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Second article in a short while that praises Ikea's implementation. In the face of the security disaster that IoT devices usually represent, I'm somewhat dumbfo
by pdpi 10y ago
Second article in a short while that praises Ikea's implementation. In the face of the security disaster that IoT devices usually represent, I'm somewhat dumbfounded by the idea that it would be Ikea, of all companies, to break the mould.
- lawik 10y agoRefreshing isn't it? Not familiar with IKEA's track record in electronics though. I've had mostly good experiences with the furniture (though price influences quality a lot). Bad experiences with their cheap wok pans. But generally my IKEA stuff works well. Nice to seem them align with standards though, because they seem to have their own standards for curtains. Very upsetting :)
- pdpi 10y agoThey do have a well-proven track record of providing very good value for money, and I get the impression that they achieve the prices they do through ruthless optimisation of their processes. I'm curious to see how that culture extends to software engineering (Provided they do it in-house).
- coriny 10y agoCertainly ruthless optimisation of their corporate structure with respect to tax helps contribute to their low prices: http://www.economist.com/node/6919139 http://www.economist.com/node/6919139. But it's nice to think that it could also be due to genuine technical ability.
- lawik 10y agoYeah, IKEA isn't really a saint, few corporations are. But they've done a lot of technical optimisation as well that should contribute to their low pricing. Flatpacks, big production runs, design stuff to be cheap to produce. A whole bunch of things. And while I doubt their morals (corporations rarely have any) I generally have faith in their quality-to-price ratio. Not a resounding endorsement, just have had few problems.
- pythonaut_16 10y agoAnd honestly if a company is going to evade or limit their taxes passing on part of the savings to consumers if fairly benevolent (if the tax avoidance contributes to the price as GP claims).
- oh_sigh 10y agoOnly if the product is something which is generally useful and affordable for the entire population. Evading taxes on, say, megayachts and passing the savings on to the consumer doesn't seem particularly benevolent.
- cjbprime 10y agoThey're the largest "nonprofit" in the world. I think we can differentiate between standard corporate behavior and the single largest outlier.
- lawik 10y agoHmm, I wasn't familiar with them being quite that extreme. I've only heard people speak of it here and there and haven't read up on it. It is fascinating though, they take a lot of things to extremes.
- cjbprime 10y agohttp://www.insatiablefox.com/blog/2016/6/23/ikea-is-the-largest-charity-in-the-world http://www.insatiablefox.com/blog/2016/6/23/ikea-is-the-larg...
- lawik 10y agoYeah, I can imagine that if these things shake out well and I figure they should sell fine, IKEA will slowly add more and more software-driven stuff to their line-up. No idea if that means in-house software engineering, I imagine it wouldn't as they want to keep prices low. Just heavy QA? Or they might eat the cost for local development since the software cost is pretty small and doesn't scale up with the number of units produced.
- cr0sh 10y ago> Bad experiences with their cheap wok pans. They do have a set of cheap table serrated-edge steak knives (SNITTA - set of 4 for $5) that are actually quite nice when you look at them closely; stainless steel with a tang that goes completely down the handle. Not sure what the handle is made out of, but its solidly attached, and the set my wife and I bought has lasted almost a decade going thru the dishwasher and such, and still look nearly brand new. They say they can be used as a utility knife; they'd probably cut cardboard well, maybe other stuff, but I prefer other tools for that kind of thing. I actually like them better than a set I have that are identical to the large steak knives they put out (or did at one time) at the Outback Steakhouse restaurant (not saying anything about the food - I just liked the knives). Some day I'm going to pick up a set of Knork knives (I already love their namesake utensils), but I bet I still might like the Ikea set better.
- cr0sh 10y agoI have a dream that they'll sell something like (or maybe the same product) the Oxfam OX flatpack truck to consumers. I want one of those so bad, to the point where I've considered building one from scratch. I doubt we'll ever see one of them stateside, though, because they look like a deathtrap in an accident. Though I wonder if, as a "kit car" put together by the owner and not sold as a complete vehicle, they couldn't be legally registered and driven as an "experimental" vehicle (which is what I would have to get if I self-built one)?
- jmedwards 10y agoI think Apple's HomeKit deserves a mention here.
- pdpi 10y agoI guess it does, yes. But then I expect a lot more from Apple that I do from Ikea on this market.
- baq 10y agoactually, i'd be surprised if apple had better ideas here than ikea. ikea is a home and furniture company and always has been. apple is neither, it's a luxury goods company at this point. apple can definitely execute, though. it just has to execute the right thing.
- kbart 10y agoIs it open protocol? If not, then it's pretty much useless anyway.
- lawik 10y agoIt does? I honestly haven't heard much about HomeKit from a security perspective, so I guess it is either not used or working out well so far :) Has it been generally well received security-wise then?
- IshKebab 10y agoIt's probably the most secure, but that's because they cheat and require a secure element in all products with a pre-shared key. Not a good solution in general.
- lawik 10y agoYou mean that HomeKit-compatible products all need to include some kind of HomeKit-chip with a pre-shared key or something? I'm completely unfamiliar and a quick search on homekit and pre-shared key didn't make me wiser :)
- cotillion 10y agoWhen you're focusing on customer satisfaction and cost control I suspect any idea of an 'Cloud Light Control Panel' or some other such nonsense was axed rather quickly. They'll be making plenty of money on the margins on the lamps and gateways as is.
- matthewmacleod 10y agoIkea, as far as I can tell, does a very good job of providing good value and products that are well-designed. From the electronics perspective, I have had a peek inside some of their LED fixtures and USB chargers and the designs inside are textbook and well-executed. I'm not at all surprised that an IoT implementation would be equally well-designed.
- snuxoll 10y agoI bought some random Ashley Furniture coffee table from Fred Meyer for my house, not two days after I brought it home my 3-at-the-time year old 40lb daughter sat on it and broke the cheap as crap legs on the $50 table. Meanwhile, my aunt has an Ikea Lack coffee table sitting in the basement of her shop holding up a 50lb Dell PowerEdge 1950 and it will still let me drop more on it without complaint. Ikea products may be cheaper than others in certain situations, but quite honestly I trust them a whole lot more.
- fragmede 10y agoIkea gets grief for being flat pack and using MDF, but in no way are those novel concepts. Ikea however, has executed on that better than their completion. I was shocked at how bad some flat packed MDF furniture from Target and Walmart was; they barely survived being put together!
- mbrookes 10y agobigclivedotcom has done some positive teardowns of IKEA electronic products: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ikea+bigclivedotcom https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ikea+bigclivedo...