IoT pet feeder leaves pets hungry when servers crash

[radar_macgyver]

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-36912992


 


This is awful. How could they think it's a good design when you need an internet connected server to feed a hungry pet?

[Halcyon]

Devices get smarter, people get dumber.

I actually watched Idiocracy for the first time last night.

[TheSteve]

Wow, total crap design - no failure mode for when the server is MIA. Kind of what I expect from the "IoT".

[Jeroen3]

Fast time to market with high profit and low reliability. Welcome to the Internet of Shit.

[Red Squirrel]

I hate how stuff that has no business being connected to an internet server is designed as such.  There is absolutely zero reason for this (other than they can probably use it to spy on you).   I like the idea of being able to remotely manage stuff, but the way consumer products are designed is terrible due to the fact that it relies on 3rd party servers.  Especially something as simple as a pet feeder, it should just have it's own web server that you can connect to locally.  No need for "the cloud".  If you want remote access, that's what VPN is for.

[mtdoc]

Welcome to the Internet of Shit.

Ha! That gives a whole new meaning to IOS...

[RGB255_0_0]

No local storage to handle times when offline = dumb device. I smell a class action lawsuit.

But then again, should you have a pet if you have to rely on tech to feed it?

[borjam]

Not in the IoT realm, but you can find plenty of good (or bad) designs everywhere. I've seen network equipment that stops forwarding traffic when the control software crashes, which is insane in most cases unless that control software must enforce some security rules based on the monitored traffic.

Ideally, such a device should rely on the cloud *only* for monitoring or to  push configuration changes, so that it woudn't stop working if the central servers become unreachable for any reason. After all it's not exactly rocket science to use a timer to feed everyday at the same time.

[SL4P]

The IoS -Internet of Subscriptions
The business model of entrepreneurs that have no product to sell, and no budget for legitimate development.... or too much ch money and market power - to force users into participation.

[tszaboo]

Fast time to market with high profit and low reliability. Welcome to the Internet of Shit.

In my recent experience it is exacly what IOT is about. Putting a GHZ ARM with Linux to operate a relay, so a script kiddie can write a 20 line code. No error management whatsoever, management is a bunch of kids, who watch TED and think that everything can be done in 20 minutes.

[Jeroen3]

Not to mention making it extremely easy to take ownership of such IoS nodes.

Soon... "Help, my neighbour hacked my fridge!".

[Kilrah]

I hate how stuff that has no business being connected to an internet server is designed as such.  There is absolutely zero reason for this (other than they can probably use it to spy on you).   I like the idea of being able to remotely manage stuff, but the way consumer products are designed is terrible due to the fact that it relies on 3rd party servers.  Especially something as simple as a pet feeder, it should just have it's own web server that you can connect to locally.  No need for "the cloud".  If you want remote access, that's what VPN is for.

I'm not against it, because setting up a VPN and its requirements is far out of reach of the typical consumer, if you required that you'd limit sales of your thing to a couple of geeks, no chance of widespread adoption. Having both the thing and you report to an external provider is a good idea and works. BUT, this x1000:

Ideally, such a device should rely on the cloud *only* for monitoring or to  push configuration changes, so that it woudn't stop working if the central servers become unreachable for any reason. After all it's not exactly rocket science to use a timer to feed everyday at the same time.

The device must store its configuration and work with that regardless of availability of the service. AND offer a built-in server so that even if the convenient portal fails or the company shuts down you can still manage it locally when you're at home, and still use it remotely through VPN / port forwarding even if it means learning some things or having it configured by someone who knows. Having devices that just become paperweigths because they absolutely require a server to do anything or the only way to connect to them and set them up is through a portal that has died is 

[Galenbo]

What is different from what was expected?
Where was something different promised when device_not_working ?

If the fuel network is broken, everybody has to walk.
If the electricity network is broken, everybody has to brush their teeth manually. 

[tszaboo]

What is different from what was expected?
Where was something different promised when device_not_working ?

If the fuel network is broken, everybody has to walk.
If the electricity network is broken, everybody has to brush their teeth manually.

Its more like "someone parked his car on the road, everybody has to walk", and "electricity network down, so you cannot use battery powered stuff magically anymore"

[wraper]

What is different from what was expected?
Where was something different promised when device_not_working ?

If the fuel network is broken, everybody has to walk.
If the electricity network is broken, everybody has to brush their teeth manually.

If the internet is broken, pet feeder uses feeding schedule it received on previous syncing with server . Is this that hard to do?

[station240]

Waiting on the lawsuits when someone comes home from a week long holiday to a dead/sick pet.
Never mind the company server's being down, what happens if your phone line gets cut during a storm, and shittytel* don't notice until you ring up to complain.

The fuel distribution system is the worst, the tankers are diesel, petrol pumps are electric,  and the electricity to heat the crude to refine it.
It's not a network as no one runs fuel pipelines to bowsers, bar the odd airport.

* generic term for your local crappy telco, eg Telstra, Comcast, BT etc

[System Error Message]

mr robot season 2 episode 1 showed a very good example of how disastrous IoT can be with everything relying on internet and some server.

[Kilrah]

What is different from what was expected?

If the electricity network is broken, everybody has to brush their teeth manually. 

The difference is feasability...
It is of course not practical for an electricity supplier to provide local storage at each of their customers' locations in case their network fails, and you wouldn't expect them to do that.
But it's a few lines of code to make sure a pet feeder can work without internet connection (probably actually simpler than making the online version...). There is no excuse not to do it, and it's normal to expect it. Not doing it is stupid and unprofessional from the creators.

[SL4P]

Waiting on the lawsuits when someone comes home from a week long holiday to a dead/sick pet.
Never mind the company server's being down, what happens if your phone line gets cut during a storm, and shittytel* don't notice until you ring up to complain.
:::

Don't worry the supplier's lawyers, your contract, and the legislated supply agreements protect them from ever giving you a dollar in compensation under those circumstances.
Tell your local media and political representative what you think of that situation!

[borjam]

If the fuel network is broken, everybody has to walk.
If the electricity network is broken, everybody has to brush their teeth manually.

Well, your Internet connection can be much more unreliable than electrical power. You can suffer an outage. The router can hang. Your WiFi network can be rendered almost useless by a careless neighbor (or yourself!) buying one of those awful "TV transmitters" or a baby cam. Your ISP can experience connection problems to the network of the "cloud provider". There are too many failure modes.

Of course, most pets can not be left alone at home for a week, period. But that's an entirely different matter.

[madires]

People buying such stuff deserve an extra large for not asking what will happen in case of an Internet outage or when the servers are shut down. It's the same silly mistake as with computer games, which require an Internet connection. How many times have we seen vendors shutting down servers, because they don't make enough money or think the product/game is outdated? More than enough! No servers, no fun. It's so

[GreyWoolfe]

All I can say is my dogs have an automatic feeder that feeds them twice a day in metered amounts-----ME!!!!! IoT pet feeder?

[daqq]

Is there an English word for something being horrible and hilarious at the same time?

[borjam]

Is there an English word for something being horrible and hilarious at the same time?

A friend invented a similar one: craptacular. Or maybe he borrowed it?

[tszaboo]

Is there an English word for something being horrible and hilarious at the same time?

A friend invented a similar one: craptacular. Or maybe he borrowed it?

Simpsons. According to urban dictionary.