3 ms·

> By banning the device, a country would be setting back their workforce of engineers and scientists a bit. You're pulling a "Think of the children" here. Rest

by frfl 3y ago

> By banning the device, a country would be setting back their workforce of engineers and scientists a bit. You're pulling a "Think of the children" here. Rest of your comment is fine, but this first statement doesn't hold water. Any incredibly small number of engineers and scientists would ever use this device. A Raspberry PI, Ardiuno, or other general purpose micro controllers and small form computing devices sure, I could believe that. But some niche device, no. Edit: I wasn't aware of the popularity of the device, as suggested by comment below, when I wrote this

happytoexplain 3y ago
It's not a niche device - it's explosively popular and is obviously serving as a gateway for some young people into engineering and hacking. I couldn't possibly comment on the practical consequences to STEM of banning it. I wouldn't make that argument. But it's silly to claim that it's a "think of the children" argument and nothing more.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
eindiran 3y ago
The Flipper Zero is a small-form computing device that is immensely popular, not particularly niche. > Any(sic) incredibly small number of engineers and scientists would ever use this device. I personally know over a dozen people who own them and have tinkered with them in various ways. I managed to "break" my air conditioner unit (permanently setting it to C, not that bad of a "break") with one. Definitely less popular than a Pi or Arduino, but growing in popularity very fast.
- anonzzzies 3y ago
  > immensely popular Numbers? I see in 2023 they did 80m rev which is what, half a million devices sold worldwide? That’s very niche. % wise close to 0; it’s a geek tool. Nice but not immensely popular.
  - refulgentis 3y ago
    You'd be surprised how much 500K means if you're not Samsung or Apple. There's recent products you'd say were clear hits and sold an order of magnitude more than that, but in actuality, it was exactly 350K.
    - anonzzzies 3y ago
      It’s a great achievement by the company; I am not refuting that. It’s still a niche product no one but a few tech people heard off it or would buy it.
      - spookie 3y ago
        Microsoft only managed to sell 140k Xbox Ones in Japan. Just throwing a comparison.
        anonzzzies 3y ago
        So xbox one was a small niche in Japan.
        refulgentis 3y ago
        No, you're still missing it. 500K is a _lot_. Runaway success unless you're: A) Apple B) Samsung The 350K product I'm referring to defined a whole category for years and is universally well-known in tech. To be 100% clear, next time you see "500K sold", your decision tree is: Is it Apple? If yes, can be disagreeable whether it is well-known / successful. Is it Samsung? If yes, can be disagreeable about whether it is well-known / successful. Still here? It's well-known and successful, you'll look silly if you choose to be disagreeable.
        anonzzzies 3y ago
        But I didn’t say 500k is not a lot or that it’s not successful; I say that it is a niche and it’s not immensely popular. It’s successful in its niche. Again, the comment I replied to used those terms and that’s just not true. I don’t care and wish them all the luck and selling 100m of these things, but if I have to think about how many zeros behind the comma to write the % of human owners, this is not a non niche or popular product. Knock on your neighbours door and ask what it is; they won’t know and they also would never ever buy one.
neilv 3y ago
RF devices are already ubiquitous, the technology and applications keep growing, and there's emerging opportunities for innovative applications. FWIW, I "funded" the Kickstarter for Flipper Zero because my startup was doing something a little innovative with various kinds of RF tags, to help solve a significant societal problem. (Which, besides what we could've contributed to a country in monetary value of our company, the application domain had significant implications for national economies, as well as for public safety. All things that lawmakers care about, in addition to reducing auto thefts.) We had Android diagnostic software, plus bespoke iOS apps with NFC that I wrote, but a Flipper Zero would've helped me work better and faster at some things.
- refulgentis 3y ago
  That's nice, thank you for sharing. I agree with OP, it's bad that its being used to try and take down phones on flights and also if it's being used to steal cars.

by frfl 3y ago

happytoexplain 3y ago

It's not a niche device - it's explosively popular and is obviously serving as a gateway for some young people into engineering and hacking. I couldn't possibly comment on the practical consequences to STEM of banning it. I wouldn't make that argument. But it's silly to claim that it's a "think of the children" argument and nothing more.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

eindiran 3y ago

The Flipper Zero is a small-form computing device that is immensely popular, not particularly niche. > Any(sic) incredibly small number of engineers and scientists would ever use this device. I personally know over a dozen people who own them and have tinkered with them in various ways. I managed to "break" my air conditioner unit (permanently setting it to C, not that bad of a "break") with one. Definitely less popular than a Pi or Arduino, but growing in popularity very fast.

anonzzzies 3y ago
> immensely popular Numbers? I see in 2023 they did 80m rev which is what, half a million devices sold worldwide? That’s very niche. % wise close to 0; it’s a geek tool. Nice but not immensely popular.
- refulgentis 3y ago
  You'd be surprised how much 500K means if you're not Samsung or Apple. There's recent products you'd say were clear hits and sold an order of magnitude more than that, but in actuality, it was exactly 350K.
  - anonzzzies 3y ago
    It’s a great achievement by the company; I am not refuting that. It’s still a niche product no one but a few tech people heard off it or would buy it.
    - spookie 3y ago
      Microsoft only managed to sell 140k Xbox Ones in Japan. Just throwing a comparison.
      - anonzzzies 3y ago
        So xbox one was a small niche in Japan.
        refulgentis 3y ago
        No, you're still missing it. 500K is a _lot_. Runaway success unless you're: A) Apple B) Samsung The 350K product I'm referring to defined a whole category for years and is universally well-known in tech. To be 100% clear, next time you see "500K sold", your decision tree is: Is it Apple? If yes, can be disagreeable whether it is well-known / successful. Is it Samsung? If yes, can be disagreeable about whether it is well-known / successful. Still here? It's well-known and successful, you'll look silly if you choose to be disagreeable.
        anonzzzies 3y ago
        But I didn’t say 500k is not a lot or that it’s not successful; I say that it is a niche and it’s not immensely popular. It’s successful in its niche. Again, the comment I replied to used those terms and that’s just not true. I don’t care and wish them all the luck and selling 100m of these things, but if I have to think about how many zeros behind the comma to write the % of human owners, this is not a non niche or popular product. Knock on your neighbours door and ask what it is; they won’t know and they also would never ever buy one.

neilv 3y ago

RF devices are already ubiquitous, the technology and applications keep growing, and there's emerging opportunities for innovative applications. FWIW, I "funded" the Kickstarter for Flipper Zero because my startup was doing something a little innovative with various kinds of RF tags, to help solve a significant societal problem. (Which, besides what we could've contributed to a country in monetary value of our company, the application domain had significant implications for national economies, as well as for public safety. All things that lawmakers care about, in addition to reducing auto thefts.) We had Android diagnostic software, plus bespoke iOS apps with NFC that I wrote, but a Flipper Zero would've helped me work better and faster at some things.

refulgentis 3y ago
That's nice, thank you for sharing. I agree with OP, it's bad that its being used to try and take down phones on flights and also if it's being used to steal cars.