alt Hacker NewsAnd sadly it's only going to get harder and harder. More stuff is going to get locked down - not just PCs and PC-adjacent stuff like PS/XBox/etc.
It's already somewhat involved to get new firmware on a lot of network connected home devices you buy, but it'll become even more difficult.
3D printers are about to get pushed over the edge via legislation.
Tractors.... gestures wildly at Deere
You can't fix software problems in your dishwasher or fridge.
Liability lawsuits drive a lot of this :/
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I think what happens is corporate lawyers know their job is to make the boss happy and look good, so once in a while they have brainstorming sessions where they think of ways to use their toolset (knowledge and authority in legal matters) to accomplish that goal. And that usually takes the form of telling the boss he can screw customers or workers in some way, with a legal pretext as rhetorical cover, to save the company a nickel.
> Hey boss, as your attorney I think we should ban employees from ever leaning on things because what if one of them got a spinal injury from leaning too much? We could be liable for permitting leaning when they could be cleaning.
> Liability lawsuits drive a lot of this :/
That's the official line a lot of the vendors responsible will push, but the evidence for that is...lacking.
Compare that to the simple reality that doing this is more profitable and devices that can't be easily repaired lead to more consistent sales. Capitalism gonna capitalism.
> 3D printers are about to get pushed over the edge via legislation.
That’s specific to Democrat controlled states, unlike age verification requirements. They’ve decided to treat everyone like prisoners rather than imprison criminals.
> It's already somewhat involved to get new firmware on a lot of network connected home devices you buy, but it'll become even more difficult.
We now have the network effect affecting devices too :)
> Liability lawsuits drive a lot of this :/
Are we sure about this? I always thought that if you modify something and the modification injures you then the OEM shouldn't be liable. This sounds like a shallow dig at liability.
well, not if this AI stuff pans out. AI will be reversing engineering and making things easy. ;-)
More customers need to sue for the right to repair things that have substandard firmware.
That should especially include cars and phones, with 10x min damages if a vendor or insurance company falsely claims firmware modifications were at fault if problems arise.
(So, if you turn off unnecessary cabin beeping, and then get in an accident and the insurance company rejects because of “unauthorized modifications”, then they pay you and the other party at least 10x actual damages if they end up losing in court.)
Vendor retaliation (undismissable nag screens, force pushed regressions and compatibility breaks) should have even higher damages.
This would immediately enable people to run secure, open variants of android, and also mod their iPhones.