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Open Hardware

Mixed realities

When “your” hardware lives—and dies—in the vendor’s cloud

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# 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.

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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.”

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Mixed realities

Moxie

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Mixed realities

Moxie / 2020-2025

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.

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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.

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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.

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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!!

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Mixed realities

  • Open data
  • Open protocols
  • Open APIs