I'll be ecstatic if my iron filter lasts 40 years.
I saw in another post that a person said there's a difference between "device dependent" and "device augmented" that really resonated with me.
There's diminishing returns on everything, and just throwing your hands up on any subject as bad/good might be a disservice.
If I live through an era where phones are no longer a thing and APKs are a thing of the past.. then I either...
A. Don't use the iron filter like that anymore. (manual programing now)
B. Get a new iron filter. (ewwwww)
C. Keep a legacy-device for the purposes of programming the iron filter. (doesn't need any internet connection or subscriptions)
Oh sweet. Delicious. Very reassuring. Was really hoping this thing was going to be device agnostic.
My 2015 car had 3g "smart" features that no longer work since 3g has been sunset in the US. Awesome to see forward thinking of a smart feature-set that can be updated with a module you'll likley already have an upgrade path for.
I have a iron filter that works via app. All configs can be done with button presses on the valve but in a much more tedious process/workflow.
It connects via bluetooth and not WiFi. If the company goes belly up, I'd just need the APK and an android phone to continue using the app to configure the valve and see/download water usage data.
Fast forward 20 years when I can't install the APK on android v79, I'd need an older phone to run the APK.. but that seems to be pulling hairs.
Apps would be great, it's how you handle the backend to it that's the gotcha.
I also have a water softener with an app that no longer works that had it's backend shut down. It can still be configured via the valve head button presses, but none of the "smart" usage data is available. As an example of good design, this is a perfect dichotomy of one company doing it well and one company doing it un-well[sic].
Look up demos on ABS anywhere on the web. You'd be hard pressed to find a professional driver defeating the stopping distance of ABS against threshold braking. Including F1 drivers.
These demos are often done in controlled conditions on a track, with a highly experienced driver. The demos are plentiful.
The one scenario I can see a driver outperforming ABS is in the snow/ice, as you mentioned. But even that comes with caveats.. such as -> Are really prepared to preform optimally in an emergency situation? Is loss of control acceptable such as to prevent an accident VS keeping control in order to change directions in order to avoid an obstacle? The ideal balance between these are handled well with ABS in most situations, including snow. The MORE ideal situation is to drive in such a way that you do not out-pace your braking capabilities on your following distance.
Related to a real-world in a split second decision scenario, there's no contest between a pro and ABS. Not to mention your average driver vs ABS.
>This is why a lot of cars these days have added a button to disable ABS/traction control.
Source on that?
I personally believe there are OFF switches on some cars (not all) due to personal owner preference. Personally, Ive used this switch to reduce launch control issues when I'm planning on a hard acceleration. NEVER to attempt to defeat the computer in deceleration.
It might be an expectation of a corporation to attempt to stay in business. I will concede that. It's harder to say that I can't blame them for doing so in underhanded ways. Expectation and blame are not married.
Just yesterday I was in a driving situation in which I lost visual sight of an intersection that is usually very busy (because oncoming cars are pilling up around a 90 degree bend and blocking visual just on the other side of the bend). This is a fairway for me without any traffic signals. While the intersection into the fairway has a stop sign (T style intersection). Because visual was lost, I made the decision to lower my speed considerably in EXPECTATION that a car would enter the roadway dispite not safte to do so. Normal speed for this roadway is 60mph but I lowered to 40mph. I did not hit them because I expected them. I still honked though.
Of course I do. The fight should be fought within a reasonable expectation that it isn't impeding the progress of mankind. These aren't living entities that I should feel sympathy for after all. The idea that when they cease to exist they have some "death"? They're not people. If something doesn't go well, you don't [usually] die... you go do the next thing. If there's no longer a market for the product, it has no right to continue to exist for the sake of shareholders 'feelings' (read as: investment portfolios)...
I have a 2022 LGTV that asks for spooky permissions. One permission is is ad telemetry. I had it connected through a PiHole for ad blocking my network and noticed it contacting an ad-telemetry endpoint, even though I have that permission denied. I don't remember the name of the company, but they do AI recognition of imagery from your TV to determine ads.
It's also so easy to accept those permissions. Every time an update occurred, it would re-prompt to accept the permission. One false click and you're opt-in.
Which sucks, because if a guest or a kid is forced to go through that workflow, they may not know to decline the permissions.
Total dark pattern. Let me opt-out and then stop nagging me for the permission over and over.
Since then, the TV has been banned from the internet. Problem solved.
Same. I actually have 2! They're cheaper than computers and easier to manage. I also happen to have 2 kids. Maybe that's a coincidence, but it probably isn't!
I still have an old WiiU in my entertainment center exactly because of the robust homebrew community behind it. It has no doubt saved many WiiU consoles from going into the bin.
It seems like this isn't new? It happened in the US, on Jan 1, 2023.
My car, a 2015 Hyundai, has been without app support since the beginning of 2023. Some vehicles effected were only 4 years old at the time, being manufactured with 3G radios as recently as 2019.
I've been without this service for over 2 years now since I haven't deemed it necessary to be connected to my car, but in no way has my car felt like it was "e-waste."
Maybe because it's associated with an EV, it's suddenly more hard hitting than when it occured to ICE vehicles?
I have a push-button car made by Hyundai and one made by Nissan. Both can be turned on with the fob inside the vehicle. You can then leave the key behind and drive away.
The dashboard will immediately warn you that a key is not present (audio and visual icons), but both cars will not do anything to immobilize the car after the key has been left.
Oh, I have no plans of not drinking RO water because of this article. It was just interesting to me. Whole Foods water is very likely RO water too. Both my water and a grocery store water source are probably going to be very comparable as far as quality.
Sourcing the filters is extremely easy, I order them in sets of two complete sets every other year, since the cost for order two is slightly less.. then I can order them on some on-sale price instead on on-demand.
labor is extremely minimal. I have to replace filters only once per year and it takes about a half hour of time.
Labor saved over transporting water from off-site is not in the same ballpark.
I was inspired to do this because I tested our well water for arsenic and wasn't happy with the results. It was 30ppb, and it's now 2.5bbp from the tap (after the iron filter, but before the RO filter)
I had gotten the RO system in hopes that's all I needed, but after testing the water out of the RO system for arsenic, I was still unhappy with the results. ~15ppb... so likley un-oxinidated arsenic. Adding an iron filter to oxidize the water and remove both iron and arsenic did the trick.
Before I installed new filters, I started sourcing my water from grocery stores by buying 1gal jugs and it was more than tedious. I had new children in the house and I was wanting to avoid having them drink water that may be high in arsenic. With storage, travel, lugging large quantities of water around the store, and having to manage the milk jugs they came in was way more work than I wanted to do every week. It would have been easier if I had access to 5gal jugs, but still more work than the system is now. I had bought 5-10 1/gals each trip.
The store also uses an RO system, treating and filtering municipal water from tap on-demand. They don't truck the water in or store it. The regeneration, even with their large system is slow, so filling up 5-10gal jugs took a long time and there was sometimes a line. I did not like doing it. I would guess the time I would save not changing filters once per year would be eaten up by 1 or 2 trips to the store.
Pre-filled jugs were available at higher quantities for 3-5x the price.
That's what I was thinking. This makes me think my system is less safe than I thought. BUMMER!!
This poster's cost drop on the $2/5Gal made me go down the cost analysis train on my own system.
I setup my own robust RO system at home and filter my own water. It uses a 20gal tank so the output is very high when demanded (slow regen, lots of storage). We use about 1400gal of drinking water from this system a year between 5 people and 3 pets (I filter their water too), filter media needs replacing every year. (1400/5)*2 = $560/yr cost if purchased water from "Whole Foods" which I don't have access to. I also use the water in the winter for humidifier units, so that probably boosts my usage a lot.
Filter replacement costs are ~$80 per year plus the RO membrane every 5yrs (80/5)
80+16 = $96 per year on media... let's just call it $100 to add margin for o-rings replacement or other tooling or random things.
560 - 100 = $460 savings over "Whole Foods"!! Neat! Not counting the convenience costs too.
Original investment for the system: $580.
Break-even in a bit over 1 year doesn't seem bad. Its been 4 years since I started doing this, so it seems like I am well ahead already.
Input water cost is minimal, I pump ground water so there's no cost other than electricity. There are other costs to my water treatment system that I won't include in the "drinking water" category since that's whole home. I also treat for iron/arsenic, which was a 1.8k filter and costs ~$80 in reagents per year.
Maybe the keyless entry computer stays awake to try to sync with a fob and then sleeps on success? If a user chooses not to use a fob at all, maybe it stays awake indefinitely trying to find a key to sync with.
I use two P2715Q's as my daily drivers for the past 6 years. They're good. They suffer from some image persistence but it's been forgivable. Some coworkers have got the same display and say they don't have the persistence.
Burn in takes about an hour and it fades after 10-15 min.
Either I notice it more than them, or I got a bad batch. I'm pleased with the purchase despite that.
They're obviously not arguing that the car shouldn't stop with a sign deployed.
Arguing from a point of bad faith doesn't advance the discussion.