oracle Dev site, if I have a choice.
- Requiring login for something trivial but essential. I understand the need for marketing (and maybe copyright control, which is kinda weak argument in this case), but there's better ways to do it.
- Not keen on addressing basic needs for maintaining a relationship, such as updating email address.
Not sure if Oracle is still living its days of "king of RDBMS", but these days there's always a good alternative for anything they offer: DB? CRM? hardware? Virtualization? You name it. Winning the heart and mind of one of their key constituents - technologists and developers - probably requires a better job than they're currently doing.
