Slashdot Mirror
Microsoft Backs Open Source For the Internet of Things
dcblogs writes Microsoft has joined a Linux Foundation effort to create an open platform for the Internet of Things. The AllSeen Alliance is an effort to standardize device communications. The code that it champions, called AllJoyn, was initially developed by Qualcomm but was subsequently made open source. Big vendors have been recruited to support it, and the AllSeen Alliance now includes LG, Panasonic, Sharp and Haier, among others. Its Xbox gaming platform is seen as a potential hub or control center for home devices. Microsoft's leadership in computing "and its significant Xbox business make it a potentially important contributor to the AllSeen ecosystem," said said Andy Castonguay, an analyst at Machina Research, a Reading, England-based research firm focusing on machine-to-machine (M2M) communications and the Internet of Things.
It's a trick.
Get an axe.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Can M$ be trusted with this http://www.computerworld.com/s... . M$ and insurance companies partner to make insurance cheaper? The whole system is sounding way, way to invasive. The internet of things with cameras, microphones, security systems (motion and heat detectors, monitoring all access and egress points), computers, modem and mobile phone. Everything you ever say or do can be monitored, recorded, filtered (make nothing look bad whilst hiding the good) and used against you by anyone with access, both government and corporate.
Uniform standard for connection is a bad idea much smarter would be strong limits on connections with secured protocols for different classes of appliances. Some protocols would be internal only and blocked from reaching out across the internet. Others would be restricted to only specific kinds of encrypted access perhaps even with legislated controls on that access. Very few would have 'open' unencrypted access. So how about a name change. THE ALLSEEN AND SECURED ALLIANCE as a reminder of what you need to be focused on.
PS exactly how much money has the NSA put into this :(.
Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
The "Internet of Things" is doomed to be a failure, and I think that Microsoft probably realizes this. But they also can't totally ignore it while it's the hype-du-jour, either.
The "Internet of Things" offers very few tangible benefits. Normal people just don't care if they can control their toaster using their smartphone. Most people aren't going to waste money on automatic curtains that they can control from their fridge, either.
And most people won't like the privacy implications. They may not realize how a web browser enables tracking of their behavior, but they sure as fuck will understand and totally dislike the idea of their showerhead watching them while they're naked, sending back telemetry about their genitalia so that some advertiser can target them more specifically.
In my opinion, this could very well be a token gesture to not appear out of the game, but while also not really participating in a game that nobody will win.
...so we can steal it from you in the future and sell the resulting data to governments. You have our permission to be geniuses for exactly as long as it takes to innovate this IoT stuff. Have you heard about our Partner Program? You'll love it! Don't worry, we won't suddenly start competing with you instead of partnering with you while you're busy working your job. Let's get some standards drafted! Love, MS
Cloudiot: A person who does not see offsite storage as a way to lose control over access to his or her own data.
as opposed to internet of ideas? Or internet of energy?
Everything about the IoT is a bad idea, especially when it comes to security on old devices. Now there's a consortium to open-source some of the code? Even better--for those who want to cause harm.
Right now, most household appliances (refrigerators, stoves, thermostats, home automation, home security, etc.) are devices that are closed off. So, even though my stove may have a security hole, I might not be able to exploit it without using a JTAG. Ultimately, there's no easy way to exploit them unless you have physical access to the internals of the appliance. But the IoT changes that--and not for the better. To add, many of the devices you'd want to connect to the IoT have lifespans of decades. So, unless we get government action saying that "if you want to make an IoT device, you have to provide security support for 20+ years", we'll end up with pwned thermostats that we can't change, the fridge that now sends spam & doesn't have enough available processing power to turn on the compressor, or that my TV now shows popup ads for hookers, offshore pharmacies selling Viagra, and other ads in front of the kids & I can't shut it off. And all the better when the pwned IoT fridge wants to talk to my non-pwned IoT Smart TV. On top of that, it won't help that the Linux kernel (or Apache, PHP, MySQL, drivers, etc.) it's running on is 20 years old & nobody--except malware authors--has looked at that version for over a decade...
What an obvious clusterfuck waiting to happen... I'm just waiting for a group of early Smart TVs to get bricked because some malware does something to them--and the manufacturer says "not our problem--it's old!" Then people might realize what a Pandora's Box this is...
Windows 3.1x calc: 3.11 - 3.10 = 0.00
Like in the deal.
More firms will just stay on the Windows PC side, PS4, explore Apple and Linux options. Why be trapped on the platform side?
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
> What an obvious clusterfuck waiting to happen... I'm just waiting for a group of early Smart TVs to get bricked because some malware does something to them--and the manufacturer says "not our problem--it's old!"
What does manufacturer abandonment have to do with open-sourcing the software inside the devices? (Nothing, I suspect.)
Closed source doesn't do much to slow down 'sploit writers. Moreover, opening the source code gives nerds a fighting chance to update abandoned devices. Don't believe me? Look at Cyanogenmod.
I tend to agree with you but not to the paranoid extent you are taking it.
More to the point, I can see this being touted for home security (being able to enable / disable security systems from your phone, turn on and off lights, etc.) but that won't take off until they can guarantee the security of the Internet (which is something no company can do). As we all know, anything exposed to the Internet is just that... Exposed! To think it won't get exploited is putting your head in the sand.
Besides, for any of that stuff you don't need it exposed to the internet. Just a local network that blocks all devices that haven't been programmed into the router. That way when you lock yourself out of your house you can unlock the doors with your phone while you are standing outside. Who in their right mind would want to unlock their doors when they are on vacation?
This is a sig. This is only a sig. Had this been an actual sig you would have been informed where to tune for more sigs.
Is there anybody here that misreads Microsoft's motives?
MS wants their foot in your Windows, your door and your fire escape.
Fax machines were invented in the 1930's, they didn't really take off until the 1980's. The reason being that before the 1980's there was no comms standard for fax machines, if you wanted to send a fax the other person had to have the same brand of machine for it to work. This meant business could have an internal fax system but it was useless for interfacing with any external entity.
It's also somewhat paradoxical that without the "bad idea" of TCP-IP we wouldn't be having this conversation. I really don't understand the slashdot paranoia, nobody is forcing you to put these gimmicks in your home, and governments/corporations can already crush you like a grape today if they so desired. So even if your every movement was forcibly broadcast live around the planet, I can't see how you have anything to lose other than your dignity.
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
Closed source doesn't do much to slow down 'sploit writers. Moreover, opening the source code gives nerds a fighting chance to update abandoned devices. Don't believe me? Look at Cyanogenmod.
Really? There's enough encryption, licensing, hardware, etc., that prevents most users from rooting their Android & iOS devices. I have an Android phone and I am a nerd. But I'm still afraid to put Cyanogenmod (or another distro) on my phone for fear that it'd be an expensive one-way trip. Manufacturers have come a long way since the simple hardware that Rockbox could be used on... (Notice how Rockbox hasn't added any devices lately--and that the project is receiving less submissions...)
And just because something has been open sourced & the code has been dumped onto Sourceforge or GitHub doesn't mean someone's actively working on the project. And most manufacturers would not cede control of the code, even for 5-10 year old devices, lest that code be used by a competitor--or worse, by someone filing a lawsuit for a defective product...
Windows 3.1x calc: 3.11 - 3.10 = 0.00
It's a trick.
Get an axe.
Ready!
http://www.kotaku.com.au/2010/06/gamestop-has-your-guitar-hero-axe/
You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
Microsoft's owners (the shareholders) realized the old Microsoft was a dead end. Everyone involved with putting Windows 8 out over the objections of the usability studies is gone now, up to and including Bill Gates. The asshole who used to be in charge of Xbone who was badmouthing customers? Gone. The message that MS can't dictate terms anymore was heard - not by management, but by shareholders.
So, yeah, it is a new Microsoft. Better? Almost certainly - even at random that's almost sure to be true. But they seem to realize now how quickly their user base is shrinking, and how desperately they need to succeed on new platforms.
So now we get Android phone sold by MS, and embrace of open source, and especially an attempt to make Xbone everything they possibly can in the living room. Without a low-end tablet or TV OS, the Xbone is their only chance for a presence in the new world of computing.
Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
but not to the paranoid extent you are taking it.
Paranoid? Companies and governments wanting to conduct surveillance on us is a simple reality that has repeated itself many times.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
I tend to agree with you but not to the paranoid extent you are taking it.
More to the point, I can see this being touted for home security (being able to enable / disable security systems from your phone, turn on and off lights, etc.) but that won't take off until they can guarantee the security of the Internet (which is something no company can do).
When I think of the internet of things, I think of those home security systems from Comcast, where the happy smiling mother breaths a sigh of relief that she just saw her children get home from school. Life is good.
Wait until people see how this backfires. For those old enough to remember when only the wealthy had cell phones, there was a time whne we could envision being out of touch for a while. Hell, that was the only way I got Sundays off, by hopping in the car to not be reachable by phone. Fast forward to today. I've seen people drop into a cold sweat when their phones show no bars. "What if someone needs to get hold of me? Jesus, can't you take a route that has towers along the whole route?" Even me, if I forget my phone now, the wife freaks out.
Now imagine that happy smiling woman (for some sexist reason they always use women in these commercials) who after a few days of seeing that her children are at home, suddenly starts becoming concerned if something might happen to the house when she isn't looking. What if a fire breaks out, or someone breaks into the house while the children are home? So just like cell phones which are now a permanent fixture of the generation that never looked up, we will have home security addicts, afraid to ever look away from their screen. Maybe even demanding another screen at work so they never have the home out of site.
Soon the only time they won't be anxiously monitoring their house will be when they are there. Soon, no more happy smiling parents, just anxious nervous wrecks who can't even check facebook any more, lest something happen while they aren't' looking.
And just wait until some smartass rebellious teenager comes home, is pissed off because mommy is monitoring, and decides to moon or flash the camera. Instant kiddie pr0n! broadcast right to the cubicle. Oh, boy, the boss is mad at the unsmiling miserable woman.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
You forgot something about chemtrails there Sparky.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
that a company whose proprietary phone OS's and tablet OS's are having a hard time gaining traction in the market place are now pushing for nonproprietary OS's to control small devices?
1. Embrace <-- you are here
2. Extend
3. Extinguish
Is it just me or or is anyone else noticing a lot of flamebait and troll mods being applied to any comment reminding people of Microsoft's standard operational practice when faced with a potential new market?
Embrace, Extend and Extinguish was a real thing, and this sort of behaviour might make people suspect that the lepoard has not changed his shorts.
The "Internet of Things" offers very few tangible benefits. Normal people just don't care if they can control their toaster using their smartphone. Most people aren't going to waste money on automatic curtains that they can control from their fridge, either.
This attitude reminds me of how I felt when cell phones started incorporating cameras. I didn't want one, thought it was a stupid idea, and couldn't see how the idea would ever take off. Now I use mine all the time. It was a similar story with 'the cloud', except I saw the attraction and the utility - I just don't like giving up that much control over my data.
The point is that new technologies, (and new uses for/integrations of them), have a way of becoming wildly popular and successful, even when their usefulness or appeal isn't immediately evident to most of us. Smart companies realize that and gamble on new tech and new uses for existing tech; these gambles often pay off big time.
I'm still not happy with MS getting into bed with Open Source though. My first thought was best expressed by an earlier commenter talking about 'embrace, extend, eliminate'. My second thought is 'who's fucking whom here', and I'm afraid I already know the answer.
'The Economy' is a giant Ponzi scheme whose most pitiable suckers are the youngest among us and the yet-unborn.
The Internet of Everything
Regardless of whether bADlOGIN was trolling, he is actually completely right.
Consider this article, referenced by the source. It says insurers might like to provide home automation and other "internet of things" devices for free. It mentions the "Teen Safe Driver Program" as an example of how this "free as in beer" program could work. So how does that program work? A black box in your car records events, sends it to the insurance company, and AFTER the insurance company reviews it, the parents might be given a copy of the data. That's right, the insurance company injects itself between parent and child, taking over the parent's job. Naturally, they have their own motivations which are separate from the proper parenting of children. This is espionage.
Now MS and insurance companies want to do the same for your home? That is prison.
Microsoft has been interested in home computing for decades with little to show for it beyond the X-Box. The main problem is that there is little in a home that needs to be computerized/automated/networked that hasn't already been from the beginning. A washing machine was a great automation, but there is no real need to automate it further. Have your lights turn on automatically when you come home? Nifty trick, but no one cares really. The only killer-app for home automation is spying on the residents and that is not desirable by the residents. Do they expect us to let insurance companies and other wealthy interests spy on us 24-7 in exchange for "free as in beer" worthless gadgets? To sweeten the bait they may attempt to find gadgets that are more useful. But those are just a trap.
Also, keep in mind the security of the devices. When the makers' intention is to spy on the users, there is little motivation to keep the device secure from even more spying. OpenSSL showed how a monoculture is insecure even if it is open source. Open standards with independent implementations provide security through diversity.
Only if your device is "popular" enough. Given there are dozens of new Android phones being released daily (Samsung alone just released 4 "budget phones" yesterday), I don't see how Cyanogen can support them. In fact, I'm pretty much going to say Cyanogen only supports phones the nerds want - the high end high spec phones.
Meanwhile, if you're one of the people owning the 90% of phones sold for free or cheap with contract, I'm fairly certain odds are against you on having Cyanogen support for your phone.
(The "flagships" and interesting phones make up less than 10% of the Android population - Google said during the I/O they had 1B unique devices the past 30 days. In the past 2 years, the flagship phones sold less than 100M).
So some IoT stuff will have modded firmware. The vast majority of stuff probably won't.
and the manufacturer says "not our problem--it's old!" Then people might realize what a Pandora's Box this is...
This is exactly what Microsoft is saying about Windows XP. For IOT devices lasting dozens of years, it is better to stay as far away from Microsoft as possible.
If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
I've seen some groundless speculation from dubious non-experts that modern connected parenting is detrimental to childrens' development, well into their teenage years. They are so well supervised and protected they can't properly develop their independance - just a generation or two ago it was fairly common practice for children to go out and play with other children, yet any parent who allowed that today would be seen as neglectful in exposing their child to danger. Because society has become hyper-sensitive to any threats to children, they no longer get to do this - every non-trivial action they take is either supervised or outright organised by an adult. This results in teenagers who are still utterly helpless without their parents around.
The Internet of Things offers many benefits - just not for most people. Pair it up with big data analytics and you've some potential for really useful things. Like a power grid that can dynamically manage demand on a second-by-second basis by modulating things like car chargers and air conditioning, or a city that can anticipate traffic congestion in real time and adjust signal timings to avert it.
Windows 8 was supposed to flop. It's a strategic release, not tactical. Microsoft management knew full well that everyone will hate it, but they still have the power to force it out, and use it to establish new technologies that are of great benefit to Microsoft in the long term. Things like the Windows store - they've seen how successful Apple was with that business model, and they want to copy it. Or Secure Boot, which offers up a screw which may one day be tightened to seriously harm linux on the desktop. The problem with selling operating systems is that once people are happy with what they have they won't be paying for an upgrade (See XP) - so Microsoft is aiming to stop just selling the OS, and start selling the whole ecosystem around it. OS, software distribution, cloud services.
You could also have been refering to a scene near the end of Matrix 1, where Neo tests out his new godlike powers.
Perhaps because of the number of times it turned out to be a trap. Embrace/Extend/Extinguish. It's going to take a long time before seeing MS "embrace" a standard doesn't automatically trigger an "oh crap, not again" reaction in us old timers.
Old timers with alzheimer's maybe. I can't remember a time they released open source stuff and it turned out to be a trap. The essence of the "EEE" concept is adding additional proprietary functionality that developers ultimately use because they need it and because they aren't worried about compatibility of other platforms because the only platform that matters is Microsoft's. But how does that apply here? Actually how does that apply anywhere these days? The days of Microsoft having a monopoly even in personal computing are long over.
use the axe to kill Steve Balmer so he can turn in his grave.....
"The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
What's happening with any patents that Microsoft raises on this tech? Will they be truly open patents free to implement in open source products that are freely redistributable? The article makes no mention of this.
how many bleepin' minutes do you have to wait between posting these days?
Donald 'Duck' Dunn: We had a band powerful enough to turn goat piss into gasoline.
So just like cell phones which are now a permanent fixture of the generation that never looked up...
I resent that statement. Not only do I actively avoid responding to phone calls and texts, but I only freak out about having no cell signal when I'm using my phone as a WiFi hotspot for my laptop or my desktop when the cable is out. /offtopic
Cyanogen supports some of the more popular mid-spec devices, like the Moto G, as well. But you are right, they won't support, say, a random DoCoMo Android-based fliphone made for the Japanese market.
Lol wut?
Right now, most household appliances (refrigerators, stoves, thermostats, home automation, home security, etc.) are devices that are closed off. So, even though my stove may have a security hole, I might not be able to exploit it without using a JTAG.
Making something accessible on the internet is not the same as open sourcing the code. Open sourcing seems to not cause problems with security. Sticking things on the internet, closed or open has problems with security.
You can happily have OSS stuff accessible only by JTAG too, for example just about every embedded device.
What an obvious clusterfuck waiting to happen...
Well basically yeah.
SJW n. One who posts facts.
I don't think he's paranoid. Look at Google+, I was forced into signing up for technical correspondence some students demanded...they being somewhat clueless. Google would love it if I told them my occupation, my high school, etc. MS is just trying out-Google everyone else here. They will package the information and either use it themselves and/or sell it to the highest and not so highest bidder.
Many companies want to turn you into an annuity. Now it is becoming clear that many companies want to turn you into an information annuity. They use that information stream in constructing another annuity stream. If they could put a chip in your head to send them your thoughts, they'd do it. The ph of your piss is interesting to them. Your preference in coffee creamer is of utmost importance. How well you can wiggle your hips is vital for hoola-hoop manufacturers. There's nothing about you that is not interesting to some corporate entity.
Best thing we could do in the U.S. is revoke person-hood status for corporate entities and start treating them like they do us. Let's have total informational awareness of how they conduct their business. Business secrets? Bah, humbug. Put their activities on web sites so we can all judge their behavior. Blow some fresh sunlight up their skirts to air out corporate governance. Track their corporate masters in real time like they wish to do to us. Let the Koch Brothers finally get the freedom they deserve, put every aspect of their lives on line so we can see what they are up to, where their money gets spent, what entities they control.
Not every device manufacturer is incompetent. Panasonic use NetBSD in their smart TVs and appear to have take steps to secure it. I'm sure there will be mistakes, just like there were with computers and mobile phones (remember the SMS of death?) and every other type of technology in the world.
If you don't want to be an early adopter that's fine. The concept is useful to a lot of people though. Existing consumer law, at least in the UK, already covers software defects. A typical home appliance is expected to have a ten year lifespan, so if it breaks down before then (e.g. your TV becomes infected with malware) you can expect a repair, replacement or refund. You might not get a full refund, it's a percentage of the expected life so after 5 years you might get 50% back, but the law is quite clear about it. If the manufacturer chooses to stop making spare parts of firmware fixes it doesn't get the vendor out of their obligations under the Sale of Goods Act.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
And Microsoft's appointee to the board is Mr. M. Bracex Tinguish.
Because society has become hyper-sensitive to any threats to children, they no longer get to do this - every non-trivial action they take is either supervised or outright organised by an adult. This results in teenagers who are still utterly helpless without their parents around.
Many or most make it into the workforce with remarkable degrees of helplessness.
Whereas a decade ago, Universities were teaching a lot of remedial math to unprepared students, today, there is a surprising new goal of remedial maturity. During orientation, the new students and their parents are separated, and the parents are getting much of the instruction, like don't try to get your child's professors fired just because they gave out assignments during "Pledge week", or any of the other reasons like the kid being pissed about a test score and it "wasn't their fault."
This is not the child's fault. If we decided that people were children until they were 40, they'd act like children until they were 40.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
So just like cell phones which are now a permanent fixture of the generation that never looked up...
I resent that statement.
Wait - where did you resend it to?
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
Agreed, a trap. Open source != free (as in freedom) source. This announcement is not a breakthrough for MS.
Embrace, extend, extinguish!
...then it - Internet of things - would be a good thing. I do hope that it accelerates the demise of IPv4, which has overstayed its welcome
I understand the reasoning, but the reasoning was horribly flawed, as MS simply didn't have the power they though they did to force such a change. That kind of strategic mistake leads to termination for executives and general managers, and the fact that the Chairman, CEO, Division VP, and a couple levels below that are all gone or reassigned to somewhere harmless is a sign that maybe MS has a future after all.
Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
so it isn't a case of the technology being bad, its people that is the problem.
Absolutely. The technology is awesome, even if some of the implementations are a tad silly
It's the psychology.
There are many of us more then capable of going off the grid for a few days without turning into a neurotic mess. Mainly because we have delegation already set up, and have protocols set up so that shit still gets done without us.
For whatever levels of protocol you are allowed to set up. Anyhow, I basically agree.
for panopticon mom, why be so paranoid about your kids? don't you trust them and your automated security system. If you don't, badgering your kids passive aggressively is the least of your problems.
perhaps folks should be taught statistics and risk assesment, as well as coping strategems.
I wish they would. It becomes an addiction, like gambling. What happens if the next pull on the slot machine is the big winner? That lottery ticket left on the reel might be the biggie. "That second I turn away from the screen, Jerry Sandusky comes in and rapes my kids."
The initial promise of the system and the initial results - who doesn't want to know their kids are home safe after school - quickly suck the user in. The first hit is free...
Obscure Leonard Cohen quote for the IoT addicted: "You are trapped winthin your suffering, and your pleasures are the seal."
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
It seems like you really have no grasp on the concept of the Internet of Things. You're inventing ridiculous strawmen to slaughter to make your point. Nobody but you is talking about adding IP to showerheads.
The IoT is recognizing the idea that there are millions of IP enabled devices out there today, and the number is growing rapidly. The most visible examples include replacements like Nest or Honeywell thermostats, but other devices are entering homes, too, such as garage door openers, smoke alarms, light bulbs, and even washing machines. The most popular devices include entertainment systems that now can connect to Netflix or Hulu. Some of these will be successful, others won't. But the numbers are ever increasing, and people are buying them.
The market for them is also poised to go up rapidly. Today, they're primarily owned by early adopters, who are always willing to pay a premium. But there is something unusual about the IoT in that, by reporting back to a cloud, they provide valuable data to the manufacturers. More data gives them more value, so they have incentive to increase market penetration, and that means aggressive pricing and increased competition. This will result in more rapid adoption.
So with these diverse things entering the home, the demand to integrate them will increase. Microsoft has a large portion of the home PC market, and is perfectly positioned to provide that integration, even if it doesn't happen on Windows Phones. That is, as long as they do it well, and handle all the random error conditions that a diverse set of computers can generate. If it's not seamless and perfect, they'll fail again.
John
The "things" do offer benefits to people, just not giant big payoffs. A washing machine can alert you that the load needs to go in the dryer, or it can phone home for diagnostic and service information, potentially saving on repair bills. And certainly when the Smart Grid arrives, they will help people save money by managing usage. As many non-connected devices already have microcontrollers, adding a wifi chip and protocol stack may cost only a few extra dollars.
They don't have to be big benefits. As long as they deliver at least small incremental improvements, people will buy them.
I'm not saying that 50% of Americans will run out and replace every device in their house with IoT capable things. But as IoT devices hit the market, more and more people will start to acquire them as they replace their worn out goods. They will not arrive with a big bang, but in about 20 years or so, you won't be able to swing a cat in the homes of affluent Americans without hitting at least one or two IP devices. And what's the IoT going to look like then? Microsoft wants to be a part of shaping that now, because it is going to pay off big later.
Sadly, as for the people who can't afford to fix their cars let alone replace a broken washing machine, the gap is going to widen, and they are going to be left further behind. It's already apparent that they are stuck with bad choices, such as cheap-but-used energy-inefficient appliances. They can't afford to get to a managed, efficient refrigerator that could save them extra money over the long term, because they haven't the capital to spend today. That's part of the nature of an inequitable system. The only hope they'll have is that in 10 or 20 years that today's hand-me-downs can still get online and are energy efficient.
John
Actually, it IS a trap. How long until they back away from their support of open source and back away, migrating to their own proprietary BS, taking full advantage of the progress made by others?
What would be the point of that? It won't work with all the other devices in the "internet of things".
Two things.
One - shit obviously happens in closed source world, Windows has a looong security history for instance. Security by obscurity is not something that will work.
Two - if you are so much afraid of IoT, just don't plug your toaster to your WiFi. If someone does that, they open themselves to sliced bread attacks on their own peril. You are not forced to do so.
The Snark Store called, and they're running out of you.
Yep, and the backbone these things have to hit in order to get out of the house ain't been patched yet.
It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
I like your comment because it jostled a thought:
What if the manufacturers start selling connected devices and insist that we hook them up or we have no warranty, or any support, or we just can't use it?
Wow.
It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
Nice try with the link.
It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.