When tech hardware becomes paperweights
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Now I have this blood pressure monitor device that doesn't work without a logged in app and is a paperweight. I'm lucky I never invested into their ecosystem of health products. Lesson is no matter how popular a brand is, there is no guarantee they will be around. I've lost all my health data and there is no way to get it back.
When tech hardware becomes paperweights
Today I was taking my blood pressure with a device I've owned for several years. The app logged me out and I couldn't sign in. The error was no internet conn...
Welcome To My Blog (basic.bearblog.dev)
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Now I have this blood pressure monitor device that doesn't work without a logged in app and is a paperweight. I'm lucky I never invested into their ecosystem of health products. Lesson is no matter how popular a brand is, there is no guarantee they will be around. I've lost all my health data and there is no way to get it back.
When tech hardware becomes paperweights
Today I was taking my blood pressure with a device I've owned for several years. The app logged me out and I couldn't sign in. The error was no internet conn...
Welcome To My Blog (basic.bearblog.dev)
Open source software and hardware are the only technology future.
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Open source software and hardware are the only technology future.
It's the only reason my 1500$ CPAP still works. Company discontinued it but I fixed it up so it still works. And it had a hard 5 year replacement rule, ie it's designed to software block you from using the machine after 5 years and get a new one.
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Now I have this blood pressure monitor device that doesn't work without a logged in app and is a paperweight. I'm lucky I never invested into their ecosystem of health products. Lesson is no matter how popular a brand is, there is no guarantee they will be around. I've lost all my health data and there is no way to get it back.
When tech hardware becomes paperweights
Today I was taking my blood pressure with a device I've owned for several years. The app logged me out and I couldn't sign in. The error was no internet conn...
Welcome To My Blog (basic.bearblog.dev)
This something that really annoys me about more and more hardware sold these days. The incessant need to have a connected app and sign in. What I don’t understand is why businesses do it, it increases both the costs before and after a sale to make and maintain?
What I want is “noddy” hardware that does just what it is made to do.
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Now I have this blood pressure monitor device that doesn't work without a logged in app and is a paperweight. I'm lucky I never invested into their ecosystem of health products. Lesson is no matter how popular a brand is, there is no guarantee they will be around. I've lost all my health data and there is no way to get it back.
When tech hardware becomes paperweights
Today I was taking my blood pressure with a device I've owned for several years. The app logged me out and I couldn't sign in. The error was no internet conn...
Welcome To My Blog (basic.bearblog.dev)
StopKillingBloodPressureMonitors?
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Now I have this blood pressure monitor device that doesn't work without a logged in app and is a paperweight. I'm lucky I never invested into their ecosystem of health products. Lesson is no matter how popular a brand is, there is no guarantee they will be around. I've lost all my health data and there is no way to get it back.
When tech hardware becomes paperweights
Today I was taking my blood pressure with a device I've owned for several years. The app logged me out and I couldn't sign in. The error was no internet conn...
Welcome To My Blog (basic.bearblog.dev)
It's not a new phenomena, but it seems to be growing.
I remember when perfectly functional scanners and printers were ditched because the new Windows version would not support them and the vendor would not provide OEM drivers either.
Nowadays they unplug some servers and you are left with an expensive doorstop. That's progress, I guess.
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Now I have this blood pressure monitor device that doesn't work without a logged in app and is a paperweight. I'm lucky I never invested into their ecosystem of health products. Lesson is no matter how popular a brand is, there is no guarantee they will be around. I've lost all my health data and there is no way to get it back.
When tech hardware becomes paperweights
Today I was taking my blood pressure with a device I've owned for several years. The app logged me out and I couldn't sign in. The error was no internet conn...
Welcome To My Blog (basic.bearblog.dev)
Other than Garmin GPS I don't think I own any devices that require an app to function. Just don't buy this shit.
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It's not a new phenomena, but it seems to be growing.
I remember when perfectly functional scanners and printers were ditched because the new Windows version would not support them and the vendor would not provide OEM drivers either.
Nowadays they unplug some servers and you are left with an expensive doorstop. That's progress, I guess.
The part that is growing is how many tools rely on apps and other connected features.
I have a blood pressure monitor, and it just outputs the result to a built-in screen. I can then log the values however I want, and it's probably easier and quicker to manually enter the three numbers each consisting of 2-3 digits into an app than to wait for the bluetooth connection to be established.
This battery monitor will never be remotely shutdown, because there is no remote function. And if the blood pressure tracking app shuts down, I can just use any other.
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This something that really annoys me about more and more hardware sold these days. The incessant need to have a connected app and sign in. What I don’t understand is why businesses do it, it increases both the costs before and after a sale to make and maintain?
What I want is “noddy” hardware that does just what it is made to do.
Businesses like having an app on your phone because they can update it to fix bugs, add features, track your activity and send you notifications/ads when they have something new to sell.
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StopKillingBloodPressureMonitors?
StopKillingTech?
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The part that is growing is how many tools rely on apps and other connected features.
I have a blood pressure monitor, and it just outputs the result to a built-in screen. I can then log the values however I want, and it's probably easier and quicker to manually enter the three numbers each consisting of 2-3 digits into an app than to wait for the bluetooth connection to be established.
This battery monitor will never be remotely shutdown, because there is no remote function. And if the blood pressure tracking app shuts down, I can just use any other.
I have a CO² station that logs to a .csv on a fat32 formatted sdcard. Beat that.
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This something that really annoys me about more and more hardware sold these days. The incessant need to have a connected app and sign in. What I don’t understand is why businesses do it, it increases both the costs before and after a sale to make and maintain?
What I want is “noddy” hardware that does just what it is made to do.
Probably because businesses themselves want all their applications connected so one doing the administration is easier (and better) and there is more management information.
Then again, there are still a ton of bookkeepers and accountants (especially in the US) wasting your money on reconciling bank transactions more than once a year when the bank connector is foolproof
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I have a CO² station that logs to a .csv on a fat32 formatted sdcard. Beat that.
I made a physiotherapy game console for kids that logs physiotherapy executions to a .csv on a fat32 formatted sdcard
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