What If We Put Warnings on IoT Devices?

Re:What If We Put Warnings on IoT Devices? by FabHK on Friday October 13, 2017 @10:08AM (#15465784)

Yes. There's this doorbell (400-1500 USD) that connects via internet to a central host, and then notifies you on your smartphone. Seems sort of a neat idea, but a house lasts several decades - is that startup and its server going to be around that long?

http://www.doorbird.com

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:What If We Put Warnings on IoT Devices? by 659087 on Friday October 13, 2017 @12:05PM (#15466806)

It also notifies that central host every time someone visits your home, and provides them with video and audio of that person. That doesn't seem like a "neat idea" at all.

"By visiting my front door, you agree to Doorbird's privacy policy"

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:What If We Put Warnings on IoT Devices? by tripletmass on Thursday October 19, 2017 @10:29PM (#15513160)

The doorbell for Serial Criminals who Sell Out to Federal Agents and/or Cartels. (...near you!) etc.

Speaking of planned obsolesence, it would be nice to be able to take a working 40yo. fixed camera and tell it it's a barcode reader and scheduled wildlife counter, or otherwise to take a power profile change, if not also distinct (llvm, CoolWave, Bluetooth 4.1 profile) promise or callback schema. Maybe tell the shakeweight that you're putting it in the closet in a manner than shaking is no excuse to dissipate more than 21mW. Certainly get (MSDS-ish # circumstance) links from devices that deal in goober or tree nut oils or PVC with flame retardant adjuvants, etc. maybe or maybe not explicitly asking things to McGuyver themselves into a bootstrap industry they don't belong to.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:What If We Put Warnings on IoT Devices? by finnn on Friday October 13, 2017 @12:45PM (#15467259)

Couldn't the same be said about all the other shitty cloud-connected surveillance cameras? Not saying that justifies it, just that this is a bigger problem then just those awful internet of doorbells

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:What If We Put Warnings on IoT Devices? by TeMPOraL on Friday October 13, 2017 @02:10PM (#15467997)

Of course it can be. It's all shitty engineering - making roundtrip through cloud with data that should only ever touch your personal devices.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:What If We Put Warnings on IoT Devices? by Mister_Snuggles on Friday October 13, 2017 @02:05PM (#15467937)

This is exactly why I haven't picked up a video doorbell doorbell yet.

Currently I have a bunch of cheap WiFi cameras, all made by D-Link. The thing I like about D-Link cameras is that when you put them on a WiFi network that isn't allowed to access the internet they still work as expected.

The cameras themselves have all of the smarts to do motion detection and email short recordings, they can also FTP images somewhere or you can use something like Zoneminder to handle things. None of this requires them to phone home or make use of some kind of cloud service.

Of course, D-Link does have a cloud service, but it's not required. To me it seems like the best of both worlds - the easy-to-use cloud service for those who want it, plus the ability to work standalone for those who don't want to use their service.

Why doesn't someone build a video doorbell that works like this? D-Link keeps making and selling these cameras, so clearly there's some kind of market for products that have a cloud service but don't require it.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:What If We Put Warnings on IoT Devices? by teekert on Friday October 13, 2017 @11:46AM (#15466664)

Well, a doorbell is not exactly a part of the foundation and it is easily replaced. My house from the 1930's has seen several doorbells already.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:What If We Put Warnings on IoT Devices? by thinkling on Friday October 13, 2017 @01:13PM (#15467498)

This isn't limited to the doorbell. It's the doorbell, the stereo system (Sonos), the connected garage door, the alarm, the security cameras, the thermostat, ... they're all dependent on their dedicated app.

When the vendor stops updating the app that goes with a 5-yo product that they no longer sell, at some point that app will no longer work under the new version of your mobile OS (iOS 16? 17?), and you'll have to give up on it.

There's a huge amount of obsolescence coming down the pike in 5-10 years.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:What If We Put Warnings on IoT Devices? by aeorgnoieang on Friday October 13, 2017 @04:02PM (#15468847)

> There's a huge amount of obsolescence coming down the pike in 5-10 years.

I think that's okay, overall. These things should all be considered prototypes and shouldn't be expected to last forever. [I also think a certain about of obsolescence is sensible and even good given the potential upsides to maintaining people or teams capable of designing, manufacturing, and supporting specific products or services.]

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:What If We Put Warnings on IoT Devices? by ygra on Friday October 13, 2017 @10:53AM (#15466222)

Well, not many things remain the same in a house over several decades. Yes, such a doorbell is more or less an expensive toy that likely will cease to work within half a decade, but normal doorbells tend to break once a decade as well.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:What If We Put Warnings on IoT Devices? by Silhouette on Friday October 13, 2017 @05:25PM (#15469346)

And I just visited a building that is several centuries old, and gained admission by using a solid iron knocker on a big wooden door, both of which are original.

Not all technological changes are advances.

[ Parent | on HN ]