#digital-dependency — Public Fediverse posts

Google enshittifying Thread

So, because I am cheap as heck, I wanted to give some of the IKEA smart stuff a go. It's still manufactured in China, but a wireless temp/humidity sensor with display that only lights up on a button press (the case is the button) seemed to be a no brainer, especially at 7,99 per unit. Also, it takes dual AAA instead of stupid CR-anything batteries and if your fingernails are strong enough (mine are) you can plop off the back cover just so.

The downside is that I had a really, really hard time to set up the devices. And it's all Google's fault.

Intermission: I worked at Google for almost eight years. That's more than a decade ago now. Even then, back in the day, the answer to many problems people had with Googles products, hardware or software, was "give up and use multiple devices", primarily because many Google products were designed by people that could not imagine crossing borders would be a regular occurrence, or living in places with weather. California is a hell of a place that messes with people's heads.

So, I have a HAOS install on a dedicated machine, not even virtualized, and I have a NabuCasa ZBT-1 with Thread firmware, and my system looks like everything is fine and dandy. Only if I try to comission a device via the Companion App, well, it tells me to add a thread border router.

It's right there.

So I go complain on the Home Assistant forum, and I learn the following:

Be careful to define the correct network as preferred network before doing the sync, and don't delete that network afterwards! Android does NOT allow you to delete the Thread credentials (there are work arounds by deleting Google Play Store storage, but it has side effect like lost wallet etc.!)

Once again, Californians cannot fathom people owning multiple identities, maybe even being in multiple places that may have separate networks, or any other thing that makes it an IDEA SO STUPID IT MUST BE MALICIOUS (this is Google, so the saying does not apply here) to tie a thread credential so deep in to Google Play Services that you need to break half your account to reset it, and well, yeah, I don't know if I may or may not have a Thread network's credential from earlier experiements that didn't pan out as expected.

I am lucky. I am privileged. I happen to have an iOS device. With that, comissioning works. But do not be mistaken, this is using Apple's implementation for comissioning a matter device, including blacklists for devices deemed uncouth (just like Google).

So yeah, if you are after home automation solutions you own, stick with ZWave, Zigbee, WiFi (tasmota and esphome do just fine), or BLE.

Also, the automatic routing through the Thread network? It works like shit in my place, compared ot all the other solutions.

Matter over Thread is a real proper downgrade over Zigbee, Zwave, WiFi, or BLE. It's too much magic and zero facilities to debug, and at a critical junction (device comissioning) wholly dependend on exactly the big tech companies you want to avoid when deciding to run with Home Assistant.

#homeassistant #matteroverthread #iot #digitaldependency

Google enshittifying Thread

So, because I am cheap as heck, I wanted to give some of the IKEA smart stuff a go. It's still manufactured in China, but a wireless temp/humidity sensor with display that only lights up on a button press (the case is the button) seemed to be a no brainer, especially at 7,99 per unit. Also, it takes dual AAA instead of stupid CR-anything batteries and if your fingernails are strong enough (mine are) you can plop off the back cover just so.

The downside is that I had a really, really hard time to set up the devices. And it's all Google's fault.

Intermission: I worked at Google for almost eight years. That's more than a decade ago now. Even then, back in the day, the answer to many problems people had with Googles products, hardware or software, was "give up and use multiple devices", primarily because many Google products were designed by people that could not imagine crossing borders would be a regular occurrence, or living in places with weather. California is a hell of a place that messes with people's heads.

So, I have a HAOS install on a dedicated machine, not even virtualized, and I have a NabuCasa ZBT-1 with Thread firmware, and my system looks like everything is fine and dandy. Only if I try to comission a device via the Companion App, well, it tells me to add a thread border router.

It's right there.

So I go complain on the Home Assistant forum, and I learn the following:

Be careful to define the correct network as preferred network before doing the sync, and don't delete that network afterwards! Android does NOT allow you to delete the Thread credentials (there are work arounds by deleting Google Play Store storage, but it has side effect like lost wallet etc.!)

Once again, Californians cannot fathom people owning multiple identities, maybe even being in multiple places that may have separate networks, or any other thing that makes it an IDEA SO STUPID IT MUST BE MALICIOUS (this is Google, so the saying does not apply here) to tie a thread credential so deep in to Google Play Services that you need to break half your account to reset it, and well, yeah, I don't know if I may or may not have a Thread network's credential from earlier experiements that didn't pan out as expected.

I am lucky. I am privileged. I happen to have an iOS device. With that, comissioning works. But do not be mistaken, this is using Apple's implementation for comissioning a matter device, including blacklists for devices deemed uncouth (just like Google).

So yeah, if you are after home automation solutions you own, stick with ZWave, Zigbee, WiFi (tasmota and esphome do just fine), or BLE.

Also, the automatic routing through the Thread network? It works like shit in my place, compared ot all the other solutions.

Matter over Thread is a real proper downgrade over Zigbee, Zwave, WiFi, or BLE. It's too much magic and zero facilities to debug, and at a critical junction (device comissioning) wholly dependend on exactly the big tech companies you want to avoid when deciding to run with Home Assistant.

#homeassistant #matteroverthread #iot #digitaldependency

Once you put numbers to it, it becomes astounding how much digital dependencies cost a country's economy. No wonder Big Tech is fighting Digital Sovereignty with teeth, nails, and ballrooms.
#digitalsovereignty #digitaldependency #economy
https://businessday.ng/technology/article/nigerias-digital-identity-gap-costs-economy-850m-per-year/

Once you put numbers to it, it becomes astounding how much digital dependencies cost a country's economy. No wonder Big Tech is fighting Digital Sovereignty with teeth, nails, and ballrooms.
#digitalsovereignty #digitaldependency #economy
https://businessday.ng/technology/article/nigerias-digital-identity-gap-costs-economy-850m-per-year/

Kein Toter ist so tief begraben wie eine erloschene Leidenschaft.

https://fraumutterrenate.blog/2026/04/12/kein-toter-ist-so-tief-begraben-wie-eine-erloschene-leidenschaft/

Kein Toter ist so tief begraben wie eine erloschene Leidenschaft.

https://fraumutterrenate.blog/2026/04/12/kein-toter-ist-so-tief-begraben-wie-eine-erloschene-leidenschaft/

@vingtroiseize @Qwant @vivaldibrowser @protonprivacy @hellomailo

#RGPD #GDPR #Europe #Digital #DigitalDependency #GAFAM #BATX #DigitalTransformation #DigitalSovereignty #TechSovereignty #DigitalSovereignty

Et @ChatonsOrg
@yauternet

@vingtroiseize @Qwant @vivaldibrowser @protonprivacy @hellomailo

#RGPD #GDPR #Europe #Digital #DigitalDependency #GAFAM #BATX #DigitalTransformation #DigitalSovereignty #TechSovereignty #DigitalSovereignty

Et @ChatonsOrg
@yauternet

LESS HIGH-TECH, MORE LOW-TECH! By Veronica Smith

Unlike the 1960s Cold War, when the biggest threat was nuclear fall-out, the modern fear is centered around Cyber Attack. Let’s face it, society is overly dependent on high-tech. All utilities rely on “smart-tech” to read meters and to ration supplies. Banks want us to go cashless and do everything on-line, including paying utility bills. Even government bodies want citizens to do tax returns and applications online instead of using paper forms. All this personal information is online and vulnerable.

So a cyber attack could effectively knock out the entire system!

I come from a pre-high-tech generation. My parents were born during World-War One and grew up during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Their parents (my grandparents) were born in the second half of the 1800s. They were country folk, who knew how to make-do with what was available around them. Thankfully, they passed on their “Low-Tech” knowledge to their descendants. I know how to wild-forage, preserve food and do basic carpentry.

Despite my age, I too have been dazzled by the glitter of high-tech toys. I am overly reliant on my IPhone. I am writing this article on my laptop. I take digital photographs, which are kept in Cyber-Space, instead of the more lasting paper versions in our family album, some of which date back to the late 1800s!

I could definitely do less IPhone, IPad, Kindle, Laptop. Paper books are easier on the eyes to read and I do not need to “recharge” a paper book before I can read it! Having a conversation with real people around me is better than peering at my phone screen, exchanging silly text messages with some-one half way around the world!

Have you ever taken part in a “Digital Detox” event? For a specific length of time, you must live without your high-tech devices and transition from virtual reality to ordinary reality! It has become a popular form of therapy, freeing up time for self-care and meditation. Nevertheless, some people do freak out, finding excuses why they have to stay connected, unable to cope! They refuse to admit that our dependency on High-Tech, like all forms of addiction, is simply a bad habit.

My first step was getting rid of the television set. If I need information, I can read the newspaper headlines. Although the postal services complain that they are over-loaded with on-line parcel deliveries, it is still nice to receive a paper-card, or a hand-written letter, in the post. I save favorite cards and letters in a keep-sake box, that I can physically open, without wondering if I have enough “Cloud” storage space!

In these uncertain times, we must not become so totally dependent on High-Tech that we cannot cope in an emergency. There are many things that High-Tech, AI and Virtual Reality can not solve in the every day human world, especially when the power to run such “applications” has been knocked out.

Perhaps Low-Tech survival skills should become a mandatory subject in schools. What do you think?

Escaping Digital Dependency open.substack.com/pub/josebrio... #digitalminimalism #digitaldependency #escapethedoomscroll #nodoomscroll

Escaping Digital Dependency