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Comment on Belkin is killing off parts of the Wemo Line

If a device relies on any kind of external service to initially set up or function thereafter, do not buy. Regardless of brand.

Or accept that it has a finite lifespan that you cannot control. It’s not a matter of if the rug will get pulled, but when.

There is a grey area for things that can be reflashed or rebrained, but I prefer to not rely on this. Local access methods like ZigBee, Z-Wave and 433Mhz are immune to this kind of enshittification by design. Even WiFi devices can fit in here, with appropriate restrictions in place.

An acceptable middle-ground would be for EOL devices to be offered (with a big disclaimer) a final update that removes the reliance on the service but retains the core function. That’s a pipe dream though.

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Zikeji@programming.dev ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

If a device relies on any kind of external service to initially set up or function thereafter, do not buy. Regardless of brand.

This is what I strive for. When I was looking for a wall charger for my EV I was shocked at how there was only one option that wasn’t “cloud” based. And those aren’t cheap.

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Clent@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

There is a grey area for things that can be reflashed or rebrained

No, this should be the goal!

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- kevincox@lemmy.ml ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  Yeah, if you can reflash it you are completely in control. This is the optimal state.
  
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scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Yeah, unfortunately most people don’t understand what that is, and buy devices thinking they’ll be supported long term. Us here know better (I bought Wemo early on and stopped years and years ago now because I knew this was coming, but I know I’m not the majority).

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