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I remain miffed by their recent decision to force the blue lights to on with my dropcams. I actually was able to gather critical evidence when cleaners (who wer

I remain miffed by their recent decision to force the blue lights to on with my dropcams. I actually was able to gather critical evidence when cleaners (who were swapped out for my regular people without warning by the cleaning service) decided to search my home and commit identity theft instead of their jobs. They actually picked the dropcam up off the shelf and looked at it - getting a great, clear shot of their faces for the police - then decided it was broken and put it back down instead of destroying or unplugging it. Now, that wouldn't happen. They'd just unplug them or point them elsewhere. They even blink if I decide to look and see what's going on - a clear warning to any well-informed thief. I miss the old Dropcam. You created something great. Sorry to see the buyers screw things up so badly.

gduffy 7y ago
Thanks, I appreciate that! I feel you about the lights. Ultimately, I have grown to think that users should have ultimate control over the software running on their devices. If I want a light you can't disable, it should be by designing the hardware that way ... and you're still free to use a sharpie/tape/drill to modify your own hardware. It's a fine line balancing making things difficult for creeps vs fully empowering a homeowner/caretaker to protect their castle/family how they see fit. But freedom for users to find their balance and law to punish truly bad uses are the only stable solutions... otherwise, creeps can always just use crappy products with no protections instead and you, the regular person, get stuck with crappy restricted products. Some poignant examples of this are the many art installations that contain Dropcams. Suddenly a bunch of them have ugly blue dots that weren't intended by the artists. Does the artist now have to visit their installations with a sharpie? It's a stupid and limiting rule change that further pushes what was once a generally useful tool into a one-trick home security pony.

gduffy 7y ago

Thanks, I appreciate that! I feel you about the lights. Ultimately, I have grown to think that users should have ultimate control over the software running on their devices. If I want a light you can't disable, it should be by designing the hardware that way ... and you're still free to use a sharpie/tape/drill to modify your own hardware. It's a fine line balancing making things difficult for creeps vs fully empowering a homeowner/caretaker to protect their castle/family how they see fit. But freedom for users to find their balance and law to punish truly bad uses are the only stable solutions... otherwise, creeps can always just use crappy products with no protections instead and you, the regular person, get stuck with crappy restricted products. Some poignant examples of this are the many art installations that contain Dropcams. Suddenly a bunch of them have ugly blue dots that weren't intended by the artists. Does the artist now have to visit their installations with a sharpie? It's a stupid and limiting rule change that further pushes what was once a generally useful tool into a one-trick home security pony.