Spoiler alert: the answer is that it's more profitable that way.
Why are new devices dependent on the Internet but made with little forethought?
11–20 of 117 posts
Re: Why are new devices dependent on the Internet but made with little forethought?
#12I stopped reading at Try to recall a time back when the Internet didn't exist... Where things like cars and phones functioned on their own in a much more reliable manner. I grew up in the 80s and have owned several cars from that era. They were significantly less reliable than cars of today. Carburetors were still present (though being phased out) and there were always vacuum hoses that, when they leaked, caused your…
Most audio gear was built to last then, my sound system, speakers and amplifier is from the 80's and still sounds so sweet. The only other notable mention was my Nokia 2110 which I had for from 1996 until 2001 and was bulletproof. (but alas not waterproof)
Re: Why are new devices dependent on the Internet but made with little forethought?
#13I stopped reading at Try to recall a time back when the Internet didn't exist... Where things like cars and phones functioned on their own in a much more reliable manner. I grew up in the 80s and have owned several cars from that era. They were significantly less reliable than cars of today. Carburetors were still present (though being phased out) and there were always vacuum hoses that, when they leaked, caused your…
I think you're overlooking the "on their own" part. The OP isn't lamenting that things are less reliable in general, just that they aren't reliably capable of working offline or on a local network.
Phones are maybe an odd example, but it's somewhat true: Traditional phone systems let you make local calls even if long-distance lines fail, or within a building without leaking data externally. Very few people would ever need (or expect) newer voice/video chat systems to be usable in this way, and they largely aren't.
Re: Why are new devices dependent on the Internet but made with little forethought?
#14I stopped reading at Try to recall a time back when the Internet didn't exist... Where things like cars and phones functioned on their own in a much more reliable manner. I grew up in the 80s and have owned several cars from that era. They were significantly less reliable than cars of today. Carburetors were still present (though being phased out) and there were always vacuum hoses that, when they leaked, caused your…
Video games that didn’t need software updates :)
Software updates were necessary to bring about internet play without rampant hacking and cheating, and also can provide general fixes to you giving you better value over time, so I’d have to disagree. If you don’t want to play online, you really don’t need software updates anyway.
Re: Why are new devices dependent on the Internet but made with little forethought?
#15I stopped reading at Try to recall a time back when the Internet didn't exist... Where things like cars and phones functioned on their own in a much more reliable manner. I grew up in the 80s and have owned several cars from that era. They were significantly less reliable than cars of today. Carburetors were still present (though being phased out) and there were always vacuum hoses that, when they leaked, caused your…
Video games that didn’t need software updates :)
Yes they absolutely did, they just couldn't get them. Games still shipped buggy, you just had to get used to it, tough. I work with people who were in the games industry in late 90s and the idea that games shipped without bugs is just funny to them.
Re: Why are new devices dependent on the Internet but made with little forethought?
#16I stopped reading at Try to recall a time back when the Internet didn't exist... Where things like cars and phones functioned on their own in a much more reliable manner. I grew up in the 80s and have owned several cars from that era. They were significantly less reliable than cars of today. Carburetors were still present (though being phased out) and there were always vacuum hoses that, when they leaked, caused your…
Video games that didn’t need software updates :)
Also video games that didn't get regular, free content updates. Top of mind because my partner and I are doing another playthrough of Terraria and there's once again a bunch of new content for us to go through.
Re: Why are new devices dependent on the Internet but made with little forethought?
#17I stopped reading at Try to recall a time back when the Internet didn't exist... Where things like cars and phones functioned on their own in a much more reliable manner. I grew up in the 80s and have owned several cars from that era. They were significantly less reliable than cars of today. Carburetors were still present (though being phased out) and there were always vacuum hoses that, when they leaked, caused your…
Video games that didn’t need software updates :)
I hit plenty of game-breaking bugs before updates were a thing.
Re: Why are new devices dependent on the Internet but made with little forethought?
#18Because it’s easier to control them outside of your home WiFi, which is what customers expect nowadays.
Also because Google Assistant and Alexa require cloud to cloud communication. Which customers also want.
And cheap WiFi devices such as the esp8266 are very optimized for a single tcp socket.
Re: Why are new devices dependent on the Internet but made with little forethought?
#19I stopped reading at Try to recall a time back when the Internet didn't exist... Where things like cars and phones functioned on their own in a much more reliable manner. I grew up in the 80s and have owned several cars from that era. They were significantly less reliable than cars of today. Carburetors were still present (though being phased out) and there were always vacuum hoses that, when they leaked, caused your…
Then big brothers came along, built centralized systems, you bought devices you have zero clue how they work. With your own money you let them collectively manipulate you.
I believe this is what the author tried to explain.
Internet and technological advancement is not evil per se, too much power in a very tiny group is going to be problematic.
Re: Why are new devices dependent on the Internet but made with little forethought?
#20I stopped reading at Try to recall a time back when the Internet didn't exist... Where things like cars and phones functioned on their own in a much more reliable manner. I grew up in the 80s and have owned several cars from that era. They were significantly less reliable than cars of today. Carburetors were still present (though being phased out) and there were always vacuum hoses that, when they leaked, caused your…
You're right that cars are more reliable today but I follow a lot of mechanics on YouTube (Car Wizard, Kilmer, etc) who say that cars were easier to work on back then. These days (at least in the luxury segment) there are a lot of electronic components that can only be repaired by the OEM. We are also in a strange transitional period with the addition of auto start-stop, hybrid engines, etc that also complicate the car.