This is one of my arguments against IOT devices, if you are one of those who love them, this may give you pause for thought.
14th December 2016 by Maria Varmazis
Contrast and compare these two scenarios:
You buy a thing. Say, it’s a kettle. You make hot water with it, maybe it whistles when it hits the boiling point. That’s about as fancy as it gets. You use the kettle for years, if not decades, until you lose it in a move, damage it, or decide to get a new one.
Now imagine you bought an internet-enabled kettle. It allows you to set the kettle to a boil when you’re away from the kitchen, and monitor the water’s temperature from your phone. Perhaps you can even program it to boil water at certain times of the day.
After just two years of use, the kettle is going strong, but one day you get an email from its manufacturer: the kettle you bought is no longer being serviced or updated, and in a year they will cease to support it. At that time, your kettle will suddenly no longer work, and there’s nothing you can do about it.
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Smart devices abandoned on the road to nowhere
Userlevel 7
+54
Good article, JTR. Thanks for posting. I have already had this happen to me. I bought a "Smart" TV (a bit of an oxymoron, i know) around 5 years ago when they first became popular. It only came with 5 or 6 apps but promised more apps in the future. Shortly after that there was an update that added 1 or 2 more apps, but since then, nothing. I think the Pandora app was the only one I used and now I'm not sure whether it even still works or not (I use Kodi on a Raspberry PI connected to the TV now for apps) These days smart TVs come with browsers and enough memory to add or remove apps yourself, but my "high-tech" (at that time) smart TV is now just like any other flat screen TV. It was definitely not worth the extra $200-$300 that I paid for the "Smart" version of this TV as opposed to the regular version. Oh well, lesson learned. But I totally see how IoT devices could fall victim to this same scenario. I personally think it's all just a gimmick to get you to replace goods sooner than you normally would. Also, nobody fixes anything anymore. We have become a "disposable" society. Personally, I take great joy in making things last longer than they were intended, through maintenance and repair. It's no wonder that at the rate we're going we will run out of space to put our garbage. In the future I can see us jettisoning our garbage into space. We seem to care little about polluting our world, why not space? :(
BD
BD
Userlevel 7
It's the "New Computerized World". As for me, I like the day's the Kettle Whistles. We are getting too lazy with all this high tech stuff. 😉
Userlevel 7
+3
How true! We have an increasingly lazy society, at the mercy of big businesses greedy to make more and more profits. True customer benefit, and ongoing support is not a priority generally. 😞 😠@ wrote:
Also, nobody fixes anything anymore. We have become a "disposable" society.
Userlevel 7
+54
Well what us wrong with waiting until you get home before turning a kettle, you may have to wait a moment but to allow you to do that will cost more money than it is worth. We are becoming more lazy and this is called "progress" - so we are told.
I also do not like the idea of always being connected, we don't need it so is it forced on us - sorry I will rephrase that - if we don't need it we should not be encouraged by endless commercials, peer pressure etc. But everywhere we look we are shown its so called "benefits".
I also do not like the idea of always being connected, we don't need it so is it forced on us - sorry I will rephrase that - if we don't need it we should not be encouraged by endless commercials, peer pressure etc. But everywhere we look we are shown its so called "benefits".
Userlevel 7
+3
Gullible and impressionable 'sheeple' are being duped into believing (and wanting to believe) that they must be 'connected' virtually 24/7 and that this should be their main objective. And focus on creating 'impressions'. Yuck...
But I see them wandering around (probably on FB or Twitter) virtually getting knocked down by speeding vehicles, and have even heard of people falling off piers into harbours etc.
Yeah we are sure getting our priorities right...not! 😞
But I see them wandering around (probably on FB or Twitter) virtually getting knocked down by speeding vehicles, and have even heard of people falling off piers into harbours etc.
Yeah we are sure getting our priorities right...not! 😞
Userlevel 7
To show how smart electronics are, a GPS in a large rig in New York State is worthless. Maybe an eye opener for some but all bridge clearances in the Great State of New York are marked 1 foot less on the clearance. NY State, the only State that does this, a Truckers Nightmare. So much for Smart Electronics. LOL
http://www.landlinemag.com/Story.aspx?StoryId=24233
http://www.landlinemag.com/Story.aspx?StoryId=24233
Userlevel 7
+3
By Professor Alan WoodwardDepartment of Computing, University of Surrey
This year delivered a chilling warning as we witnessed distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks on a scale that few thought possible.
These attacks - where massive volumes of data are thrown at online systems so they can no longer deal with legitimate requests - underwent a step change this year as attackers learned to harness vulnerable devices that constitute parts of the so-called internet of things (IoT).
One nightmare vision for the future is an internet plagued with DDoS attacks based on IoT devices, including some sitting under your Christmas tree this year.
Perhaps what we now need is the modern-day equivalent of Dickens's Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come to scare device-makers and the public into changing their ways before it's too late.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-38364077
This year delivered a chilling warning as we witnessed distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks on a scale that few thought possible.
These attacks - where massive volumes of data are thrown at online systems so they can no longer deal with legitimate requests - underwent a step change this year as attackers learned to harness vulnerable devices that constitute parts of the so-called internet of things (IoT).
One nightmare vision for the future is an internet plagued with DDoS attacks based on IoT devices, including some sitting under your Christmas tree this year.
Perhaps what we now need is the modern-day equivalent of Dickens's Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come to scare device-makers and the public into changing their ways before it's too late.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-38364077
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