That’s the reason why I never buy a smart device I don’t control.
Logitech will brick its $100 Pop smart home buttons on October 15 - Ars Technica
Submitted 13 hours ago by otters_raft@lemmy.ca [bot] to selfhosted@lemmy.world
Comments
jol@discuss.tchncs.de 13 hours ago
saltesc@lemmy.world 13 hours ago
That’s any smart device. Unless you’re the one.doimg the updates.yoirself, they will all become obsolete as technology evolves. This is the case here too; sounds they just don’t have enough people using them to justify figuring out how to keep them working as new devices and platforms roll on. 9.5 years is an alright run, comparatively.
Creat@discuss.tchncs.de 1 hour ago
Just because it’s a “smart” service doesn’t mean it has to connect to the Internet or a server or the manufacturer. If it does neither, it can’t be turned off by them.
All my devices run local-only protocols. Nothing leaves my house. The devices that would be proprietary were reflashed to tasmota (fully open source, local only). Others are either Zigbee or Shelly. While Shelly has a cloud connection, it’s fully optional and disabled by default (including automatic updates). The hardware is also supported by tasmota, and reflashing is always just 5 minutes of effort away.
There is absolutely nothing that any manufacturer has to do to keep my stuff working. I have to do a little something (keep my tiny server on, basically). But more importantly there is nothing any manufacturer can do to stop my stuff from working.
AmbiguousProps@lemmy.today 12 hours ago
Depends on your definition of "smart’ I guess. ZigBee stuff like buttons and the like probably won’t become obsolete for a long time. I guess you could argue that ZigBee protocol updates could eventually brick them though
WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.world 12 hours ago
9.5 years is ancient in smart home devices.
Though, any company that stops supporting a device should be legally required to open source all dependencies required to operate it, or provide a full refund.
HurlingDurling@lemmy.world 11 hours ago
Not true, zwave and ZigBee are not required to use the manufacturers apps and you can setup a home assistant server on a raspberry pi in about 20 minutes and never worry about planned obsolescence like this. This is why I never buy WiFi only smart devices that need internet access and an account on an app to control.
cynar@lemmy.world 4 hours ago
That’s exactly what I do. I also have IoT devices that are still trucking along a decade later. I fully expect them to likely do a decade more.
Both Tasmota and ESPhome provide open source firmware for many IoT devices. They throw up a local API interface that other systems can talk to. Providing legacy support is as hard as using HTML put and get commands.
captainlezbian@lemmy.world 8 hours ago
9.5 years is pretty good if you think of it as tech, but the problem is that smart home products are often home appliances. Some are even home fixtures. So yeah people feel cheated when something like a light switch gets dropped from service or demands a subscription
jol@discuss.tchncs.de 5 hours ago
It’s one thing to become obsolete because a new technology appears. It’s another thing for the rug to pulled from under you. You can still use old tech just fine, but not if the publisher decides to brick all your devices.
Netrunner@programming.dev 2 hours ago
There’s a good reason all stuff you buy is zigbee or zwave.
SkunkWorkz@lemmy.world 1 hour ago
or Matter
thegreekgeek@midwest.social 8 hours ago
See it’s shit like this that makes me want to set up a trebuchet just out of line of sight of their corporate HQ and return the bricked hardware with prejudice.
Rcklsabndn@sh.itjust.works 1 hour ago
Unfortunately, Logitech ended support for their T1432 modal trebuchet last year.
Pika@sh.itjust.works 13 hours ago
15% off a logitech device purchase for the complete removal of a 100$ smart switch. that’s a slap to the face “Thank’s for being a customer here’s a coupon you can only use if you continue being a customer”
Wispy2891@lemmy.world 6 hours ago
And can only use that 15% off in their boutique store where stuff is more expensive than other outlets
quokka1@mastodon.au 6 hours ago
@Wispy2891 just wanting to say, best avatar i've seen for a while. love it.
spaghettiwestern@sh.itjust.works 11 hours ago
[deleted]tomkatt@lemmy.world 6 hours ago
This is why it’s a great idea to refuse to install everything that’s possible, including smart switches, cameras, lights etc. that rely on the good will of some company to keep running.
Even then you can get fucked over. I’ve used Hue lights for years, and back when I bought them, you didn’t need an account to use them, just an app and network connection. Years later, they forced an online login for the app, requiring you to be online to interface with the bulbs. You can kind of work around it with Home Assistant, but you still need the account now to add the bulbs, and I don’t think scenes work without an account either now.
B0rax@feddit.org 5 hours ago
But you can buy a 10-20€ zigbee stick and connect them directly to home assistant. No hue bridge or account required.
spaghettiwestern@sh.itjust.works 4 hours ago
When I was in the market for bulbs Hue was just starting that BS. They lost that sale and I’ve been in the process of removing network access for everything possible and severely restricting it when not. My old Honeywell wifi thermostat is gone, smart appliances are disconnected from wifi, and TVs are blocked by my firewall when they aren’t actually being used. Next up, Graphene OS.
Sometimes I’d like to move to a tropical island with no news or Internet at all.
wirebeads@lemmy.ca 13 hours ago
Remember when the stuff we bought actually used to be owned by us, to be used by us, was able to be repaired by us? Now everything is scamware, licenses, and utter crap with threats of legal retaliation if you open, manipulate, or in any way change the product you “bought” from them.
So basically, Logitech sold these devices, decided nah, we’re done, and has given you garbage, while your ROI will never be captured.
Boycotting Logitech is easy moving forward; Don’t buy their crap.
Vote with your wallet.
BlueLineBae@midwest.social 12 hours ago
Honestly, I think if companies were forced to deal with the electronic waste they create, they wouldn’t be so chill about bricking devices like this. I really wish there was a law that dictated any electronics you output, you are required to take back. Then maybe we wouldn’t have as many situations like this today.
Anivia@feddit.org 1 hour ago
Germany has that law and it doesn’t change anything
Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 11 hours ago
Boycotting Logitech is easy moving forward; Don’t buy their crap.
You’re like 5 years too late on that for me. I bought a mouse in 2019. And in 2020 the mouse died. Wouldn’t even turn on. Wouldn’t charge. Dead.
I call up logitech, and ask what my options are. Basically my options are “fuck you”. Couldn’t even send it in for repair at all.
Compare this to 2005. I had a mouse in those days I paid $200 for. Which in those days was quite a bit. My then girlfriend broke my mouse. So I called logitech to ask how much it cost to fix. I had the mouse about 2-3 years at that point. So I knew it wasn’t under warrenty, but I figure maybe repair is cheaper than buying a new one.
Guy on the phone says “Nah, I’ll just ship you one”. And I was confused. I asked “Oh. How much is that?” And he says “Don’t even worry about it. Lets just send you a replacement.”
Week later I had a free replacement on my doorstep. Instant recurring customer.
But now? Between deminishing product quality, disappearing customer service, and enshitified policies, I no longer feel like I’m a logictech customer for the past 5 years. This after being a huge cheerleader of theirs since the early 2000s. Maybe late 90s.
These companies do not seem to get that the easiest way to generate consistant revenue is with repeat business. I’m no longer a logitech customer, but I still have a lot of logitech products. Whenever they die, they’ll be replaced with something else.
metaStatic@kbin.earth 10 hours ago
I would buy a G5 every few years until the end of time if they still made them. Profit clearly isn't the driving motivator of the post capitalist world we inhabit.
And what exactly will you replace your logitech stuff with? they're all going down this path now.
honestly if they still make the only mice that don't look like a gaming router they might still have me ... on the second hand market at least.
DieserTypMatthias@lemmy.ml 4 hours ago
A certain operating system whose name I won’t mention is ending support a day before and now this? WTF is wrong with this world?
FreedomAdvocate@lemmy.net.au 1 hour ago
An operating ending support isn’t in any way the same as bricking a product.
ChairmanMeow@programming.dev 1 hour ago
Well, unless some exploit is discovered that doesn’t require user interaction. Then merely being connected puts your device at risk.
And given historical precedent, it’s going to be a matter of time until one is discovered.
ramble81@lemmy.zip 7 hours ago
And this is why i stick with Z-Wave/Insteon/etc. I have a local hardware controller that doesn’t have to be connected to the internet to work. It can be cloud controlled remotely, but if their service shut down tomorrow, it’d still be fully functional locally or if I exposed the server endpoint myself.
ramenshaman@lemmy.world 11 hours ago
Looking forward to Louis Rossmann’s inevitable video on this.
fakeplastic@lemmy.dbzer0.com 12 hours ago
They’re also bricking the vertical mouse I got in 2022 because apparently it’s too much to ask to expect a $75 mouse to work for 4 years.
Zak@lemmy.world 7 hours ago
How? Is the mouse reliant on their servers to operate?
crank0271@lemmy.world 7 hours ago
How are they bricking it? Is that something that other Logitech vertical mouse owners need to worry about?
fakeplastic@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 hours ago
I wasn’t clear but I meant that their build quality has gone down significantly since the 90s when they developed a good reputation and market share. A single click starts to randomly register as a double click over time.
dubyakay@lemmy.ca 8 hours ago
Ploopy time!
Wispy2891@lemmy.world 6 hours ago
I read the title as "Logitech will bring new smart home buttons on October 15” and I thought “hmm new proprietary iot shit, I wonder when they’re going to brick them”
Bennyboybumberchums@lemmy.world 1 hour ago
Ive hated logitech for a while. Looks like my opinion of them wont be changing any time soon. I get no longer supporting products, but bricking them? And then giving a 15% off coupon for some products that they could later brick as well? Youd have to be a right fucking mug to buy anything logitech after this.