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FTC urged to make smart devices say how long they will be supported
(arstechnica.com)
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this post was submitted on 05 Sep 2024
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It’s really in the tech sector’s best interest to do that anyway. Because as a consumer, I’m now quite hesitant to buy a thing without knowing if it’s going to be properly supported.
We’ve all been burned before. My Sonos webradio lost functionality for a while after some backend streaming service was defunct. They did manage to fix that but it meant installing a new app, new account that sort of thing. It’s annoying- but at least the manufacturer did the right thing to keep it working. I can only imagine how frustrating it would’ve been if the entire thing stopped working with no support…
Basically, that experience is why I’m no longer willing to buy things that wholly depend on outside servers and the like to keep working. There’s too much risk of ending up with an expensive paperweight.
I only buy stuff that runs on standards and is accessible by FOSS or open protocols. I've never had to retire something because of the decision of a tech company.
New account = new TOS I imagine?
Well the new account was for the new streaming service which replaced the old one. And since that’s a different company… different TOS, obviously.
It was mildly annoying, but at least it means I can still use the radio I bought.
The end-game is to have every consumer appliance operate with a shelf-life. Yeah, you'll have older models that don't do this, but they will become increasingly rare (and, consequentially, expensive) while the mass produced disposables will saturate the market.
What do you do when this becomes "Everything"?