xkcd #3109: Dehumidifier

Title text:

It's important for devices to have internet connectivity so the manufacturer can patch remote exploits.

Transcript:

[A store salesman, Hairy, is showing Cueball a dehumidifier, with a "SALE" label on it. Several other unidentified devices, possibly other dehumidifier models, are shown in the store as well.]

Salesman: This dehumidifier model features built-in WiFi for remote updates.
Cueball: Great! That will be really useful if they discover a new kind of water.

Source: https://xkcd.com/3109/

explainxkcd for #3109

It's important for devices to have internet connectivity so the manufacturer can patch remote exploits.
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[–] 139 points 1 year ago (23 children)

Yeah, or the manufacturer bricks the device bcz they want to sell you a new one.

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  • [–] 32 points 1 year ago (10 children)

    That's why projects like this are great: https://github.com/Hypfer/esp8266-midea-dehumidifier

    My Midea Cube dehumidifier can never be bricked and will never send data outside of my home. It talks to Home Assistant via MQTT and nothing else.

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  • [–] 10 points 1 year ago (9 children)

    A dehumidifier that doesn't have any wifi can't be bricked either.

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  • [–] 18 points 1 year ago (6 children)

    Yeah but I want to control it with the average humidity from sensors across my house

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    It's almost like you can just set the dehumidifier to a certain humidity level and fan speed and then never touch the settings again. That's what I did with my humidifier. It's as dumb as a box of rocks, but it quits working during the summer when the humidity goes up and then turns back on the rest of the year with zero interaction besides adding more water

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  • [–] -4 points 1 year ago (3 children)
  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    I mean, yeah. I wouldn't have found that project and gone to the effort of using it if a simple dehu was all I needed. I wanted something I could control with my local home assistant install, and you can't just hard power cycle a dehumidifier, it kills them.

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  • [+] -73 points 1 year ago (11 children)

    Literally nobody is doing this shit.

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  • [–] 26 points 1 year ago

    They didn’t brick it, but the Nest thermostats that customers bought before Google acquired the company will be offline only now. No opening of the firmware, so they’ll become useless at some point, and already have lost major functionality.

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  • [+] -25 points 1 year ago (6 children)

    Literally false and you’re retarded.

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  • [–] 19 points 1 year ago (5 children)

    Hey bud, no need to attack someone's intelligence. You can pick apart their argument with sources like a big kid but nobody logged in to see you be a butthead online today.

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  • [+] -10 points 1 year ago (4 children)

    Bullshit asymmetry principle, been there done that. Name-calling serves a small but real purpose in the right contexts.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (3 children)
  • [–] -3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Hey bud, no need to attack someone's intelligence. You can pick apart their argument with sources like a big kid but nobody logged in to see you be a butthead online today.

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