It doesn't need to be that way though. Embedded software powered devices have been around for decades, and much like video-games of old nobody needed to beam updates to them throughout the life of the product, and they didn't stop working the moment the company went out of business.
All of those tasks could be completed with robust and simple software, rather than ridiculous stacks of constantly updating libraries connected to the internet.
Exactly! We have, as an industry, collectively forgotten that computing power can be had without connecting to the Internet. Nobody’s objecting to smart gadgets—we are objecting to gadgets that needlessly rely on Internet to work, serve unwanted ads to us, and surreptitiously send god knows what data back to the manufacturer.
>we are objecting to gadgets that needlessly rely on Internet to work, serve unwanted ads to us, and surreptitiously send god knows what data back to the manufacturer.
Don't forget "gadgets that are beholden to the manufacturer allowing them to keep functioning."
All of those tasks could be completed with robust and simple software, rather than ridiculous stacks of constantly updating libraries connected to the internet.