gigastacey: I'm working on policy proposals to protect consumer rights when companies brick smart devices. So please share devices that you've owned that stopped working because the company that made it killed software support or went out of business. Also, please share this request. Thank you.

I'm working on policy proposals to protect consumer rights when companies brick smart devices. So please share devices that you've owned that stopped working because the company that made it killed software support or went out of business. Also, please share this request. Thank you.

My parents handed us down some used iPads. I wanted to read articles on Pocket and library books. But apps in the App Store require newer operating systems, and Apple doesn't update operating systems on older devices. So unless there's a solution out there I haven't heard of, they're bricks.

I have an old iPhone and an iPad mini that fit this description too.

I wouldn’t call that bricked

Not necessarily bricked, but artificially limited functionality requiring replacement feels comprable. I just had to stop using a fully operational first gen iPhone SE (2016) because my banking app no longer supports iOS15. Was losing other apps slowly since February, & banking was the last straw.

One reason I had to stop using my iPhone SE 1st generation when websites and apps started being made for longer dimensions so it was impossible to use increasingly many apps because parts of the screen were not visible or usable

Not being allowed to download the oldest version of an app that supports an old iOS version is probably the crux of this issue. (some app makers split off a "legacy" version of the app for this reason) Especially when later versions of Xcode/SDKs make it hard to support much older iOS versions.

Third-party appstores only coming to the very latest version of iOS is a balls too.

I'd like to learn more about what might make a good legacy app to prevent software obsolesce, can you share more information or a more detailed search term? My searches are turning up a bunch of chaf.

Agreed, the OS glass ceiling on my iPad1 means pretty much nothing I wanted to use on it I cannot.

Not bricked exactly but Nintendo shut down all the online play/store/content for the Wii & 3Ds in May.

My husband & I loved our Peek devices & then not long after we paid a hefty sum for “lifetime service” they shut down. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peek_(m...

Peek (mobile Internet device) - Wikipediaen.m.wikipedia.org

Peek! Wow I forgot about those. I loved mine too.

Anything that depends on The Cloud. I run streaming audio feeds so years ago I got an ARIR200 streaming box very much resembling a trad clock radio. GREAT sound. It would accept my custom URL, but they were stored on their server which went buh-bye. Now useless. Logictech Squeezebox same fate.

You can still listen to radio, Spotify, and Tidal on your old Squeezebox (if you install Lyrion or Logitech Media Server). And since the hardware isn't being made anymore, you can easily sell your devices on eBay.

My old nook color will no longer connect to the internet, preventing it from receiving the update that lets it connect to the internet (:

I have a palm z22 running old Franklin Covey software that I keep going with a win7 desktop with Virtual XP Machine. Not dead yet but only because I built life support.

Mine still plays but I wish I could make another playlist en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zune

Zune - Wikipediaen.m.wikipedia.org

I still have mine because I refuse to ever get rid of it

Oh, and I will never forgive HP for killing Palm’s WebOS, thus rendering my beloved Treo unusable.

I still mourn Bunter the First, my Tungsten. I’ve never found anything that organized my life quite so well.

My puppies ate my Palm, but it had a fatal screen flaw anyway.

I rescued this turntable from the trash - the company that made them (called trntbl) didn’t put audio output jacks on them, only a Bluetooth connection to a proprietary app. When the company went under, the app stopped working and every piece of hardware they ever manufactured became e-waste

I modded RCA jacks into this unit so it’s probably the only functional one in existence

I assume you've already got the things like retinal implants and the fiskar cars

Assume nothing. I recall the retinal implant story, but I don't remember the company name.

it was Second Sight Medical Devices, and it got acquired by Nano Precision Medical and spun out into Cortigent - I am not sure what happened after that. spectrum.ieee.org/bionic-eye www.cortigent.com

I was also going to bring up Fisker. We’re watching it play out in real time AGAIN. Thankfully I haven’t been bitten either time but I’ve been watching this round play out in the news and the Fisker Ocean forums with great curiosity.

Fujitsu ScanSnap scanner. It was very pricy and is amazing. They stopped providing software support around 2018 I think. I’m actually still using it because I have a very old laptop that I keep solely to use it. It’s a great product- still works perfectly but only as long as my old laptop lasts

I miss Pebble watches 🥲

Those were sooooooooo nice!

I had an LG laptop that updated to windows 10 right after I bought it and used so much power relative to what it was designed to do that the screen didn’t back light unless it was plugged in.

I had an Apple AirPort Express router I had to replace when the AirPort Utility app stopped working. Yeah, it was probably time to replace that outdated router anyway, but I really liked that it had an audio output jack.

Oh yeah, you probably should replace your routers every 3-5 years. WiFi advances are nice to get and the need for security updates give routers an expiration date. But wouldn't it be nice to know the expected lifespan of something like that?

So what should be replaced is not the router, it's (parts of) the functionality. That's why projects such as LineageOS exist: to keep functional a device when its manufacturer stopped doing so. (granted, *some* function is hardware and can't be upgraded. But one can *design* for upgradability.)

The Vector robot from Anki/Digital Dream Labs is being kept alive entirely by its user base after the company failed to maintain its server and then stopped updating its customers. www.reddit.com/r/AnkiVector...

I have Harmony One remotes from Logitech. AIUI the only way I can update them is on my 2009 Mac running their software. Happy to be corrected but good thing I have that 2009 Mac.

There’s actually a panel discussion happening today on a similar topic at HOPE @ 1600 Eastern. Talks are being streamed for free for anyone not at the conference if you’re interested- hope.net/marillac.html

EOL... RLY? Ending The Epidemic of Bricked and Abandoned Stuff HOPE XVschedule.hope.net As the Internet of Things ages, a gap has emerged between the useful life of connected hardware devices (measured in decades) and the manufacturer-imposed "support lifespans" of the same products (mea...

I had an Apple Watch 3 that was working just fine, but when I upgraded my iPhone to the 14 the new iOS was no longer compatible with the Apple Watch 3. And without a phone connected to it the watch became useless. I still haven’t replaced it, I just stopped wearing a watch altogether.

The Pebble watch. The app depended on Internet services. Aside: even when the device still works when the company stops sales and support, consumers still need a way to e.g. patch security holes or fix issues.

Spotify Car Thing, a dedicated Spotify connected music player for use in cars. Completely bricked, the API is dead

All my old Kobo e readers no longer work because the software not because they don’t work. My new ones have software that works but devices that don’t. Also I still super mad I can’t get anything to work on my iPod touch. Also my kid’s iPad was bricked by Apple even though it still worked too.

I had a Kodak digital picture frame that I could keep at work and my spouse could email pictures to. Then they just shut down the service.

I don't know if this is within your remit, but I was prescribed an Exogen low-intensity pulsed ultrasound device (supposed to promote bone healing) that by design stopped functioning after a certain point. $3500 and insurance covered 80% leaving me on the hook for $700.

For complicated reasons I ended up not having to pay, and LIPUS therapy has in my opinion been discredited anyway, but the existence of brickability-at-a-distance allowed the company to prevent any reuse of the devices. Horrible waste of materials as well as scammy.

bsky.app/profile/tyle...

A few years ago I had the most wonderful automatic cat feeder ever devised. Then the company abruptly closed, the app bricked, and customers were left w/ an inoperable $200 feeder. That was my wake up call that anything vital should not be reliant on a constant internet connection or active software

Yep. It was the feedandgo pet feeder. One day the app stopped working and that was it. No communication from the company. They closed up shop and I think the couple started a pet insurance company. Users tried sourcing a DIY solution but it was prohibitively complicated.

I bought a Cricut (can look up the model) and they dropped iPad support, the only device I had that ran their proprietary software. Luckily it was within the Amazon return window.

TomTom decided to get out of the fitness tracker business a few months after I bought one. The only way to use the data was to connect to their server, which they shut down. Some folks made a workaround that ran on Linux, but I'm not Linux-smart so my pretty new watch was bricked.

The best smart watch I've ever had was the MS Band 2. It had stand reminders. It had GPS for workouts. It had the ability to design custom HIIT workouts. They had to replace several when they stopped charging and finally would only give me $100 store credit towards a Fitbit Surge of all things.

Insult to injury.

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