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Extremely disingenuous point you're making about OnHub. Nintendo didn't remotely remove functionalities from the Gameboy Color. Google did that with OnHub. Arg

Extremely disingenuous point you're making about OnHub. Nintendo didn't remotely remove functionalities from the Gameboy Color. Google did that with OnHub. Arguing "it's hardware" doesn't work when the features are cloud-based and the company shuts down the servers. It's bait and switch, pure and simple.

iLoveOncall 4y ago
So is the expectation for every single cloud-connected item or online product that the servers remain online ad vitam aeternam so that future archeologists can still use the item when it's rediscovered and restored in 10,000 years? You just have the wrong expectation for online products.
- rpdillon 4y ago
  Strawman. I bought a router. I never expect any router to stop working because the manufacturer flips a switch.
  - iLoveOncall 4y ago
    > I bought a router. You bought a connected router. Again, you just have the wrong expectation for online products. The fact that it was maintained for 8 years should be praised.
    - rpdillon 4y ago
      Nah, they never said it wouldn't work without their servers. Bait and switch.
      - iLoveOncall 4y ago
        And the box of lightbulbs doesn't say it won't work if you don't pay your electricity bill. At some point you have to have an ounce of common sense.
- edude03 4y ago
  As a software engineer I can see why you say that but as a consumer you have to ask yourself, who does a product that is designed to be reliant on the cloud benefit? Wifi routers with mesh existed before and will continue to exist after the onhub and they don’t require a cloud connection, so it seems like the cloud connection was designed to mostly benefit Google. As a consumer, especially a tech savvy one we should continue to push tech companies to build products that last and serve the user and not just throw our hands up and say “we have the wrong expectations”
  - userbinator 4y ago
    As a software engineer, I want what I made to last. Sadly, that sentiment doesn't seem to be popular these days.
  - detourdog 4y ago
    I remember when the cloud started to become a buzzword I thought of it as a tool for people that didn't want to maintain their own local compute resources and a rent seeking business opportunity for people that did. I never imagined that not owning one's data would become the norm. I also have no intention of using cloud services that aren't forced on me.
- userbinator 4y ago
  At least they could just release the server-side code when they've had enough, but they don't even want to do that.
  - iLoveOncall 4y ago
    Have you ever written software in a company as large as Google? I have. It would need massive investments to make a server usable outside of the environment it was originally written for. It's just not viable.
    - userbinator 4y ago
      The goal isn't necessarily "usable", but more of a "we don't want to host it anymore, do what you want with it".
- cultureswitch 4y ago
  Fair point. Though there's no denying that people only buy this sort of remotely controlled device either because they have no choice or because they expect support for the functionalities they need will last about as long as the hardware itself. At this point this is almost always not the case.

iLoveOncall 4y ago

So is the expectation for every single cloud-connected item or online product that the servers remain online ad vitam aeternam so that future archeologists can still use the item when it's rediscovered and restored in 10,000 years? You just have the wrong expectation for online products.

rpdillon 4y ago
Strawman. I bought a router. I never expect any router to stop working because the manufacturer flips a switch.
- iLoveOncall 4y ago
  > I bought a router. You bought a connected router. Again, you just have the wrong expectation for online products. The fact that it was maintained for 8 years should be praised.
  - rpdillon 4y ago
    Nah, they never said it wouldn't work without their servers. Bait and switch.
    - iLoveOncall 4y ago
      And the box of lightbulbs doesn't say it won't work if you don't pay your electricity bill. At some point you have to have an ounce of common sense.
edude03 4y ago
As a software engineer I can see why you say that but as a consumer you have to ask yourself, who does a product that is designed to be reliant on the cloud benefit? Wifi routers with mesh existed before and will continue to exist after the onhub and they don’t require a cloud connection, so it seems like the cloud connection was designed to mostly benefit Google. As a consumer, especially a tech savvy one we should continue to push tech companies to build products that last and serve the user and not just throw our hands up and say “we have the wrong expectations”
- userbinator 4y ago
  As a software engineer, I want what I made to last. Sadly, that sentiment doesn't seem to be popular these days.
- detourdog 4y ago
  I remember when the cloud started to become a buzzword I thought of it as a tool for people that didn't want to maintain their own local compute resources and a rent seeking business opportunity for people that did. I never imagined that not owning one's data would become the norm. I also have no intention of using cloud services that aren't forced on me.
userbinator 4y ago
At least they could just release the server-side code when they've had enough, but they don't even want to do that.
- iLoveOncall 4y ago
  Have you ever written software in a company as large as Google? I have. It would need massive investments to make a server usable outside of the environment it was originally written for. It's just not viable.
  - userbinator 4y ago
    The goal isn't necessarily "usable", but more of a "we don't want to host it anymore, do what you want with it".
cultureswitch 4y ago
Fair point. Though there's no denying that people only buy this sort of remotely controlled device either because they have no choice or because they expect support for the functionalities they need will last about as long as the hardware itself. At this point this is almost always not the case.