this post was submitted on 08 Jul 2025
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126
When tech hardware becomes paperweights (basic.bearblog.dev)
submitted 5 days ago by bignose@programming.dev to c/technology@lemmy.world
18 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Now I have this blood pressure monitor device that doesn't work without a logged in app and is a paperweight. I'm lucky I never invested into their ecosystem of health products. Lesson is no matter how popular a brand is, there is no guarantee they will be around. I've lost all my health data and there is no way to get it back.

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[–] Quazatron@lemmy.world 17 points 4 days ago (1 children)

It's not a new phenomena, but it seems to be growing.

I remember when perfectly functional scanners and printers were ditched because the new Windows version would not support them and the vendor would not provide OEM drivers either.

Nowadays they unplug some servers and you are left with an expensive doorstop. That's progress, I guess.

[–] squaresinger@lemmy.world 8 points 4 days ago (1 children)

The part that is growing is how many tools rely on apps and other connected features.

I have a blood pressure monitor, and it just outputs the result to a built-in screen. I can then log the values however I want, and it's probably easier and quicker to manually enter the three numbers each consisting of 2-3 digits into an app than to wait for the bluetooth connection to be established.

This battery monitor will never be remotely shutdown, because there is no remote function. And if the blood pressure tracking app shuts down, I can just use any other.

[–] MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 6 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

I have a CO² station that logs to a .csv on a fat32 formatted sdcard. Beat that.

[–] squaresinger@lemmy.world 4 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I made a physiotherapy game console for kids that logs physiotherapy executions to a .csv on a fat32 formatted sdcard ;)

[–] MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 4 points 4 days ago

Ok, let's call it a tie.