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Why are new devices dependent on the Internet but made with little forethought?

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Re: Why are new devices dependent on the Internet but made with little forethought?

#51

Post by Lammy »

CountSessine wrote: post #36
goodside wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I don't think I've ever heard a fast-busy signal from my cell phone, even once. But it happened lots with landlines when too many people were making local telephone calls. Circuit switched networks kind of suck in a lot of ways. I don't think I would say traditional phone systems were as reliable as modern telephone and data systems.

They sure sounded a lot better though.

Re: Why are new devices dependent on the Internet but made with little forethought?

#52

Post by [deleted] »

CountSessine wrote: post #36
goodside wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I don't think I've ever heard a fast-busy signal from my cell phone, even once. But it happened lots with landlines when too many people were making local telephone calls. Circuit switched networks kind of suck in a lot of ways. I don't think I would say traditional phone systems were as reliable as modern telephone and data systems.

[deleted]

Re: Why are new devices dependent on the Internet but made with little forethought?

#53

Post by pas »

bwanab wrote: post #2

Why are new devices dependent on the internet but made without a thought to the security of the user?

Consumers in general have no internal model of security. It's enough that there's a sticker on the box saying that "even more secure than last year" or "2021-ready security".

It's cheap, it works for a year or two. It's apparently more than enough.

Re: Why are new devices dependent on the Internet but made with little forethought?

#54

Post by abruzzi »

goodside wrote: post #13
stickfigure wrote: post #4

I 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…

heck, POTS line phones can even function with a power loss since they derive their power from the phone line (unless you have a POTS line phone like a cordless where it has to charge a battery and operate a 900mhz connection to the handset.)

Re: Why are new devices dependent on the Internet but made with little forethought?

#55

Post by Dirlewanger »

stickfigure wrote: post #4

I 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…

>It's really hard to find something that was better in the pre-internet era.

Big ticket home items like fridges, washer/dryers, TVs. They're all planned to shit the bed just after their warranty wears out so that companies can squeeze out extra money from them. Nothing is made with pride anymore. There's many facets as to why this is, but as a civilization I don't think we're ever going to be able to go back to the way "the way things were"

Re: Why are new devices dependent on the Internet but made with little forethought?

#58

Post by ddingus »

This is pretty much why I have yet to buy into any internet of things devices and look really hard at what something can do, will do offline.

Maybe one day when all this is actual infrastructure and all that goes with the idea, standards, service entities who will be there, are regulated, etc.

Maybe then, I will reconsider.

And let's be clear. I have no problem with pioneers pioneering. Have fun! I just have different priorities.

Re: Why are new devices dependent on the Internet but made with little forethought?

#59

Post by mcguire »

nijave wrote: post #3

I wonder--if some years ago--people were asking the same question about electricity

Probably.

On the other hand, electricity replaced many things that were either more dangerous in themselves (like gas lighting) or more physical work (like laundry). And the only significant downside (I'm ignoring the dangers electricity posed) was that it sometimes stopped working, although in those cases you probably had your manual fall-back (candles and a wash-tub).

Re: Why are new devices dependent on the Internet but made with little forethought?

#60

Post by ASalazarMX »

pas wrote: post #38
chadlavi wrote: post #11

Spoiler alert: the answer is that it's more profitable that way.

Especially on the short term. It's much easier/cheaper to make something that's not even planned to last long. And people don't care about the long term. :(

- Move Fast! Break things!

- Sir, that was for software, not hardware.

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