| The "Internet of Things" and "Pervasive Computing": Some of the Worst Ideas Ever |
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Sunday, July 12th, 2015 16:58:06 GMT |
The "Internet of Things" and "pervasive computing" are concepts which I find creepy, foolish, and dangerously naive.
(Additions, Sept. 1, 2016, 5:03 AM/6:35 AM/10:45 AM EDT, etc. In retrospect, that wording seems like quite an understatement! Much of this wrecknology is creating more and more chances for accidents and other catastrophes to happen.
Nowadays, software can not only crash your computer - it can crash your car!
The many defects of software are having more and more severe effects on the physical world, simply because too many people have been naive (or ill-intentioned) enough to put real-world objects such as cars, medical equipment, smoke alarms, door locks, voting machines, and so on, under the control of software.
So many problems could be avoided simply by relying on purely mechanical things, instead of electronic, computerized, or internet-connected things.
Thanks to Umair Haque for writing this great article about wrecknology (which is where I first noticed that word), and many other great articles.
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Here's a page from ifixit.org about the right to repair, and some of the ways that right is being threatened.
From the New York Times, Sept. 24, 2014: Miss a Payment? Good Luck Moving That Car
From Wired.com, Apr. 21, 2015: We Can't Let John Deere Destroy the Very Idea of Ownership
So, I'd actually much rather have a traditional purely mechanical car (or tractor, if I wanted a tractor) with no computers, computerized devices, or software at all. Or at least no computers/computerized devices/software connected to systems that can do dangerous things like shut your car down, jam your steering wheel or brakes, or unlock and open your doors.
From Wired.com, July 24, 2015: After Jeep Hack, Chrysler Recalls 1.4M Vehicles for Bug Fix
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From Autoweek.com, June 20, 2016: Was Anton Yelchin's death caused by a recalled shifter?
But how can anyone know for sure if the software is truly fixed and now glitch-free? And how can anyone be sure the software is unhackable/uncrackable? If that software gets hacked/cracked, or infected by a virus, or otherwise corrupted, people's lives could literally be at stake!
I don't know much about cars, but I can't imagine that old-fashioned purely mechanical transmissions have anything like those problems.
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Some scary quotes from that article:
[...]
End of quotes.
So, I guess if the "self-driving" car's software goes haywire or gets hacked, any unfortunate people inside the car might have no way to take control of the car. :-(
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If you have an affected car, you might be able to sell it back to Volkswagen. Having them modify the defective car is also an option, but I would have a hard time trusting Volkswagen to fix it correctly. Though I wouldn't trust anyone else to be able to fix it either, because I think putting software in important systems in cars is an inherently bad idea.
Hopefully this settlement will cause all car companies to be more wary of ruining their products by adding software to them.)
Smoke alarms seem to me like yet another thing that should never be designed to be controlled by something potentially hackable, infectable by a virus, or vulnerable to software/computer glitches.
I always thought connecting computers or devices to random routers, or even known and (mistakenly) trusted routers, might somehow be more dangerous than most people suspect.
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From The Guardian, Jan. 25, 2015: Spyware and smartphones
From NPR, Sept. 21, 2014: Smartphones Are Used To Stalk, Control Domestic Abuse Victims
And we'd likely be at least a little better off using hopefully safer and more secure free (as in freedom), libre, open source alternatives to closed source, proprietary software and devices.
Or, best of all in many cases would be to use softwareless and computerless things.
Putting internet capabilities (or even just computers/software without internet) into things that don't really need them (like cars, phones, and common household appliances) might make those things vulnerable to computer glitches, viruses, hacking/cracking, invasions of privacy, and despicable corporate practices such as companies making their own products impossible to repair by keeping all the software/computer hardware closed source and proprietary, and withholding tools, parts, and repair information. (And at least one company even went to such lengths as using non-standard screws which standard screwdrivers can't remove.)
And here are some articles about some even worse ways closed-source, proprietary software and hardware are being abused:
In these cases, I actually don't think having only free (as in freedom), libre, open source software or computerized devices in cars, tractors, etc. would fix everything. That might help stop some bad things - but, I'd still be worried that even libre software and computerized devices also could be vulnerable to glitches, malicious hacking/cracking, invasions of privacy, viruses, or corporate rubbish. (Unfortunately, software or hardware being under a libre license doesn't automatically mean that the software or hardware is great, well-designed, secure, and harmless.)
(Addition, Aug. 9, 2015, 1:19 AM EDT: Here are a couple more recent scary articles I found:
(Additions, Sept. 1, 2016, 7:55 AM EDT, etc.: I was very saddened to find out today that the actor Anton Yelchin died possibly because of the "e-shift transmission" in his Jeep Grand Cherokee, which was involved in a recall. He was only 27.
Anton Yelchin's parents are suing the car companies involved. I hope justice will be done.
Many other people have also had accidents and injuries:
And yes, the "e-shift transmission" apparently is controlled by software:
Car companies of the world, please stop putting literal wrecknology into your vehicles!
(Addition, Feb. 11, 2016, 12:47 PM EST: Another scary car-related article:
"The recommendation suggests that the U.S. government might allow Google to build marketable self-driving cars that don't include steering wheels, pedals, or any other human-operated feature."
[...] 'the NHTSA letter said that Google expressed concern "that providing human occupants of the vehicle with mechanisms to control things like steering, acceleration, braking" could be detrimental to safety because the human occupants could attempt to override the (self-driving system's) decisions."'
(Addition, Sept. 24, 2015, 2:30 PM EDT: The recent Volkswagen scandal reputedly involves deceptive software:
(Addition, Oct. 25, 2016, 3:06 PM EDT: Some good news related to the Volkswagen scandal:
From Oct. 25, 2016 on LATimes.com
(Additions, Oct. 20, 2015, 1:26 PM EDT, etc. Yesterday evening at about 8:08 PM EDT during the TV show Gotham on Fox, I saw a TV ad for Nest.com, and I was particularly dismayed when the ad appeared to show a smoke alarm being turned off with a mobile phone.
Also, here's a very worrying blog post, mainly about malware-infected routers, and people's stuff getting infected soon after connecting to such a router, and other related problems or potential problems:
Also, here are some articles about spyware which some companies are actually selling for use on so-called "smart" phones and computers:
Even people who don't have their own personal stalker or domestic abuser to worry about probably ought to worry about what various unethical corporations are doing behind all our backs (or right under our noses).
We not only need free (as in freedom) software and hardware, but the freedom to not have software and computers in every d*mn thing.