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The Internet of Things

May 14th, 2016 · Posted by Skuds in Technology · No Comments · Technology

My Blu Ray player packed up recently. Ironically, the real annoyance about this was not that I couldn’t play discs – I also have a DVD player so it was only the few Blue Ray discs I could not play – it was that I could not watch Amazon Prime content on my TV because the Virgin box does not have the Amazon app on it. The Blue Ray player was a smart player so it was connected to the Internet and I used it to watch Amazon stuff.

Yesterday I got round to buying a replacement, which is slightly better because it will also play SACD discs (so my old DVD player is now only needed for DVD-A discs and I think I only have one of those. Maybe two) and connect wirelessly (although I have an ethernet port next to the TV so I don’t need that).

I suppose I should have expected it, but as soon as I plugged the new box in I could not test its disc-playing ability immediately. First I had to deal with the message telling me that a software update is available and I needed to update the software. I think this happens as soon as you get a new phone, tablet, computer or smart TV.

The tech pundits have been telling us for years to look forward to the Internet of Things (IoT) where our fridges place an order with the supermarket if we are running short of milk and so on. The reality is that when we buy a new kettle we will have to wait for a firmware upgrade to download before we can make a cup of tea and when we pick up our car from the long-stay car park after a holiday we will not be able to drive off until two weeks’ worth of security patches and updates have been downloaded and installed.

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