Comment by anfilt | Hacker News Reader

Comment by anfilt | Hacker News Reader

Parent Full thread

IOT is pointless for a lot things. For some even a hazard.

I laugh to myself when some business people think their IOT widget is the best thing ever. Then I tell them why it's freaking insane or stupid. They look at me like I am a luddite. Thankfully, that is minority of my interactions. Still there are enough of them that it's far from a non-existent issue.

Just connecting something to the internet does not make it better or you just want to monetize with software activated features. A lot IOT devices provides no additional value. A lot of times it decreases the objects value. It makes vulnerable to hacking, and has more possible points of failure, and potential more overhead for the end user to maintain it.

I am not saying all internet connected devices are a bad idea. I just see a lot business people basically taking the latest hype Koolaid and mixing it with existing things. Then they think it's the greatest idea since sliced bread, and that everything will be connected to the the internet. It's one thing to throw many things at the wall to see what sticks for some people that is one way of discovering what works. However, I hate how pervasive some of the IOT hype is getting. I was talking with someone the other day that literally thought that any device that could not connect to the internet was useless for today's society...

Any ways I am sick of hearing about IOT. The fact Mozzila is even trying to get in on this madness is disheartening.

> The fact Mozilla is even trying to get in on this madness is disheartening.

I share a lot of your reservations about IoT. But at the same time, for those things that are going to become successful, I'd really like there to be a unified and open integration for them, rather than each one being their own little walled island.

So from that point of view, I'm actually glad about Mozilla (or any other party) building an open infrastructure for IoT, rather than leaving it to others to build proprietary solutions.

The problem is it does not stop someone from building proprietary systems. Do you really think the Apples of the world are going to want to use an open protocol when then use vendor lock in to basically rent seek?

No, it doesn’t prevent a proprietary system from being built, but it does provide the end users/customers a choice to support products that uses an open system.

I just worked on a pool-pump-controller IoT device. Its connected value was, you could manage it without visiting the pool pit. Your service guy could check on it without driving out to your house. And you could get push notifications when something goes wrong.

Some things, especially automation-control things, benefit greatly from being IoT.

In theory I agree, but in my experience the 'IoT' bits are less reliable than the underlying physical component that's being monitored.

What's more likely? A brushless motor fails, or my wifi password changes when I replace my router, I move my router and its out of range for the pool pump, the pool pump pushes out a bad update, the pool pump company goes out of business, some IoT specific electrical component fails before the actual pump fails, or something of that nature.

Did you hear me say that not all internet connected devices are garbage/pointless.

There are things that can benefit from remote monitoring and control.

However, what's the point of an internet connected blender? There is so much hype that I would almost avoid using the term unless you want to taint your product with such associations.

I thought long and hard about IoT devices and their value. For the most part, I agree that most IoT devices could exist and provide the same value as a non-IoT counterpart. Do you really need a connection to the weather service to know the canopy in your backyard needs to be rolled because of a potential storm? A simple anemometer with a micro controller can tell it to shut off above a certain wind speed. Most IoT devices "excel" in allowing you to connect to the device via your smart phone. Which is convenient, but not groundbreaking. Where the value of IoT devices lies is in very few use-cases where the IoT device relies on data not found in its proximity. Something like Nest speaking to my electric company to find the lowest rate and optimizing A/C usage around it is quite compelling IMHO. I look forward to seeing more of that rather than the remote use case....

https://twitter.com/internetofshit

I agree with you that it's fun to tease IoT projects, and that implementations generally are shitty and unsecure.

But do you really, truly believe that the world 100 years from now will not consist of massively connected devices? Can you admit, honestly, to yourself that the preferred method to turning on lights in 2118 won't be a voice command?

Sure!

2024: IoT voting machines are deployed to a majority of US polling places. Peter Thiel is elected President in a stunning upset.

2025: Tavis Ormandy dies in a tragic IoT jetski accident.

2030: All new cars are required to have fully autonomous and connected control.

2040: Cars produced before 2030 are taxed at 50% of their initial purchase value per year.

2045: North Korea deploys its long-held stockpile of cyber-weapons against the perceived EuroAmeriUnion threat, causing mass fatalities in IoT cars. Since North Korea's vehicles were all produced before 2030, the EAU is forced to fall back to a nuclear response. In its last, desperate act of retaliation, NK's leadership releases its cyber arsenal on the public internet.

2046: In the ensuing nuclear winter, hacker gangs desperately rampage through the Internet of Things in search of food and fuel. Only those with non-connected possessions are unaffected.

I'll be dead either way, but it's not hard to imagine the IoT turning ugly.

I think you should write a cyberpunk novel :)

If I am alive 2118 I will be quite ecstatic by that fact alone.

I don't mind voice command, but I don't like the privacy implications of an internet connected system that's always listening in my own home.

Why the down votes? If have been dealing with hardware you surely have seen the madness I am talking about.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com