DRM Chair Self-Destructs After 8 Uses 215
unts writes "Taking DRM further than it's gone before, a group of designers have built a DRM'd chair that will melt its own joints and destroy itself after 8 uses. The chair uses an Arduino and sensors to monitor the number of uses, then triggers the melting of a set of joints that hold it together, making the product unusable without some carpentry skills. The video of device at work is both amusing and a little disconcerting."
Re:That's not DRM (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:That's not DRM (Score:1, Interesting)
Planned obsolescence. My dad was restoring a '67 GTO and discovered rubber tubes that ran from the molding above the windows to inside the rear wheel wells. Specifically designed to channel water and cause it to rust prematurely.
How's this DRM? (Score:4, Interesting)
Digital Rights Management?
There isn't anything "digital" about a chair that needs rights management. You cannot use a chair multiple times by making a digital copy of it, nor can you transfer a digital copy of your chair to your friend. In fact the ability to use a chair requires that you physically have it. Now if this "rights management" somehow prevented you from making a *copy* of the chair, then it might be some kind of example, but it's certainly NOT an example of DRM.
Re:That's not DRM (Score:5, Interesting)
This could be applied to anything. Imagine if the whole world worked like the content mafia does and people don't get paid for the work they do but every time the result of that work is used.
You don't pay the plumber for the hours he worked, you pay a little for every time you sit on the toilet, every time you flush, etc. You don't pay the guy who tiled your kitchen, instead there's a micro transaction for every tile you step on. Couch in the living room ? Few cents every time you sit down.
And if your grandfather used to be a plumber, you'll get paid for his work until 90 years after his death.
Brilliant!
Re:That's not DRM (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm a lifeguard, can I apply for royalties of the future earnings of every person I save? Same should apply for doctors/nurses/paramedics etc.
Getting paid repeatedly for the same work is fun!!1!!