Apparently there is this useful kitchen appliance put out by Anova that allows you to control their sous vide cooker via telephone-pretty convenient, if you ask me. Recently, however, they updated the software making it mandatory for users of their product to create an online account and hand over personal information. This is equipment customers own, not lease, and there was nothing posted inside or outside the box indicating that the manufacturer retains the right to do anything like this. WTF? Does this seem at all strange/wrong to anyone else?
Seiously, isn’t this known as “Bait and Trap” in the marketing world? :dubious:
I don’t know-has this ever been pulled before?
It’s happened to me numerous times, most notably with my (former) cell phone service.
You had a product that required no subscription and gave no indication that the company retained the rights to change the terms and yet without your knowledge and permission updated the device, rendering it useless unless you subscribed and handed over personal info?
I own an Anova sous vide cooker, which I purchased the day they went live. A chef friend has three that he pre-purchased via the kickstarter. I love mine. If my unit failed tomorrow, I’d order a replacement the same day.
The app is cute, but I’ve never bothered with it. The cooker works fine without Bluetooth or WiFi control. Many companies charge for their apps, this is just another monetization approach.
I had to sign up for it in the beginning, of course. But less than a year later, they changed the terms of service without warning and required me to buy a new phone. I didn’t even bother renewing the service.
You didn’t buy it for that remote feature, but many others did. If you had bought it specifically because you could program/operate it remotely, how do you think you would have felt about this development?
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Apparently, if you never use the app and never let it connect it to your phone you can use it manually for now, but if you let it update you are shit out of luck.
I cannot think of a reason to use the “remote feature” of the app/cooker, which makes it difficult to consider your hypothetical.
I haven’t heard of anything else in this vein, but it seems like a continuation of a trend to me: sites that used to be free to read now behind a paywall or requiring a registered account, video game DLC where the content is right on the physical disk/cartridge you already paid for but can’t unlock without paying up, nonsense like the Keurig 2.0 which only works with (expensive) branded k-cups and sneers at your (less expensive) off-brand ones.
At least Anova isn’t charging for their app. Yet.
They may not have to if there is a market for the info people have to fork over to subscribe.
That’s incorrect. The cooker does not require the app connection to use, so even if it was previously connected, doesn’t mean you have to stay connected to use it.
Our Kubota lawn tractor has similar issues. We rigged a bypass for the safety mechanisms that make the machine a pain in the ass to operate. When we took it to the dealer for repairs, they disassembled the bypass, rewired the safety mechanisms, and charged us for the parts and labor. They said that was their policy. Period.
So, when I got it back I rewired the bypass. Kubota will never see our tractor again, and I’ll never buy that brand in the future.