iPhone App will not stay open - just flashes when trying to launch • Hacker News Board

Re: iPhone App will not stay open - just flashes when trying to launch

#221

Post by vidarh » Tue, Apr 04, 2017, 9:39 AM UTC

CaliforniaKarl wrote: post #34

dangrossman wrote: post #20

Garadget is a "cloud-enabled garage door opener" sold for $99 on Amazon. The manufacturer seemingly disabled the product, or primary advertised features of the product, in retribution for a short negative review left on Amazon. IMO Amazon should immediately drop the product when they catch wind of that, and so should any other retailer that carries it. The manufacturer's abused their relationship with the retailer (w…

According to the Amazon.com page for the item, it ships from and is sold by the manufacturer. So it's not a proper Amazon item, it's an Amazon Marketplace item. In this case, I don't think Amazon even is the retailer, they're just the platform, in the same sense as eBay/PayPal. Also, the guy (presumably guy) has said to return the product for a refund, so things will pretty much be zeroed out, unless the customer doe…

But this now means that no Amazon reviews of this product are remotely trustworthy for the simple reason that they have made public that bad reviews risks getting your device bricked.

To me that means their products are now inherently suspect.

Re: iPhone App will not stay open - just flashes when trying to launch

#222

Post by throwanem » Tue, Apr 04, 2017, 9:39 AM UTC

justin66 wrote: post #56

dqv wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, whoever made it is really serious about providing support. Look at the community here: http://community.garadget.com The review might not be abusive, but usually a negative review like that is the cherry on top of a very abusive sundae.

> Well, whoever made it is really serious about providing support. They sure folded early in this case. In the tech support jobs I had back in the day, the customer calling the product a piece of shit was just a form of greeting. Surprisingly often, we were able to win them back. We didn't have the option of being this thin-skinned.

I think the course of events may well show that neither does Garadget.

Re: iPhone App will not stay open - just flashes when trying to launch

#223

Post by lucideer » Tue, Apr 04, 2017, 9:40 AM UTC

lawnchair_larry wrote: post #204

lucideer wrote: post #163

I'm pretty surprised by the comments here on decorum and civility. The customer called the product a "piece of shit" - yes he used bad language, but he's criticising the product itself. An object. The rep. directly insulted the customer's character (saying he had "poor impulse control" and was throwing a "tantrum"). Is this another example of American tendencies to be extra sensitive about "profanity" or am I missing…

It's more of a HN thing than an American thing.

I dunno. Don't American's bleep their TV shows?

Re: iPhone App will not stay open - just flashes when trying to launch

#224

Post by stephen_g » Tue, Apr 04, 2017, 9:41 AM UTC

Entalpi wrote: post #115

Yeah, negativity/hate is not a reason to force your customers to refund their purchases. This is basically illegal, atleast in Sweden if not the EU since this voids the functionality of the product with an intent to discriminate against a group of people. Its also a dick move just in the casual way.

I'm pretty sure remotely bricking a device like this would be against Australia consumer law also.

I imagine that kind of thing varies state-by-state in the US?

Re: iPhone App will not stay open - just flashes when trying to launch

#225

Post by vidarh » Tue, Apr 04, 2017, 9:41 AM UTC

lucideer wrote: post #163

I'm pretty surprised by the comments here on decorum and civility. The customer called the product a "piece of shit" - yes he used bad language, but he's criticising the product itself. An object. The rep. directly insulted the customer's character (saying he had "poor impulse control" and was throwing a "tantrum"). Is this another example of American tendencies to be extra sensitive about "profanity" or am I missing…

I agree. If a company can't handle that reaction, I don't want to do business with them, so I'm at least grateful they made this public so people like me who don't want to deal with businesses like theirs are aware that a bad review may lead to insults and being prevented from using their product.

As I've indicated elsewhere: this event also means I can't trust any of the reviews of their products, because it's clear they are happy to punish customers who leave bad reviews, and at least some proportion of customers will be aware of this when leaving reviews.

Re: iPhone App will not stay open - just flashes when trying to launch

#226

Post by tajen » Tue, Apr 04, 2017, 9:42 AM UTC

msh wrote: post #152

tajen wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amazon has already bricked a Kindle (and the full user account) because it had "a pirate PDF", according to their automations. Just, don't but from Amazon. Even Alibaba is better.

Do you have a reference? Googling dont reveal any cases, only people speculating if they might do it.

Yes: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4682392 . There are speculations on whether the Kindle was actually wiped or whether she just couldn't use it: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4684392

Re: iPhone App will not stay open - just flashes when trying to launch

#227

Post by exDM69 » Tue, Apr 04, 2017, 9:49 AM UTC

bschwindHN wrote: post #138

What's the right way to design an IoT product to not be dependent on a startup's cloud servers? - Allow the app/device to point to a different host (running an open source version of the backend)? - Support LAN connectivity without round-tripping to a third party server? - Allow the user to load their own firmware onto the device? I don't know where the line is for these things, it seems to be a balance of convenienc…

> What's the right way to design an IoT product to not be dependent on a startup's cloud servers?

How about providing a single board computer like a Raspberry Pi and the software images (or source code if you can) to run the software? This is obviously not a solution for everyone but it would probably work great for the DIY crowd.

That said, I'm not buying any IoT devices, self-hosted or not, in the foreseeable future. When I buy a gadget that opens my garage doors, I expect it to last 10-30 years with minimal maintenance. I have zero faith in a startup being able to provide even a fraction of that. The economics just don't add up, why would they give me any service decades from now if I paid them $99? The company will have to sell a whole lot of these in order to be able to keep their servers running and their clients updated to run on most recent iOS/Android. I don't see any technical issues in doing so, just that it's not a viable business.

Re: iPhone App will not stay open - just flashes when trying to launch

#228

Post by vidarh » Tue, Apr 04, 2017, 9:49 AM UTC

lucideer wrote: post #223

lawnchair_larry wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's more of a HN thing than an American thing.

I dunno. Don't American's bleep their TV shows?

It's quite amusing the see American guests on some of the ruder British talkshows, and see their reactions when some British guest swears, which often leads to more swearing when the British guests notice their reaction and choose to demonstrate just how much they can get away with.

It's pretty much a standing joke on some shows - US guests on these shows fall in two categories: those who are aware of UK humour and/or the specific show (often people who live or have lived in the UK) and who are "in on it" and tend to play up the difference and play up to US stereotypes, and the unsuspecting innocents who have no idea what they're in for, and who get pounced on like prey.

Re: iPhone App will not stay open - just flashes when trying to launch

#229

Post by Veen » Tue, Apr 04, 2017, 9:50 AM UTC

qqg3 wrote: post #186

atemerev wrote: post #72

"Throwing a tantrum"? The review in question is something along the lines of "the control app is flashing and doesn't work at all. This is junk, don't waste your money on it. 1/5 stars." If you make any public facing products, you will occasionally get such (and worse) reviews even if your product is a shiny perfection forged in heaven by angels themselves and wrapped in magic. Fact of life. On the other hand, the su…

It's quite clear a lot of people in here are approaching this with a "B2B" mindset where clients and contracts can be fired and terminated. This scenario is "B2C", "the customer is always right" may be a tired phrase but it rings truer than you might think. A lot of people are saying this guy should be respectful of this small, indiegogo compnay. Problem is, they are ignoring the fact the product is being sold on Ama…

I don't agree. As a freelancer, when I do business with someone, I expect them to comport themselves in a civilized manner. If they're too thick or ill-bred to manage it, they can take their money elsewhere. I don't see why it should be different for any company. The exchange of money isn't a license to ignore standards of social interaction between equals.

Re: iPhone App will not stay open - just flashes when trying to launch

#230

Post by eps » Tue, Apr 04, 2017, 9:52 AM UTC

jimmies wrote: post #70

eps wrote: post #30

Not "for negative Amazon review", but for being an asshole. This guy forgot that there are people behind every product and the abstraction is as thin as it gets when it is in fact a smaller company or a startup. There are negative reviews and there are nasty reviews. He was nasty to them and they no longer wanted him as a client. No reason why a company should swallow shit that a person wouldn't. They certainly _can_…

Your device has stopped working because your internet meme/karma points are too low. You need to give us a 5 stars review and a like on facebook and stop being an asshole before this lock will function again. They certainly _can_ do that, too.

Have you mixed up the comments? What you wrote is unrelated to what I said.