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Lockitron exceeds $2,000,000 in reservations

lockitron.com

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Re: Lockitron exceeds $2,000,000 in reservations

#91

It really pays to check how ones company name sounds in different languages. Because in some cases connotations could be not even funny :( For example in russian, lockitron sounds very similar to 'lohotron' which translates as con game, scam etc.

If anybody at Matasano is reading this, I want you guys to know something. In South America, matasano (also one word) transliterates to "killer of the healthy" and means "doctor who does more harm than good." It's slang, of course, similar to "shrink" and connotes...exactly what it means.

Interestingly tptacek commented on this saying - 'Matasano' ==> 'Last doctor you would go to'. And they were sad for a few minutes and then were 'very happy' with the name.

The implication being that 'Matasano' is the last doc you go to who 'CURES' you I guess...

Re: Lockitron exceeds $2,000,000 in reservations

#92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Founder bias here, but... As someone who lives with three adult roommates who all have S.O.'s we have people in and out all the time. As someone who lived by himself in college it was nice to know when the landlord came by. As someone who runs a startup, it provides more benefit than a typical modern access control system without the $3000 price tag. For American locks, the deadbolt provides most of the security. The…

Hi Paul, thanks for your reply, and congrats on the campaign! Forgive my scepticism around the product, instead take it as a sign of respect from someone in marketing ;-D > As someone who lives with three adult roommates who all have S.O.'s we have people in and out all the time. Do standard keys not work for this? Or do you often have bad breakups that would mean physical danger if someone didn't give their key back…

Physical keys can be lost, copied, forgotten about, etc. The chance of that becoming a problem increases massively with the number of people that need access.

It's quite easy to avoid all those problems by digitizing access. Cost of keys is basically irrelevant (maybe two dollars) compared to the headache of losing them.

To be fair, most locks offer very minimal physical security - like you say, someone targeting you will just break a window. But some random junkie is just as likely to pick the house with the door unlocked. The trick to avoid being a randomly-targeted victim is to be harder to attack than your neighbors.

Also Paul if you read this, can I get my camera back again? :)

Re: Lockitron exceeds $2,000,000 in reservations

#93

This is bananas! Please, someone who has reserved one .. WHY do you need to open your deadbolt from anywhere other than your front door? Do you often find yourself down the street / at work / in an overseas hotel with the need to open the deadbolt? Don't you want to see who's there? Don't you have a second lock built into the knob? It's an interesting idea to control a mechanical object (lock) with an internet connec…

You will be surprised how many people don't know what they want until someone actually shows them.

Re: Lockitron exceeds $2,000,000 in reservations

#94
post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a non-issue. Look at MongoDB. If you want to say "You're a retard" in German you'd say "Du bist ein Mongo". Mongo being short for mongoloid and just as `politically incorrect` as retard is in the English speaking world. If anything the name made the product more memorable for me (and I use it almost every day now)

MongoDB is considered a complete joke by most who've programmed a distributed system. So.... poor example.

For the first year or so I read about it, I though it was MnogoDB; as in, Mnogo Nukes. Woulda been a much better name.

Re: Lockitron exceeds $2,000,000 in reservations

#95
post #88
post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I see it as an intermediary step on the path to totally rethinking doors and physical access in general. I don't believe doors and physical access in general need to be rethought, except maybe to improve the security of physical locks themselves. The 'big dumb thing between you and my stuff you'd need a sledgehammer to get past without a key' model has mostly worked for a good long while. (Or, fine, a crooked bit o…

I dont think it needs to be disrupted, and even if it did, I dont think Lockitron is that product. We are moving towards a world where everything is connected, online, and accessible. Doors and keys are not in need of an overhaul, but some day, due to advances in peripheral technologies, having a door unlock automatically is going to just seem obvious. At first it will be something only the newest buildings have, and…

I suppose you're right to a degree when it comes to supermarket doors and some car locks, the idea that things should be so connected is certainly already present, and there's no reason to expect it not to saturate wherever it can. But there would remain real value to the low tech approach for a number of reasons. Physical locks are less expensive than networked locks would be. Networked locks would be subject to the vulnerabilities that come with being connected to the internet and being run by software, whereas physical locks wouldn't. I think Bruce Schneier said 'complexity is the enemy of security' (if not I'm sure I'll be corrected) and the analog stupidity of physical locks is what makes them useful. Although granted, physical locks can be hacked too, and are, I'd submit that the networked variety would likely be no less vulnerable to physical attack, and still more vulnerable to attacks over the network (so, implicitly, less secure.)

A ubiquitous system for locks that somehow can identify you by proximity, can also be used to track your movements and whereabouts. Networked locks could be theoretically controlled from a remote location, leaving someone else to act as, essentially, the systems administrator for your physical access privileges. This is what they do in prisons. Applying the concept of separating someone from direct control over their physical access-space to a large scale, and it looks a bit ominous - at least if this assumes these network locks are also commonplace on cars, houses, hotel rooms, hospital rooms, etc. This is not even considering what happens when power goes out, or the network goes down. Physical locks still work without electrical power, and the tumblers only care about the piece of metal that's currently jammed into the slot and whether it moves the pins properly... principle of least privilege.

I can see this sort of thing becoming somewhat more commonplace but I also see its spread as self-limiting. E-books aren't going to replace physical books, the internet isn't going to replace television, which hasn't replaced radio, which hasn't replaced theatre. In each case, the newer version of the technology does provide their own advantages and enhancements of the medium but not to the degree that the older, less complex version no longer has relevance. The future is never going to be that evenly distributed, this I believe. In a hundred years, some people might be genetically engineered posthuman cyborgs linked to a quantum hivemind, but someone, somewhere, will be living in village of mud and stone. People will still use physical locks because there's no real reason for most people not to. They could theoretically still work in a hundred years. Software doesn't age nearly as well as a steel bar through a door jamb.

Re: Lockitron exceeds $2,000,000 in reservations

#96
As somebody whose enjoyed a keyless lock in a condo in Hawaii fairly recently I have few things to say.

* Keyless locks are great

* Depending on a phone is a very limiting requirement.

From my experience, it was a huge relief not to have to carry any valuables(such as a smartphone or keys) to the beach, because the door had a 4-digit-code lock device. If i had to carry a phone around with me, i would rather carry a set of keys.

Furthermore, if youre planning to use it for AirBnB and youre expecting that your tenants will have cell service, youre excluding international travellers who have just arrived in your town and may not have cell coverage with their international phones.

What I would like is a code-based lock that would allow me to reset the code remotely, to add multiple levels of codes, time-limited codes, etc. I would pay lockitron prices for it.

Re: Lockitron exceeds $2,000,000 in reservations

#97
post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If anybody at Matasano is reading this, I want you guys to know something. In South America, matasano (also one word) transliterates to "killer of the healthy" and means "doctor who does more harm than good." It's slang, of course, similar to "shrink" and connotes...exactly what it means.

Interestingly tptacek commented on this saying - 'Matasano' ==> 'Last doctor you would go to'. And they were sad for a few minutes and then were 'very happy' with the name. The implication being that 'Matasano' is the last doc you go to who 'CURES' you I guess...

Whenever I read Matasano I think Monsanto instead. They both start with M and end with O, and the inner consonants are similar.

And Monsanto does not have a great reputation...

Re: Lockitron exceeds $2,000,000 in reservations

#98

It really pays to check how ones company name sounds in different languages. Because in some cases connotations could be not even funny :( For example in russian, lockitron sounds very similar to 'lohotron' which translates as con game, scam etc.

Was not aware of this connotation - in the event we expand to Russia, should we go with something like 'Lockomatt'? edit: Just looked up 'mat' in Russian. Seems like I'm really, really not having any luck here.

Indeed :)

Re: Lockitron exceeds $2,000,000 in reservations

#99

As somebody whose enjoyed a keyless lock in a condo in Hawaii fairly recently I have few things to say. * Keyless locks are great * Depending on a phone is a very limiting requirement. From my experience, it was a huge relief not to have to carry any valuables(such as a smartphone or keys) to the beach, because the door had a 4-digit-code lock device. If i had to carry a phone around with me, i would rather carry a s…

Lockitron is highly hackable, based on the video. A guy made bananas create tones based on pushing on them, and that set of tones opened the lock. You'd buy lockitron at that point as a way to interface with your lock in a more reliable way than whatever you could throw together.

Secondly, what do you need cell service for when communicating with a device via bluetooth? Or NFC? Or WiFi? No one's being excluded here except the unimaginative.

Re: Lockitron exceeds $2,000,000 in reservations

#100
post #59

This is bananas! Please, someone who has reserved one .. WHY do you need to open your deadbolt from anywhere other than your front door? Do you often find yourself down the street / at work / in an overseas hotel with the need to open the deadbolt? Don't you want to see who's there? Don't you have a second lock built into the knob? It's an interesting idea to control a mechanical object (lock) with an internet connec…

WHY do you need to open your deadbolt from anywhere other than your front door? Middle class family with two working parents plus, take your pick: + Maid service + HVAC repair + Kitchen remodel + Bathroom remodel etc, etc It would also have avoided a bit of stress during an Airbnb I went to, too.

I owned a prior model and the remodel was exactly the reason I purchased one but, came about it the wrong way wrong.

During my remodel a subcontractor stole a checkbook from my house and wrote $2k of checks to himself. The key to my house was also "lost" somehow. I had to replace the lock on my house one way or another and decided to go with Lockitron as it allowed me to give out "keys" to my house and revoke them or open my house from anywhere.

BTW, I know live in London and rent my house out in the states. I have let the tenant into the house after they lost their keys one night from 3,000 miles away is quite cool.

Oh.... and laying in bed and thinking... Did I lock the door? No need to get up, just grab the phone and punch lock and go to bed.

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