163 points

This is a product that didn’t need to be built. Since it has, I’m at least pleased there are efforts to keep them from being relegated to landfills.

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36 points

I feel like there should be a law to release the bits we need to support these efforts.

Too many times a product will die or a company will fold along with all its documentation.

Maybe release a final firmware opening up a product. Or at the very least a git repo with api documentation.

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9 points

You’re presuming they they had documentation

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4 points

This is also the attitude taken by Ross Scott.

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2 points
*

a law

And if the company folding doesn’t comply, gonna fine 'em or what?

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3 points

Well it’s two situations. Look at Google dropping the older Nests. There you can lay in a fine.

For the folding company could make it part of declaring bankruptcy. Standard paperwork.

Either release all your source or prep the needful. Once this is common and expected could even force companies to maintain a public branch to release on cue.

Owning IP is fine. Products ending up in a landfill due to software is not.

Hopefully the law also expands to actually owning all of a product you own. Not paying BMW to unlock the heated seats already in the car you fully paid for.

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20 points

Agreed. At least there are efforts to salvage it.

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29 points
*

There should be efforts to ensure it never happens again. All companies who abandon products or services should be forced to open source all associated code.

Why should greedy narcissists be allowed to waste humanities finite resources on their limp dick get-rich-quick schemes and failures?

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6 points

I don’t care too much when it comes to early adopter tech like this, which everyone knows will be obsoleted and laughable in 1 year. But the biomedical devices - we need a law about this, so people who get sense-restoring tech implanted in their bodies don’t get bricked because the company decides the product isn’t viable to bring to mass market.

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2 points

Philosophically agree with you, and would love to see it okay out exactly as you say.

The problem with incorporating a business is that all humans therein pretty much escape liability.

The only value is the assets and intellectual property that can be sold off to another organization. Releasing all the proprietary data brings that value down to zero.

As usual, our addiction to market capitalism means the world is pay-to-play, and the risks will always remain higher than you or I would like or need.

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-1 points

because humans with resources (money) should be allowed to use it how they please, be it on tungsten cubes or pointless devices

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-3 points

because humans with resources (money) should be allowed to use it how they please, be it on tungsten cubes or pointless devices

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14 points

Imagine having a thing like that but with a touch screen. Like, a rectangular assistant you can always carry with you! Oh, wait…

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68 points

If you bought this e-junk in the first place you’re kind of a moron.

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5 points

Well I guess it depends on when you bought it. If it was off eBay recently to try this new open platform that would be way less moronic.

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34 points

Why?

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44 points

This is the question that should’ve been asked before it was built and shipped.

Now that it has been, though, any effort to keep it out of landfill and find a use for the hardware is good.

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-6 points

No, it’s useless. Put your energy somewhere else like Linux phones.

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8 points

Right, you’re the boss.

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4 points

People can put their energy wherever they damn well please. You can work on Linux phones if you want to.

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26 points

But why

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21 points

Why not?

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21 points

It sounds like they’re trying to do whatever they can to replicate the previous functionality, but without the company who made it getting in the way, the hardware itself is kind of interesting. I hear the battery life sucks and nothing on it is exactly novel, but I’d be interested to see what people could do with it’s fancy display options combined with everything else.

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7 points

The hardware itself had a glaring flaw and that was that it would overheat every 5 minutes and even be uncomfortably warm on it’s wearer.

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3 points

might be unoptimized software issue

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6 points

I’m curious, what’s interesting about the hardware?

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18 points
*

Small and easy to wear form factor, monochrome laser projector are the two most interesting. Also a camera, microphone, a lot other sensors, packed in a tight case. If you build something DIY usually you can’t make it this small.

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15 points

Why would anyone need to run Doom on medical equipment?

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20 points

i thought this thing has serious production issues… like battery problems that might not be solved by open source software

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13 points

HP shut it down, so it’s effectively a paperweight or trash otherwise. Judging by the image of it sitting on a desk in a 3D printed enclosure, I’d say they’re probably not using it for its original purpose anyway. Pretty easy to solder in a bigger battery if you’re not trying to walk around with it.

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