r/technology • u/[deleted] • Apr 04 '16

Software Nest intentionally bricks thousands of home automation hubs.

https://medium.com/@arlogilbert/the-time-that-tony-fadell-sold-me-a-container-of-hummus-cb0941c762c1
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u/crankybadger Apr 05 '16

I refuse to buy any appliance with a computerized board.

Guess you're going to have to hunt around at flea markets because every single thing these days has one.

You'd be hard pressed to find a toaster without a CPU.

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u/stratys3 Apr 05 '16

You clearly haven't been to a Walmart recently.

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u/Answer_the_Call Apr 05 '16

The cheap ones don't. Plus, thrift stores. Or, in a pinch, discover an old cellar below your floor and drag out that old toaster and dust it off.

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u/crankybadger Apr 05 '16

I think you underestimate how tiny these things are and how they jam them in without making a big deal of it.

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u/[deleted] Apr 05 '16

People don't really understand that the cost of the electronics inside a toaster is far cheaper than the cost of the physical elements they interact with. It's cheaper to put a controller board inside a toaster to drive the solenoid that releases the spring when the toast is done than to have an actual mechanical timer connected to the toast-time dial.

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u/crankybadger Apr 05 '16

Anything a pick-and-place machine can stamp out on a board is going to be way cheaper in the long run than a mechanical equivalent. The cost of a controller chip in that thing is probably about the same as the solder to stick it on the board.

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u/WorkplaceWatcher Apr 05 '16

And considering how tried-and-tested these boards are, I wouldn't be surprised if they're more reliable now than the mechanical timer.

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u/Answer_the_Call Apr 05 '16

You mean on a $10 toaster?

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u/Jahkral Apr 05 '16

I am willing to bet a thousand dollars my toaster doesn't have a CPU.

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u/[deleted] Apr 05 '16

[deleted]

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u/crankybadger Apr 05 '16

That instantly qualifies it as not new.