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In practice, we have lethal systems at home already: the electrical system and the hot water balloon. They have been working fine for the last decades without

In practice, we have lethal systems at home already: the electrical system and the hot water balloon. They have been working fine for the last decades without an Internet connection. We do have accidents, but compare to the incredible deadly danger they pose, it's very low. How ? Well they have fail safes that disable the system when it enters a dangerous state. You should not need an Internet connection for anything essential in your home. Certainly not for something that is marketed to take your "off the grid".

smsm42 9y ago
Well, the difference is boilers are old, and Powerwalls are new. People always discount risks from old things and emphasize risks from new things. Thus, the risk of being successfully ruinously sued for boiler manufacturer, if they follow accepted industry practices and something goes wrong, are known, priced in and probably not very high. The risks of the same for manufacturer of a system that has no precedent, no established industry practices and no experience of running it into home environment for decades is much higher. And if something goes wrong, the first question that will be asked would be: why didn't you create a monitoring system? And, also, whoever made old systems has no option for remote internet monitoring. If they were designed today, the option would probably be added. > You should not need an Internet connection for anything essential in your home. You don't need it. Tesla does. And you need Tesla if something goes wrong, thus by extension you need it too. > Certainly not for something that is marketed to take your "off the grid". You can really be "off the grid" if you can maintain this system for decades. Can you? How many of average citizens can? Given the newness of technology, you'd probably will go to Tesla for fixes within couple of years for this or that thing, and will repeat that several times over the next decade (if it keeps working). You can manage that loop without internet connection, but the fact is you and Tesla are working together for the life of the product, so why make it harder? You can design the system that works Sneakernet-style, but why?
- sametmax 9y ago
  > Well, the difference is boilers are old, and Powerwalls are new. People The legal and perception issues are a good point. Annoying, but I get it. > And you need Tesla if something goes wrong, thus by extension you need it too. No, what you mean is that they can get away with it, because among their customer base, more people don't care that people that do. > And you need Tesla if something goes wrong, thus by extension you need it too. Trying to get "off the grid" rarely is extreme to the point that you cut yourself from civilization completely. It's ok to have external help from time to time. It's just that your daily operation should not depends on it.
monort 9y ago
Water heaters are not exactly safe: In 2007 there was an estimated 7,200 reported home structure fires involving water heaters resulting in 30 civilian deaths, 340 civilian injuries and $75 million in direct property damage. I'm not sure why there is no outrage about this, probably because it's an old technology and people got used to danger?
- sametmax 9y ago
  Because it is ridicule low and there are probably more deaths with baldly handled knifes, sweets stuck in throats or the flu.

smsm42 9y ago

Well, the difference is boilers are old, and Powerwalls are new. People always discount risks from old things and emphasize risks from new things. Thus, the risk of being successfully ruinously sued for boiler manufacturer, if they follow accepted industry practices and something goes wrong, are known, priced in and probably not very high. The risks of the same for manufacturer of a system that has no precedent, no established industry practices and no experience of running it into home environment for decades is much higher. And if something goes wrong, the first question that will be asked would be: why didn't you create a monitoring system? And, also, whoever made old systems has no option for remote internet monitoring. If they were designed today, the option would probably be added. > You should not need an Internet connection for anything essential in your home. You don't need it. Tesla does. And you need Tesla if something goes wrong, thus by extension you need it too. > Certainly not for something that is marketed to take your "off the grid". You can really be "off the grid" if you can maintain this system for decades. Can you? How many of average citizens can? Given the newness of technology, you'd probably will go to Tesla for fixes within couple of years for this or that thing, and will repeat that several times over the next decade (if it keeps working). You can manage that loop without internet connection, but the fact is you and Tesla are working together for the life of the product, so why make it harder? You can design the system that works Sneakernet-style, but why?

sametmax 9y ago
> Well, the difference is boilers are old, and Powerwalls are new. People The legal and perception issues are a good point. Annoying, but I get it. > And you need Tesla if something goes wrong, thus by extension you need it too. No, what you mean is that they can get away with it, because among their customer base, more people don't care that people that do. > And you need Tesla if something goes wrong, thus by extension you need it too. Trying to get "off the grid" rarely is extreme to the point that you cut yourself from civilization completely. It's ok to have external help from time to time. It's just that your daily operation should not depends on it.

monort 9y ago

Water heaters are not exactly safe: In 2007 there was an estimated 7,200 reported home structure fires involving water heaters resulting in 30 civilian deaths, 340 civilian injuries and $75 million in direct property damage. I'm not sure why there is no outrage about this, probably because it's an old technology and people got used to danger?

sametmax 9y ago
Because it is ridicule low and there are probably more deaths with baldly handled knifes, sweets stuck in throats or the flu.