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This HN discussion shows a huge range of valid opinions. On one end: A company can't spend forever supporting a product. It's economical madness. On the other
by hyperman1 2y ago
This HN discussion shows a huge range of valid opinions.
On one end: A company can't spend forever supporting a product. It's economical madness.
On the other end: We paid for it, we should be able to use it until it wears out. The company locked everyone else out, so they did this to themselves.
I think we reached the limits of current ownership theory. We have things that are partly a buyable object and partly service, and current law doesn't deal well with that.
Some possible changes I'd like to see:
1) The terms should become explicit. If continues company support is needed, the company should make that clear and specify a minimal end date.
2) Consumer rights should be enforced for services. No kicking consumers out whenever a company feels like it.
3) When a company abandons a product(or ceases existing), the locks on it should be removed so someone else can support it.
4) Things should be safe by default. A hackable internet connected product has a manufacturing defect and should be fixed or recalled for the (published) product lifetime.
- vouaobrasil 2y agoI think your ideas are good, and not because of smart thermostats, but because of smartphones. The hardware on older ones still work, so they should have a way of still being functional. There should be enough information released on them so that the latest versions of Android can still be supported.
- Dowwie 2y agoI just went through the exercise of addressing item 4 for an IOT product. The odds that an organization enables security features is influenced by a multitude of factors. More to come on this.
- rightbyte 2y ago> On one end: A company can't spend forever supporting a product. It's economical madness. An electronic thermostat would probably last about 30 years maybe. That is hardly forever.
- petermcneeley 2y ago>A company can't spend forever supporting a product. It's economical madness. Do you know what a trust is? or an annuity? Yes you can with a fixed amount of money provide the funds to support a product forever.