3 ms·

That's not really moot, it's a whole separate subsystem that you have to reason about. "Swap it with one that you know works" is a solid troubleshooting step t

That's not really moot, it's a whole separate subsystem that you have to reason about. "Swap it with one that you know works" is a solid troubleshooting step that is completely ruined if you have to call a third party to do it. Besides, maybe the big solar flare comes and you can't call Apple for a few months or years. Offline repair needs to be possible.

gjsman-1000 3y ago
> Besides, maybe the big solar flare comes and you can't call Apple for a few months or years. Offline repair needs to be possible. If that happens, the cell towers are probably down, and your primary goal is to avoid starvation; not repair a phone that outside of taking photos is now basically useless. Also, where are you even charging your phone after such an event? How are you repairing that method and preventing that from getting stolen?
- __MatrixMan__ 3y ago
  My thermostat occasionally reboots in some kind of recovery mode where it asks me to use the iOS app to configure it. So the use case would be reconfiguring it so I can call for heat in a blizzard. (I know which wire needs 24v to cut the thermostat out of the equation and talk directly to the furnace, but I'm sure there are cases where such a workaround isn't available.) There are some replacement parts lying around, so I anticipate that certain areas (the cities) will have power restored in weeks. It's figuring out how to fabricate new parts that will take years. Plus, some have solar panels. So power will likely be available for certain users well before long distance connectivity is restored. My solar panel inverter is also configured with an app that I would have a hard time coming by without internet (it's supposed to be a dealer only thing but I got them to set me up). It's an increasingly relevant part of the stack for things that are more important than cat videos.
  - vel0city 3y ago
    I'd tear that thermostat off the wall and get a different one today if it behaved that way.
    - __MatrixMan__ 3y ago
      Yeah I'm pretty upset about it, but I think the problem isn't the thermostat, it's the "smart hub" which is necessary to drive the furnace at anything besides 0% or 100%. ...or something. I'm uncertain about these conclusions because this isn't really the kind of engineering I'm into. But I no longer trust the people who installed it, or the people who designed it, so I'm kind of on my own (it was kind of a pricy system, I can't afford to just replace it). But however bad the situation is, it's made worse by vendors trying to prevent users from tinkering. At least Lennox is ineffective at keeping me out of their dealer facing controls. The awful thing about Apple is that they're good at it.
kodapoda 3y ago
> "Swap it with one that you know works" In the video linked above they say the parts have to be Apple-certified. It's not as flexible as buying any random part and being able to use it right away, but it's not surprising considering it's Apple. Still, this makes swapping parts a predictable process.
- __MatrixMan__ 3y ago
  Pulling the parts out of a device that you saw working just moments ago is much stronger evidence that the part works than any promise by its manufacturer.

gjsman-1000 3y ago

> Besides, maybe the big solar flare comes and you can't call Apple for a few months or years. Offline repair needs to be possible. If that happens, the cell towers are probably down, and your primary goal is to avoid starvation; not repair a phone that outside of taking photos is now basically useless. Also, where are you even charging your phone after such an event? How are you repairing that method and preventing that from getting stolen?

__MatrixMan__ 3y ago
My thermostat occasionally reboots in some kind of recovery mode where it asks me to use the iOS app to configure it. So the use case would be reconfiguring it so I can call for heat in a blizzard. (I know which wire needs 24v to cut the thermostat out of the equation and talk directly to the furnace, but I'm sure there are cases where such a workaround isn't available.) There are some replacement parts lying around, so I anticipate that certain areas (the cities) will have power restored in weeks. It's figuring out how to fabricate new parts that will take years. Plus, some have solar panels. So power will likely be available for certain users well before long distance connectivity is restored. My solar panel inverter is also configured with an app that I would have a hard time coming by without internet (it's supposed to be a dealer only thing but I got them to set me up). It's an increasingly relevant part of the stack for things that are more important than cat videos.
- vel0city 3y ago
  I'd tear that thermostat off the wall and get a different one today if it behaved that way.
  - __MatrixMan__ 3y ago
    Yeah I'm pretty upset about it, but I think the problem isn't the thermostat, it's the "smart hub" which is necessary to drive the furnace at anything besides 0% or 100%. ...or something. I'm uncertain about these conclusions because this isn't really the kind of engineering I'm into. But I no longer trust the people who installed it, or the people who designed it, so I'm kind of on my own (it was kind of a pricy system, I can't afford to just replace it). But however bad the situation is, it's made worse by vendors trying to prevent users from tinkering. At least Lennox is ineffective at keeping me out of their dealer facing controls. The awful thing about Apple is that they're good at it.

kodapoda 3y ago

> "Swap it with one that you know works" In the video linked above they say the parts have to be Apple-certified. It's not as flexible as buying any random part and being able to use it right away, but it's not surprising considering it's Apple. Still, this makes swapping parts a predictable process.

__MatrixMan__ 3y ago
Pulling the parts out of a device that you saw working just moments ago is much stronger evidence that the part works than any promise by its manufacturer.