The Big Cloud Misunderstanding:
Why we no longer own our devices, but only rent them
A comment
It's a disturbing cluster of reports that hit the tech world within just a few weeks. What at first glance looks like a series of unfortunate individual cases turns out, upon closer inspection, to be the revelation of a fundamental system error. The promise of "smart home", "connected life" and "updates over the air" is increasingly turning out to be a lazy deal in which we, the customers, lose out. See sources below.
Systematic Dependence: An Analysis of Recent Cloud Failures and Function Deprivation
The accumulation of incidents in October in which connected products partially or completely lost their functionality raises questions about the sustainability of the underlying business model. The cases show a clear pattern: sovereignty over the usability of a physical product increasingly lies not with the owner, but with the manufacturer and the infrastructure he operates.
The case constellations at a glance
The incidents fall into two categories:
- Planned disabling of services:
- Vorwerk/Neato (09.10.): The shutdown of servers led to the elimination of smart features in robot vacuum cleaners. The devices are limited in their basic function.
- Bose (12.10.): A software update specifically stripped SoundTouch speakers of their smart functions. The hardware is functional, but the promised networking has been disabled.
- Unplanned failures of external dependencies:
- Stellantis/Jeep (13.10.): A faulty over-the-air update rendered vehicles unusable, demonstrating the risks of remote maintenance without mechanical redundancies.
- AWS outage (23.10.): The failure of a centralized cloud infrastructure paralyzed connected mattresses and other IoT devices. This demonstrates vulnerability due to third-party dependency.
- SonicWall (10.10.): The theft of cloud backups reveals another risk: the precarious security of sensitive customer data in the manufacturer’s own clouds.
Analysis of the underlying problems
The factual situation points to several structural weaknesses:
- Loss of product sovereignty: The customer de facto no longer purchases completed goods, but rather a license for use that is tied to the operation of an external infrastructure. Owning a physical object no longer guarantees its long-term functionality.
- Forced obsolescence through service dependency: The lifespan of a product is no longer primarily determined by its mechanical durability, but by the cost-effectiveness of the supporting cloud service. The decision to discontinue a service can render a physically intact device prematurely obsolete.
- Single Point of Failure: The architecture, which allows for convenience and remote maintenance, simultaneously creates central points of attack and failure. A failure in a data center can affect the functionality of thousands of devices at a time.
- Lack of transparency and assurance: Customers are rarely informed about the long-term availability of the necessary cloud services when purchasing. There are no standardized exit scenarios as to how devices can be put into a basic functional state in the event of a service setting.
Do what? The recapture of sovereignty
It's time to take back our sovereignty over things. That means:
- “Dumb” is the new “Smart”: Prefer devices that perform their core functions even without the Internet and cloud. Local control via LAN or even a button must become a selling point again.
- Demand for openness: We must demand standards and local interfaces. A robot vacuum cleaner should be able to be integrated into my home network via a local API without querying a server in another continent.
- Awareness of “buy vs rent”: With every "smart" device we have to ask ourselves: Am I buying an item here or am I just purchasing a temporary license to use it? Case law must make it clear here: Anyone who sells a physical object cannot subsequently withdraw its functionality via remote access.
Conclusion and implications
These incidents are not mere operational mishaps, but rather symptoms of a fundamental change in product understanding. Manufacturers shift control from decentralized hardware to centralized software. This creates recurring revenue streams and control for them, but leaves the associated operational and outage risks to the customer.
A solution requires a rethink on several levels: Consumers should give higher weight to the value of local functionality and open standards when purchasing. Case law is required to clarify the definition of "property" in the digital age and to require manufacturers to disclose exit strategies for their online services.
The technical dependency these incidents demonstrate is not accidental, but a construct. Their systematic elimination becomes the central challenge for sustainable and customer-oriented technology.
The Chronicle of Failure, the Last 14 Days:
09.10. Vorwerk switches off servers, Neato vacuum cleaners "dumb down". -> Smarthomeassistant.de
10.10. Sonicwall cloud backups stolen. - > heise.de
12.10. Bose robs SoundTouch devices of their “smart” features. -> Euronics.de
13.10. Jeeps unusable after OTA software update - > heise.de
23.10. AWS outage rendered networked mattresses unusable - > heise.de
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