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."
This might be... (Score:5, Insightful)
...excellent for congress.
Re:This might be... (Score:5, Insightful)
I think in congress you might want to melt the occupants after 8 uses, not the chair.
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Meanwhile in Congress
...excellent for Facebook.
I think for Facebook you might want to melt the occupants after 8 uses, not the chair.
Damn, someone ask the intern where the green button is!
Re:This might be... (Score:5, Funny)
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I vote present.
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I think in congress you might want to melt the occupants after 8 uses, not the chair.
Don't give them more excuses to not show up for the sessions.
8 might be a bit harsh (Score:3)
Re:This might be... (Score:5, Funny)
It's longer than chairs last at Microsoft
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...excellent for congress.
Actually, South African congress has been using these chairs since 2008 [youtu.be].
Re:This might be... (Score:5, Funny)
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You'd probably have to lower the usage to three or four times seeing as they hardly ever show up for work.
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God no! Then they'll never show up anymore.
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You say that like it's a bad thing...
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Well, I may be old fashioned, but I'd say if someone gets paid well, he should at the very least show up for work.
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If they don't pass legislation, why would lobbyists keep paying them?
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i want the chair to record the lobyist that sit next to them and the amount of money they change hands
Though, it would need to be a smart chair to calculate that kind of numbers.
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How about one which also keeps totals for both lobyist and politician. With the ability to psudo-randomly eliminate (or teleport at least 14,000 km away) both of them. With the probability of doing so increasing the higher their totals. Now that would be a smart chair
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Something simple that might make a difference.
All congressmen and senators have to use 1-legged stools instead of comfy chairs in session and committee meetings. They can rest, but they have to pay attention, and as they get older, they will get more and more annoyed with doing this and be more likely to stop running for office.
Re:This might be... (Score:4, Funny)
Nah, they'll just turn them upside-down. Hey, on second thought ...
Neat video and concept to prove a point (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Neat video and concept to prove a point (Score:4, Informative)
They weren't hipsters, they were Swiss.
Re:Neat video and concept to prove a point (Score:5, Funny)
They weren't hipsters, they were Swiss.
So, Swipsters?
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Though that too. It wasn't supposed to fall apart after 8 uses, it was just that I had this leftover part and 3 screws that I couldn't figure out where to put.
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Not just any hipsters. Self-destructing hipsters.
Sounds familiar. (Score:5, Funny)
At least we can be sure that Ikea isn't interested, since their chair already do that by default.
(And I had a good laugh about the article :)
Re:Sounds familiar. (Score:5, Funny)
Great. Now buying a pair of wire cutters at the hardware store will be a violation of the DMCA (if it wasn't already).
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No, you just have to put the chair together again and again. Should be right up IKEA's alley.
That's not DRM (Score:4, Insightful)
This is not DRM; it is product-life expiration. DRM would be if the chair had GPS and would melt itself if moved further than 200ft from its location of first use.
Re:That's not DRM (Score:4, Interesting)
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, Funny)
"you pay a little for every time you sit on the toilet"
shitcoin?
Re:That's not DRM (Score:4, Funny)
And if your grandfather used to be a plumber, you'll get paid for his work until 90 years after his death.
Brilliant!
Egad man, as long as any of our previous three generations worked at all, we're all multi-millionaires! DRM has eliminated poverty!
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Here's your loaf of bread. That will be 2.25 million dollars please.
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!!
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My grandpa was a bricklayer, but do you see me raking in the big bucks for rent of all the buildings he built? Nah.
I feel ripped off!
Re:That's not DRM (Score:5, Insightful)
DRM is properly thought of as Digital Restrictions Management, instead of Digital Rights Management. A good example of a previous DRM that implemented something like this is the limited edition DVD like disks that were being several years back. They were pushed by Disney and called Flexplay [wired.com] and only made for a couple years.
Remember DRM is all about restricting how something is used, even if that restriction requires the destruction of the devices. Many tamper resistant crypto chips will self destruct instead of letting a user access their data without restriction.
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This is DRM. DRM is everything from country specific games to how many installs you can do total or at one time for a game.
This tech installed in physical products would manage what you could do with them.
Or course it is not DIGITAL rights management (even if the circuit board used digital signals), but physical.
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Considering they use an Arduino, the actual trigger for destruction is quite easy to adjust. Just add a GPS board, and reprogram it a bit.
Re:That's not DRM (Score:5, Informative)
This is not DRM; it is product-life expiration.
The life of a DRM'd product artificially expires once the DRM servers are taken down. Product-life expiration is a feature of every DRM system.
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The chair is an always-online chair. If self-destructs when you lose your internet connection.
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You mean melted if it detected someone other than the first user sat in it.
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I'd be suprised if supermarkets hadn't thought about this for their trolleys - only put off by price of course. Clearly 'analogue' restrictions are often cheaper than digital ones.
I have seen stores with carts that state they do this. Not sure if they actually do or not, but the signs stated the wheels lock up if it leaves the parking lot.
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I have a store near me. It requires special paint around the parking lot. They failed to put that paint on the curbs, thus anybody with enough strength to push the cart through the landscaping, is able to steal one.
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They do lock up. I know not because I tried taking a cart, but because I saw one just past the line once as I parked my car and decided to be nice and bring it back to the supermarket with me. The front wheels were locked until I got it back to the "correct" side of the line. Suddenly the wheels worked just fine.
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Kids would roll carts off the property just to watch them "self destruct"....
Re:That's not DRM (Score:4, Informative)
That's designed to prevent door/window leaks. The idea was that the water would run down the tube and out an open hole to below the car. Modern cars can still have similar tubes; my car has 4 of them - one for each corner of the sunroof.
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Perhaps I phrased that wrong. By "inside" I mean behind the quarter panel depositing directly on top the wheel well. Not to the "outside" of the car.
Nothing new... (Score:3)
Chairs like that have been around for years. [youtube.com]
Re:Nothing new... (Score:5, Funny)
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Also: http://www.ikea.com/ [ikea.com]
But what is the mission (Score:3, Funny)
Should I decide to accept it?
Re:But what is the mission (Score:5, Funny)
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Conference room chairs .... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Conference room chairs .... (Score:4, Funny)
YESSSSSS!!!!! shut up and take my money!!!!
nothing new (Score:2, Funny)
Harbor Freight has perfected this technology ages ago.
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Relevant:
http://hooniverse.com/2012/09/24/truth-in-advertising-hazard-fraught-tools/ [hooniverse.com]
Perfect Timing (Score:3)
Looks down at my chair suspiciously...
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23 year old car FTMFW!
give them the CHAIR (Score:2)
give them the CHAIR
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Do you mean THE COMFY CHAIR? [youtube.com]
not tuneful (Score:2)
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.
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There isn't anything "digital" about a chair that needs rights management.
It's rights management implemented with a digital microcontroller!
CAN_SIT_IN_CHAIR is a boolean!
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There isn't anything "digital" about a chair
There is if it's got an embedded microprocessor for managing your rights!
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It is not Digital, but it is rights management (which is far bigger than copy perfection).
this is Physical Rights Management, and could be used to restrict who used a chair, how many times it is used, and where and how it is used.
Re:How's this DRM? (Score:5, Insightful)
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Built in Obsolescence (Score:2)
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The later... It should be obvious. Oh and they are "designers"... so artsy!
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Does anyone think that this will actually fly, or are they just trying to make a point about DRM.
//redundant: This will fly when Ballmer gets hold of it.
One Question? (Score:4, Insightful)
WHY?
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Then I have a better question for you. Albeit a longer one.
Why not?
Needed! (Score:2, Insightful)
We need this to protect the livelihoods of furniture makers in America. This will save millions of jobs. Imagine the horror of a person buying a chair and using it upwards to an infinite amount of times!
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Worse yet they can be resold on the used market, directly cannibalizing new sales!
Already hacked... (Score:2)
Healthcare (Score:2)
Just you wait until the healthcare industry begins using this type of planned obsolescence....
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Well most if not all of the customers of the healthcare industry do have some kind of planned obsolescence built in.
You know what they say... (Score:2)
Nothing new (Score:2)
This is nothing new. Steve Ballmer first tested chair destruction DRM at Microsoft nearly a decade ago.
I had a chair self-destruct under me (Score:2)
But I thought it was just because I was too fat.
Raiders of the Lost Ark (Score:2)
You wouldn't? (Score:3, Insightful)
You wouldn't download a movie that falls apart after 8 uses would you?
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You wouldn't download a movie that falls apart after 8 uses would you?
I'm not too sure; there are plenty of movies I've only watched a few times. If there was a discount for the 8-use one, I might consider it.
But I would love for someone to make the chairs.
.. making the product unusable without some carpentry skills
I'd have an unlimited supply of chairs, easily culled from people that don't know how to fix 8-use chairs. And a whole mess of Arduinos as a bonus!
Not useless.... (Score:2)
This would be great for musical chairs. Needs to melt a little faster, but just set the chairs to have one destruct after each round, and no more need to manually remove a chair each time.
DRM toilets (Score:2)
I'm waiting for the DRM toilet video in 5...4...3...2...
Self-destrucint furniture (Score:3)
I once "inherited" a cheap couch that was designed to cut through some foam padding after minimal use and become uncomfortable. I say it was intentional because it would take forethought and malice design a couch with metal wires against foam that would obviously fail in this fashion.
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Who brought that chair in here? Not me.
No way.
Not my chair, not my problem I say.
Re:!DRM (Score:5, Insightful)
This is called Planned Obsolescence
No, this is Programmed obsolescence. Planned obsolescence depends on statistics. This is much more reliable, and should really help with the spreadsheets.
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Nevertheless if coupled with a license, programmed obsolescence is a form of DRM, it controls the application of a license by means of software and hardware.
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That's a premium feature only available on chairs for board rooms.
Or at least it should be.
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Most of the sitters looked as if they were mounting a toilet and getting ready to take a big dump. It must have been fragile the way they all were being so gentle with it, and not one of them leaned against the back rest... cute idea though.
Let's say you were in a car with seatbelts that were guaranteed to fail after 30 miles, you don't think that even from miles 10-20 you wouldn't be a bit more cautious while driving?
It could be solid as a rock, but in your mind, you know there is a device which will cause