154 lines
5.5 KiB
Markdown
154 lines
5.5 KiB
Markdown
### Open Hardware
|
||
|
||
# Mixed realities
|
||
|
||
**When “your” hardware lives—and dies—in the vendor’s cloud**
|
||
|
||
--
|
||
|
||
### # Mixed realities
|
||
|
||
Modern IoT gear often won’t store data locally or accept direct connections.
|
||
The cloud account *is* the product. That design brings two systemic risks:
|
||
|
||
* Data hostage-taking
|
||
* Single point of failure
|
||
|
||
|
||
Note:
|
||
|
||
* Data hostage-taking
|
||
* Telemetry, user settings, even basic on-device functions sit behind the vendor’s login. If the account, API or certificate vanishes, owners lose historical data and live control
|
||
|
||
* Single point of failure
|
||
* When the provider turns the servers off (bankruptcy, acquisition, strategy shift), the device can’t boot, phone home for crypto keys, or accept commands—so otherwise-healthy hardware becomes e-waste overnight.
|
||
|
||
--
|
||
|
||
### Mixed realities
|
||
|
||
## A big graveyard
|
||
|
||
* 2023 *Amazon Halo* fitness bands & bedside sleep tracker
|
||
* 2024 *Google Nest* Secure home-alarm system
|
||
* 2022 *Insteon smart-lighting hubs*
|
||
* 2018 *Logitech Harmony Link* universal remote puck
|
||
* 2016 *Revolv smart-home hub* (acquired by Google Nest)
|
||
|
||
Note:
|
||
|
||
* 2023 *Amazon Halo* fitness bands & bedside sleep tracker
|
||
* All bands and the Halo app stopped working.
|
||
* Health data deleted after deadline unless manually exported.
|
||
* Amazon suggested recycling the still-working hardware.
|
||
* 2024 *Google Nest* Secure home-alarm system
|
||
* No arming/disarming, no phone alerts, no lock bridge.
|
||
* Google offered an ADT kit or €200 voucher; data and automation vanished.
|
||
* 2022 *Insteon smart-lighting hubs*
|
||
* Cloud switch went dark without warning; apps & some wall keypads dead.
|
||
* Users had to reverse-engineer local control or replace entire setups.
|
||
* 2018 *Logitech Harmony Link* universal remote puck
|
||
* Logitech email: “device will no longer function.”
|
||
* Initial plan was no replacement; backlash forced the firm to swap in a newer model—proof the brick was purely a licensing choice.
|
||
* 2016 *Revolv smart-home hub* (acquired by Google Nest)
|
||
* $300 hub and app permanently bricked.
|
||
* Case became the textbook example of a company “reaching into your home and pulling the plug.”
|
||
|
||
--
|
||
|
||
### Mixed realities
|
||
|
||
## Moxie
|
||
|
||
<img width="70%" data-src="/images/06-mixed-realities/sad_moxie.png">
|
||
|
||
--
|
||
|
||
### Mixed realities
|
||
|
||
## Moxie / 2020-2025
|
||
|
||
<img width="10%" data-src="/images/06-mixed-realities/sad_moxie.png">
|
||
|
||
Moxie, an expressive table-top robot marketed as a social-skills “mentor” for children. Intro price: US $1,500, later cut to $800. All speech recognition, personality data and progress tracking live on Embodied’s servers.
|
||
|
||
Nov 2024 – shutdown e-mail
|
||
|
||
Early 2025 – service blackout
|
||
|
||
Note:
|
||
|
||
* 2020 – launch
|
||
* Nov 2024 – shutdown e-mail
|
||
* funding round collapsed, the company will “wind down operations” and shut off the Moxie cloud “soon.” A link to a “farewell letter” helps parents explain to kids that their robot friend is “going away.”
|
||
* Early 2025 – service blackout
|
||
* Cloud endpoints time out; Moxie units stall on startup or report server-error codes. Amazon and other retailers pull remaining stock.
|
||
|
||
--
|
||
|
||
### Mixed realities
|
||
|
||
## Moxie / Why it failed
|
||
|
||
* Total cloud dependence
|
||
* No escrow / open-sourcing plan
|
||
* High ongoing costs
|
||
|
||
Note:
|
||
|
||
* Total cloud dependence – every wake-word, behavioral script and user log resided off-device.
|
||
* No escrow / open-sourcing plan – when funding vanished there was no legal path to keep servers or firmware alive.
|
||
* High ongoing costs – speech-to-text, emotion analysis and safety moderation are compute-heavy; with only ~15 k units sold (est.), subscription revenue never covered the bills.
|
||
|
||
--
|
||
|
||
### Mixed realities
|
||
|
||
## Moxie / Lessons highlighted
|
||
|
||
* “Smart” toys must offer local-first operation or a published contingency (open-source firmware, community server code) to avoid instant obsolescence.
|
||
* Regulators are beginning to act
|
||
* Consumer awareness
|
||
|
||
Note:
|
||
|
||
* “Smart” toys must offer local-first operation or a published contingency
|
||
* (open-source firmware, community server code) to avoid instant obsolescence.
|
||
* Regulators are beginning to act
|
||
* forthcoming EU Ecodesign and US state “Connected Devices” rules would obligate a guaranteed service period or mandatory refunds for cloud-tethered products. Moxie shows why such safeguards matter.
|
||
* Consumer awareness
|
||
* Buyers should treat cloud-bound hardware like a subscription, not a durable good—unless the vendor can prove the device remains useful offline.
|
||
|
||
--
|
||
|
||
### Mixed realities
|
||
|
||
## Broader implications
|
||
|
||
* Security & privacy
|
||
* Cost shifting to consumers
|
||
* Regulatory spotlight
|
||
* Design takeaway
|
||
|
||
Note:
|
||
|
||
* Security & privacy
|
||
* Continuous cloud dependence gives the vendor perpetual access to raw sensor streams (sleep patterns, door-open events, health scans) with no on-prem option. A shutdown can wipe user archives or expose unmaintained endpoints to attack.
|
||
|
||
* Cost shifting to consumers
|
||
* Owners pay twice: once for the device, again through mandatory subscriptions or forced upgrades when support ends.
|
||
|
||
* Regulatory spotlight
|
||
* The EU’s proposed Right-to-Repair and Product Sustainability regulations would require a “minimum service period” and clearer data-export paths; several US states already obligate notice and refunds when a cloud shutdown bricks hardware.
|
||
|
||
* Design takeaway
|
||
* Devices that can operate locally (local API, LAN fallback, open firmware) not only respect user autonomy but also outlive corporate pivots.
|
||
* Home assistant!!
|
||
|
||
--
|
||
|
||
### Mixed realities
|
||
|
||
* Open data
|
||
* Open protocols
|
||
* Open APIs |