- cross-posted to:
- technology@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- technology@lemmy.world
cross-posted from: https://piefed.ca/c/technology@lemmy.world/p/902391/pet-owners-say-smart-pet-feeder-outage-led-to-furry-ones-going-unfed
This feels like bad design
Smart pet-feeder company Petlibro suffered an outage on Tuesday, giving users a harsh reminder of the risks of relying on smart devices.
Petlibro makes pet feeders that connect to Wi-Fi and, for setup with Petlibro’s mobile companion app, Bluetooth. Users can set the feeders to automatically dispense food at scheduled times, which is handy for pet care when the owner is out of the home.
In a statement to The Verge, Petlibro CEO York Wu said this week’s outage was “related to how the Petlibro app communicates with devices through its online servers.”
Some user reports have also conflicted with Petlibro’s claims about offline functionality. As The Verge pointed out, various users online claimed that during the outage, their devices did not perform any scheduled feedings, performed some feedings but not others, or performed feedings late (examples here, here, here, here, and here).
How is it smart to have an app driven pet feeder that relies on Internet connection?
Why not just have one where you adjust and push a button on the feeder? You freaking have to fill it anyway!
This sounds like pure stupidity IMO. But then again we do it 100% manually, and the cat will absolutely remind us if there is no food.
Why even have a pet if you don’t want to feed it. One of the highlights for the pet connecting to the owner!
Exactly. We do have an automatic feeder, but it is not “smart” and I still have to tend to it occasionally. It’s main use is scheduling small feedings throughout the day so she gets fed correctly even if I’m busy.
I’d even feel guilty about selling an IoT pet feeder that doesn’t have a backup battery. Internet/server outtage is a thing, but power outrages happen too.
Because pets are accessories, not companions
Yes, that must be it.
I think an automatic feeder can be useful when you’re not at home for a while, it just boggles my mind why this thing doesn’t store the programmed timer locally on the device, and instead relies on 24/7 internet connection
Because businesses are not in the business of providing valuable products and services; they are in the business of extracting value and maximizing profits.
We got one so we could go on vacation while owning a cat who would 100% eat all the food he could fit, vomit, and then keep eating.
With the auto feeder we just had someone stop by once a day for litter and such.
Definitely not networked though. That just seems like bad design purely from a “building a feeder” side. Why would you want to manage servers to coordinate pet feeding? At most an app that can set the timers, but it’s not so hard to offload that actual tracking to the device.
Yeah, he was the runt of the litter we think, and abandoned by his mother. We pulled him out from under a neighbor’s porch and got him through it, but he always has a bit of a frantic urgency around food time, even for a cat. Our other cat was 100% good with one of those gravity feeders and would just graze over the course of the day and keep himself at a good weight.
We’ve kept the auto feeder around so the one can get five or six smaller meals throughout the day, since he eats so fast a normal portion often causes issues.
It’s basically a dumb alarm clock that drops food in tablespoon increments. Only features I wish it had that it doesn’t is an “I’m nearly empty” sensor that could flash a light, and the ability to sync it’s clock with the radio broadcast time signal, since it drifts waaay more than you would expect and we need to reset the clock every month.
Hey, it says smart feeder, not smart owner…
Yeah but it’s not much of a smart feeder if it can’t tell the time without being told/asking someone else.
For some reason I pictured a grandfather clock asking, “should I chime yet?”
What if you’re far from home but you suddenly decide you don’t want to feed the cat that day? Unless you have a smart food dispenser it would be impossible!