The absurdity of smart devices is maybe best exemplified by a toothbrush that goes out of it’s way to lock down refills with an intentional and sophisticated password scheme between the handle and the replaceable brush head. After three incorrect attempts, the toothbrush locks forever and bricks itself.
I can’t think of a better parable for shitty technology and user hostile design decisions than a smart toothbrush that can lock the user out.
Read Hacking my “smart” toothbrush by Cyrill Künzi.
See also:
- People judge the quality of a product by whatever is visible but in this case, it would be better to judge it based on what’s not
- Neglected UX