5 ms·

He disabled the device. And you don't see the issue?

by woof 10y ago

jlgaddis 10y ago
To be clear, he disabled the app, not the customer's device.
- JumpCrisscross 10y ago
  The device's primarily-marketed feature is opening your garage from an app. To do this, the app and the device talk through the company's server. This developer blocked the customer's app from the server. That breaks the device's primary functionality.
  - jlgaddis 10y ago
    Yeah, I misinterpreted "device" (as "iPhone").
  - jaclaz 10y ago
    As a side note, I wonder about the original app design, I mean, Wi-Fi/Internet connection is down and I cannot enter my garage (unless I still have anyway handy the original garage remote or key), the company's server is down (for whtever reason) and I am locked outside the garage, there is a DDOS on (say) Cloudflare and I am locked out of the garage ... :( Usually this kind of hiccups happen not in a sunny warm day, but when it is heavily raining, during a storm, etc.
    - apostacy 10y ago
      This is a major flaw with a lot of technology now. The assumption that you will have an internet connection. It's horribly inefficient, especially when we have robust p2p wireless protocols.
  - TorKlingberg 10y ago
    Since Garadget deliberately and maliciously disabled the device, can the consumer sue for compensation for the time wasted on it?
- apostacy 10y ago
  The device is useless without the app. They disabled the device.
bigbugbag 10y ago
Where did you get that from ? It seems to me he simply banned the device unique ID on the server side. Is it even possible for an app developer to disable an iphone ? Apple would be mad.
- woof 10y ago
  "Your unit ID 2f0036... will be denied server connection" The Garadget device, not the customers phone! I never mentioned a phone, did I?
  - mirimir 10y ago
    It's an app, so virtual device, I guess.
    - woof 10y ago
      The "Garadget controller" (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/softcomplex/garadget-garage-door-futurizer https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/softcomplex/garadget-ga...) looks like a physical device to me.
      - mirimir 10y ago
        You're right. I didn't look carefully enough at the Amazon page.
  - bigbugbag 10y ago
    Sorry confusion on my part, the guy mentions his iphone app not working and the dev answer that the device is banned. My bad. Anyways, device is not disabled as in bricked, it's blacklisted on the server side of thing.
    - wapz 10y ago
      There isn't too much difference between a bricked device and a device that most likely loops trying to connect to the server and fails indefinitely with no other functionality.
victorhooi 10y ago
We are talking about the device that he sold him right? Not the iPhone? Lol. He offered a full refund (although he admittedly could be a bit more tactful). If he's said - I'm disabling it, too bad, I'd agree that's out of line. However, what was actually said was - You're a jerk - I don't want your business, give me back the device, and I'll give you the money back. Now they don't have to deal with each other, and nobody loses out (well, except for wasted time on both sides).
- dangrossman 10y ago
  How would you feel if you bought a Tesla Model S, then a few weeks later they called you up and said "we don't like your online review of your car, so we're going to disable most of its functionality, but you can return it for a refund". $8000+ in option packages on that car rely on cloud functionality run by Tesla. If you don't -want- a refund, but -want- the car you already paid for that's sitting in your driveway, should the manufacturer be able to roll back your purchase on their whim?
  - mirimir 10y ago
    Yes, great analogy. But Amazon can nuke accounts and disable "purchased" books, video, etc, at will. So there's a gray area. I think what Amazon does ought to be illegal, but hey.
    - ztjio 10y ago
      So, with a little shame I'll admit I've actually been "banned" from Amazon. The one thing I can still access is all the digital content such as books, videos, and like, games or game keys that are associated with my account. I can't get into half of the account settings, can't even view my stored payment methods, for example. But, to their credit, I can read my stupid Kindle books. Luckily their eBook DRM is terrible and I have liberated my content, but, still... to their credit, they did not block what I had paid for. Now, I'm not saying it's impossible for them to block this content, but, it seems they are sensitive to the dubious legality or morality of doing so. I suspect it might have something to do with the huge negative backlash they got a few years ago when they did disable someone's entire content library and it got publicized.

He disabled the device. And you don't see the issue?

by woof 10y ago

He disabled the device. And you don't see the issue?

jlgaddis 10y ago

To be clear, he disabled the app, not the customer's device.

JumpCrisscross 10y ago
The device's primarily-marketed feature is opening your garage from an app. To do this, the app and the device talk through the company's server. This developer blocked the customer's app from the server. That breaks the device's primary functionality.
- jlgaddis 10y ago
  Yeah, I misinterpreted "device" (as "iPhone").
- jaclaz 10y ago
  As a side note, I wonder about the original app design, I mean, Wi-Fi/Internet connection is down and I cannot enter my garage (unless I still have anyway handy the original garage remote or key), the company's server is down (for whtever reason) and I am locked outside the garage, there is a DDOS on (say) Cloudflare and I am locked out of the garage ... :( Usually this kind of hiccups happen not in a sunny warm day, but when it is heavily raining, during a storm, etc.
  - apostacy 10y ago
    This is a major flaw with a lot of technology now. The assumption that you will have an internet connection. It's horribly inefficient, especially when we have robust p2p wireless protocols.
- TorKlingberg 10y ago
  Since Garadget deliberately and maliciously disabled the device, can the consumer sue for compensation for the time wasted on it?
apostacy 10y ago
The device is useless without the app. They disabled the device.

bigbugbag 10y ago

Where did you get that from ? It seems to me he simply banned the device unique ID on the server side. Is it even possible for an app developer to disable an iphone ? Apple would be mad.

woof 10y ago
"Your unit ID 2f0036... will be denied server connection" The Garadget device, not the customers phone! I never mentioned a phone, did I?
- mirimir 10y ago
  It's an app, so virtual device, I guess.
  - woof 10y ago
    The "Garadget controller" (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/softcomplex/garadget-garage-door-futurizer https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/softcomplex/garadget-ga...) looks like a physical device to me.
    - mirimir 10y ago
      You're right. I didn't look carefully enough at the Amazon page.
- bigbugbag 10y ago
  Sorry confusion on my part, the guy mentions his iphone app not working and the dev answer that the device is banned. My bad. Anyways, device is not disabled as in bricked, it's blacklisted on the server side of thing.
  - wapz 10y ago
    There isn't too much difference between a bricked device and a device that most likely loops trying to connect to the server and fails indefinitely with no other functionality.

victorhooi 10y ago

We are talking about the device that he sold him right? Not the iPhone? Lol. He offered a full refund (although he admittedly could be a bit more tactful). If he's said - I'm disabling it, too bad, I'd agree that's out of line. However, what was actually said was - You're a jerk - I don't want your business, give me back the device, and I'll give you the money back. Now they don't have to deal with each other, and nobody loses out (well, except for wasted time on both sides).

dangrossman 10y ago
How would you feel if you bought a Tesla Model S, then a few weeks later they called you up and said "we don't like your online review of your car, so we're going to disable most of its functionality, but you can return it for a refund". $8000+ in option packages on that car rely on cloud functionality run by Tesla. If you don't -want- a refund, but -want- the car you already paid for that's sitting in your driveway, should the manufacturer be able to roll back your purchase on their whim?
- mirimir 10y ago
  Yes, great analogy. But Amazon can nuke accounts and disable "purchased" books, video, etc, at will. So there's a gray area. I think what Amazon does ought to be illegal, but hey.
  - ztjio 10y ago
    So, with a little shame I'll admit I've actually been "banned" from Amazon. The one thing I can still access is all the digital content such as books, videos, and like, games or game keys that are associated with my account. I can't get into half of the account settings, can't even view my stored payment methods, for example. But, to their credit, I can read my stupid Kindle books. Luckily their eBook DRM is terrible and I have liberated my content, but, still... to their credit, they did not block what I had paid for. Now, I'm not saying it's impossible for them to block this content, but, it seems they are sensitive to the dubious legality or morality of doing so. I suspect it might have something to do with the huge negative backlash they got a few years ago when they did disable someone's entire content library and it got publicized.