Re:The Cameras Worked Fine. Their Maker Said They Had Reache...
by eropple on Monday February 20, 2023 @11:51AM
(#34869916)
> Or the initial buyer can sell the smart doorbell to a customer that does have the patience to deal with local recording.
I think this would require a drastically different consumer mindset. Because I don't think there is a market for used doorbells.
> It'll always be hard to use tech for non-technical people
As much as I don't like the products, Nest and Ring are not hard to use for non-technical people. They remove the moving parts that may demand maintenance and may cause failures that are beyond a power cycle's reach to fix.
In that light, the best regulatory solution is probably to ensconce terms-at-purchase as indefinitely binding for SaaS-attached hardware. No price increases, no end-of-service so long as the company is still in business.
I think in terms of waste, the key is that devices are still functioning and valuable, even if they aren't as good to the original buyer as they once were. A different cloud service might pop up to replace the one that the smart doorbell maker canceled. Or the initial buyer can sell the smart doorbell to a customer that does have the patience to deal with local recording.
It'll always be hard to use tech for non-technical people, but at least avoiding the situation where thousands of functioning gadgets are bricked and thrown away should be possible to achive through regulation.