Indeed... I really don't understand the "argument" of some people of AF MA being messed up by the user to the point of having to send it to Canon!!??
Try working on a tech support line and talk to some of the mouth-breathing knuckle draggers who call in. Even worse than the people who are dim-witted and know they're dim-witted are the folks who "have been Windows network administrators for 20 years" (this was back in 1995 when Windows was in existence for only 10 years - I took these calls at Microsoft - my first "real" job) who are really more dim-witted than the mouth-breathing knuckle draggers.
Try talking through some of those morons (yes I know that's harsh but it's true) through reading the screen to you, or even just turning the device on. They will invariably insist on pushing other buttons, going into other screens, NOT reading what the screen actually says, but what they think it should say, or what they think you want to hear (customers lie to tech support all the time).
Unfortunately those are the types that MA will cause problems for. They'll bump a setting up to 20 thinking "more is better" or their toddler who is far more bright than they are will have changed the settings - but unfortunately toddlers' attention spans and communication skills are usually too limited to get them to do the work for their moron parents.
Simplest thing in the world to set it back to default... Maybe they messed up something else and didn't even understand what they messed up...?
It is the "simplest thing in the world" for someone who will RTFM, or will actually listen, think, and comprehend on a tech support call, and not lie to the CSR. People who hate technology but like gadgets (huh?) and refuse to RTFM and refuse to learn how tech works, and lie to the CSR, will be the problem users.
The decision by Canon of removing a near-zero-cost feature like AF MA from the 60D, when it already was in the 50D, is simply to unashamedly bully people that need it into buying the $500 more expensive 7D.
Implementing the feature is near zero cost.
Supporting the feature for pro-level users is near zero cost.
Supporting end users is far from "near zero cost" and far more costly than supporting professional users. You or I might call in about hot pixels, metering oddities, or a genuine autofocus issue, or other warranty issue. The end user is going to call in with answers that are addressed in detail in the manual, or because the end user decided to tweak things that the manual warns against doing unless you understand what you're doing (ref: MA section in 7D manual). End user calls take the longest, are usually the most basic RTFM questions, and are the buyers of the products with the most razor-thin profit margins.
Yes, this message is harsh and the majority of users are are of average (or better ) intelligence and listen and follow directions, but on a support line for a consumer product, you do get those dim-witted callers far too often. What they need is not technical support, but to hire a consultant.
I was SO glad when I finally had decent referrals so I could get out of support into a development staff. Especially at Microsoft - the people who call support are already ticked off because it's Microsoft, and they're running Windows (I supported 95, NT, and mail). Therefore, I understand why Canon keeps certain features out of consumer products; it is just too easy for a customer to screw things up and blame the manufacturer for their own careless mistakes, just because they do not want to have to learn technology.
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Caution: Do not stare at laser with remaining eye.
