3w ago

Echelon kills smart home gym equipment offline capabilities with update

arstechnica.com

cross-posted from: https://fedia.io/m/right2repair@discuss.tchncs.de/t/2476878

Update also blocks compatibility with popular third-party apps.
Well, this is definitely the wrong direction.

Right to Repair @discuss.tchncs.de

miguel @fedia.io

4w ago

Echelon kills smart home gym equipment offline capabilities with update

arstechnica.com /gadgets/2025/07/firmware-update-hinders-echelon-smart-home-gym-equipments-ability-to-work-offline/

16 comments

All devices should be required by law to provide a path for customer-installed firmware.
- Toaster set to random heat settings every other day prank gone wild busted watch now
When will people learn to never buy smart devices.
- manufacturers don't make the fully dumb ones anymore !
  your comment is 10 years late
  
  Right???
  That's why I buy a lot of used stuff now or repair the ones I got.
  Repair shops will be like "a new one'll cost less" and I'm like "don't care, fix it."
  I really hope my early 2000's Sony Bravia 720p tiny ass TV never dies on me. It's a dumb TV but has all the connections for retro gaming consoles.
$20,000 bounty to un-fuckulate this mess: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zayHD4kfcA
Yeah, bought a wifi-enabled olympic bar and it's permanently set to 0lbs until I connect it. Supposedly, the app has a cupon for free weights, but idk, I think I'm gonna install a VPN on it.
ETA: Unfortunately (or fortunately for society) this is a joke.
- All of this makes me mad.
- Please tell me that's all satire. The current state of affairs makes it impossible to tell.
- The fuck is a wifi enabled olympic bar and why would you buy one? It's just a fancy 20kg rod ffs
- wifi-enabled olympic bar
  The what? A bar for olympic athletes with Wi-Fi?
And this is why I will always own a normal outdoor pedal bike. Pay for it one time, and I have the tools on hand to modify and repair it. Get one of these babies and pop your bike in it and book instant indoor spinning.
Seems like a vulnerability a competitor could use to bankrupt them with a shady DDOS
I'm guessing the board didn't do much of a SWOT analysis

16 comments