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Careful When You Complain
The Other Chap Spotted This …
… but left this chap to comment.
So comment, this chap will.
It being, of course, often tricky to persuade the Other Chap to comment…
But first, a side note … I think this chap was left to comment since he is one that oft drops pen on paper - or more accurately ‘finger tips on keyboard’ to let corporations know what’s what when it comes to the shoddy experience he has had to endure. Samsung for example being his latest … and which remains a work in progress. And no, it is not about their phones that spring into flames at a moments notice, nor their tumble driers that have a similar penchant - no this is one about a washing machine. This chap believes that the washing machine has just one job. And that is to wash clothes. And in order to wash clothes, the machine would be expected to hold water. This chap’s Samsung washing machine failed on this most basic requirement (no Turing test necessary) … and the rest we will save for another time. Suffice to say that
garnering the attention of the Samsung chaps is close to a full time job - which I guess is how videos like this get spawned.
But onwards. This, as we have come to learn is entirely yet another thing - but a thing nevertheless to which we shall return at some future date. For now … back to the plot. Topic: Internet Of Things Sub Topic: Customer Complaints 
Turns out that one particular corporation has developed a rather unusual way of responding to negative comments out there in the ‘social-sphere’. Slate reports that
A Maker of Smart Garage Openers Responded to a Bad Amazon Review by Remotely Disabling the Customer’s Device.
Yes - you read that correctly. I won’t got into it all here - this chap is just visualising the future … you lease you new autonomous car - but you miss a payment. First-time offenders are simply rerouted to the leasing company’s bank and before you are allowed to continue with your journey, your payment will be made, in person. Repeat offenders are escalated by car company essentially bricking your dazzling ‘computer on wheels’, preferably on a double yellow line, if not by a water hydrant and you are left to explain to the local po-lice how you came to be there.
Of course - the other more serious question is this.
When you buy something … do you own it? For a long time now it is been very clear for example that when you ‘buy’ your music from Apple’s iTunes - you actually do not own it. For example - buy a CD - and you can give that CD to your wife/friend/son or whoever you want to - but that is not true of music you buy from Apple’s iTunes. Sure, you can listen to it whenever and wherever you want to - but ownership of said music is non transferrable. So dont expect to leave it in your will. The Slate article points out that as we buy increasingly more and more ‘things’ that are not ‘things’ in their own right - but instead rely on a service provided by some server, somewhere, owned by some one … it is going to get a little confusing as to who can do what you your thing. Not just the criminals that we read so much about - but also the corporations that sell you those things. Corporations, criminals - fully interchangeable I hear you muttering under your breath. No dispute here.
Graham adds…
It could be worse. A lot worse. Apparently adult toys are now joining the Internet Of Things – one of which was recently hacked, remotely. Which, considering it also included a Web-connected camera, could make for some very interesting scenarios. At the very least you’d want to make very sure you kept up the payments. And you would not want to fall out with customer support…