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Humans have been forced to temporarily interact with their dogs or cats -- perhaps both -- after PetNet's internet-controlled smart feeder system suffered a blackout.
For $149, the company provides a web-enabled dog/cat feeder that is pre-programmed to dispense food stuffs at certain time and portion sizes.
But PetNet warned customers [...] that all was not well in its virtual animal kingdom as it was "experiencing some minor difficulties with a third party server. This is being investigated."
[...] "You may experience a loss of scheduled feeds and failed remote feedings. Please ensure that your pets have been fed manually until we have resolved this issue."
Source: The Register .
-- submitted from IRC
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Cats, Dogs Go Hungry as Internet-Connected PetNet Plays Dead
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Grub first, then ethics.
-- Bertolt Brecht
(Score: 5, Insightful) by datapharmer on Sunday July 31 2016, @02:26AM
This is absurd. There are good reasons for an automatic feeder - I have one. It allows you to feed an animal smaller meals more times per day when you aren't home or allows you to insure your animal is fed even if you get home late or if you have an unexpected emergency.
You can get one that works perfectly well for under $40 on Amazon that has six feedings at an interval you specify. Why this would need to be on the Internet is what makes my head spin. Maybe add a sensor to tell me if it jams or the batteries run low, but to not work because of a power outage or internet issue or cloud service provider failure is simply inhumane.
What is wrong with people hat they think this solves anything? It is a solution looking for a problem!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 31 2016, @02:49AM
I dunno, maybe... It's such a pleasure to leave the updates to Daylight Savings Time to us?
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Sunday July 31 2016, @11:48AM
It's healthier for the animal if the device does not respect daylight savings.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by purple_cobra on Sunday July 31 2016, @12:39PM
"It is a solution looking for a problem!"
Isn't that the perfect description of 99% of these Internet of Things devices?
Today's Internet of Shit post was a water dispenser that wouldn't work due to not having a USB flash drive inserted. Another solution in search of a problem.
What about those Nest (IIRC) smoke alarms that went off seemingly if there *wasn't* any smoke? Thanks for the warning, I suppose I'd better go set fire to the couch!
They're all a means of parting punters from their cash. It keeps the money in circulation. Do your research, avoid impulse buys, and you should avoid the largest turds in this sea of shit.