A Cloudy Future: Smart Devices Go Dark As Cloud Connections Fail
From vacuums to ...mattresses (?!) smart products that rely on cloud connectivity are blinking off, leaving consumers with degraded or non-functional tech. Also: Are cars becoming throw away products?
Contents:
Smart products going dark as cloud connections fail
Repair Day 2025: Fixers on the Rise
Are Cars Becoming the New Throw‑Away Tech?
Independent Workshops Are Being Squeezed Out
Repair Services: A Hidden Growth Engine
When Your EV Is a Brick Because of One Line of Code
End of Windows 10 – A Dump Trigger for Devices?
Repairing the Digital Age: Market Opportunity Meets Circular Economy
iFixit Tears Down the 2025 M5 MacBook Pro: Grip Loosens, But Not Enough
Also...
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Become a subscriberAWS Outtage Bricks Smart Mattresses
When Amazon Web Services went down earlier this month, lots of web -based applications and services went dark. But that wasn’t all: some people’s beds stopped working. As 404 Media reported: Sleep Number’s $2,700 “smart” mattresses—marketed as precision-tuned comfort devices—suddenly bricked, leaving users stuck in flat mode until the cloud came back online.
The AWS outage exposed a ridiculous truth: even the most personal objects in our homes now depend on remote servers to function. A mattress is dependent on the functioning of Amazon’s Web Services??! It’s a darkly comic but telling symbol of how “smart” design can turn basic functions into subscription traps and service dependencies. As tech giants centralize more of our lives behind login screens and cloud APIs, a power blip in Seattle can now ripple straight into your bedroom.
But disruptions like the AWS outage - an estimated $571 million disruption which was linked to a failure of DNS (Domain Name System) services that brought down AWS’s DynamoDB database - aren’t even the most troubling issue facing smart product owners.
When the Cloud Goes Dark, So Does Your Vacuum
A more troubling phenomenon is the one facing owners of Neato robot vacuums: an “intelligent” product that will soon get dumb as The Verge reports. That’s because the company is shutting down the cloud servers that power the Neto vacuum’s smart features, effectively killing off those features for every device it ever sold. While the vacuums will continue to operate manually, users will lose most of the smart features they paid for including mapping that let users create different vacuum “zones” in their home, scheduling, and even app connectivity.
These incidents highlight a growing pattern in “smart” tech. With no regulatory- or market guardrails or guidelines governing smart, Internet connected products, nothing prohibits companies from simply walking away from their responsibility to maintain the software and services that power key features whenever they choose, leaving consumers holding the bag: with hobbled or even crippled products that amount to e-waste.
A growing Electronic Waste Graveyard
In April, US PIRG unveiled the Electronic Waste Graveyard, a site that lists more than 100 abandoned smart products such as Amazon’s Halo Rise, a $140 smart alarm clock launched in September 2022 only to be discontinued less than a year later in August 2023.
Without the right to self-repair or local control, “ownership” becomes temporary. That has spurred efforts to promote transparency and raise the bar for manufacturers of smart products. In March, for example, a group of consumer advocacy groups (including F2R’s parent, Secure Resilient Future Foundation) introduced model legislation to address the growing epidemic of “zombie” Internet of Things (IoT) devices. The Connected Consumer Product End of Life Disclosure Act requires manufacturers of connected consumer products to disclose for how long they will provide technical support, security updates, or bug fixes for the software and hardware that are necessary for the product to operate securely.
Stay tuned and subscribe to Fight to Repair to follow our coverage of bricked and abandones smart devices and proposed legislation to address the growing “end of life” problem.
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Other News
Repair Day 2025: Fixers on the Rise
The global repair movement hit a milestone during International Repair Day 2025: more countries, more events, and a sharper focus on the systemic threat of software obsolescence. The campaign saw over 3,000 events across 50+ countries, with the UK alone staging 230+ gatherings. This year’s theme: “What happens when software support ends—specifically, the looming end‑of‑life for Windows 10?”
Groups mobilized to help folks keep old laptops alive (or switch to open‑source OSes) rather than toss them. This isn’t just a repair fair—it’s a frontline community response to corporate lifecycles and throw‑away tech culture.
(Read more at The Restart Project)
Are Cars Becoming the New Throw‑Away Tech?
For decades we worried phones and laptops would become disposable. But what if the same fate has quietly arrived in the auto industry? According to this piece at autoevolution, some automakers may be steering us toward “disposable cars”: vehicles engineered with limited lifespans, heavy software dependencies, tight diagnostic locks and parts access restrictions. The argument: if cars become “smartphones on wheels” - or maybe even “ink jet printers on wheels,” then their business model aligns with upgrading, not lasting. For consumers, it raises stakes: costly repairs beyond warranty, opaque software locks, and a loss of autonomy over our vehicles. The fix? Demand repairable, upgrade‑capable vehicles—or regulation that supports them.
(Read more at autoevolution)
Independent Workshops Are Being Squeezed Out
In Brazil, small repair shops are sounding the alarm: servicing new cars has turned into a nightmare of locked‑down systems, pay‑per‑access codes, and manufacturer‑controlled diagnostics. One report says: “Manufacturers crash systems and force mechanics to pay in euros to repair new cars.” CPG Click Petróleo e Gás This isn’t just about cost—it’s about fairness and competition. When after‑markets lose access, consumers and independent repairers lose choice. The upshot: technical lock‑in, higher consumer costs, and weaker repair markets. The solution? Stronger repair rights, diagnostic access rules, and transparency in vehicle servicing systems
(Read more at clickpetroleoegas)
Repair Services: A Hidden Growth Engine
Amid all the throw‑away signals, there’s a counter‑trend: the repair industry is booming. A recent market report shows the global electronic equipment repair service sector is growing—driven by consumer electronics complexity, longer lifespans, IoT devices and a growing sustainability mindset. Electronics Newswire+1 Firms are shifting: OEMs partnering with repair‑service providers, regulatory pressure rising, and consumers pushing for fix rather than replace. It signals that repair is becoming not a fringe activism niche, but a serious business channel—and a tool for the circular economy.
(Read more at Electronics Newswire)
When Your EV Is a Brick Because of One Line of Code
Here’s a startling scenario: imagine your electric vehicle, still mechanically fine, but effectively unusable because software locks you out. That’s what this article highlights: as cars become increasingly software‑defined, ownership rights become weaker, and failure modes shift from mechanical to digital. Evworld The piece warns: unless the industry changes, EVs might not mature into durable assets—they could become disposable tech under a new skin. Owners must demand clearer software‑access rights, diagnostics freedom, and real repair‑friendly designs.
(Read more at Evworld)
End of Windows 10 – A Dump Trigger for Devices?
When Microsoft ended free support for Windows 10 (October 14, 2025), it didn’t just affect software—it threatened to turn hundreds of millions of still‑working PCs into e‑waste. Researchers estimate that up to 240 million devices could be forced into retirement or at risk of cyber‑attack if left unsupported. Georgia Tech+1 The story: software support is lifeline. Remove it, and a working machine may become a liability. Repair campaigners say this is classic software‑driven obsolescence—and a profound sustainability issue.
(Read more at Georgia Tech)
Repairing the Digital Age: Market Opportunity Meets Circular Economy
The circular economy of devices is getting a boost from the global repair & maintenance market: The consumer electronics repair market is projected to grow from ~US $18.6 billion in 2024 to over US $31 billion by 2033. Business Wire+1 Drivers? Longer lifespans, cost pressures and sustainability demands. But while the numbers are promising, the underlying structural challenge remains: without design for repair, without access to parts and without independent diagnostic freedom, the repair market grows despite constraints—not because they’re solved. The movement needs to push upstream.
(Read more at Vocal)
iFixit Tears Down the 2025 M5 MacBook Pro: Grip Loosens, But Not Enough
The teardown of Apple’s new MacBook Pro (M5) offers a mixed bag: some modest progress in repairability (better battery access, pull‑tabs) but still high barriers for independent repair. iFixit+1 For example, Apple still forces you to replace the entire “top case with battery/keyboard” just to swap one part, and critical inner components remain buried. The takeaway: incremental change, but the real reform is still pending.
(Read more at iFixit)