We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum... Read More »
Debate House Prices
In order to help keep the Forum a useful, safe and friendly place for our users, discussions around non MoneySaving matters are no longer permitted. This includes wider debates about general house prices, the economy and politics. As a result, we have taken the decision to keep this board permanently closed, but it remains viewable for users who may find some useful information in it. Thank you for your understanding.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
Nice People Thread No. 14, all Nice and Proper
Options
Comments
-
vivatifosi wrote: »We use RFID tracking on library books. The price of tagging, as I understand it, is reducing as RFID becomes more commonplace. So the risk as a business model is going to be someone copying your software and making a cheaper solution, then being caught with a lot of overpriced stock. FWIW I think it is a great idea, but the tags are too expensive. I'd love to be able to trace lost things though.
Please ignore what I've said if RFID is not the basis of the technology.
The underlying tech is Bluetooth.
The interesting bit when it comes to being out and about rather than at home is that anyone else with the app that happens to walk past my tagged item will transmit its whereabouts to me.0 -
GDB, I've just added an extra sentence to my previous post thanking you for your note of caution, and then see that you've already thanked my post, so may not see that I've edited it. Want you to know about the thank you, though.
Do you know anyone who's bereaved? Point them to https://www.AtaLoss.org which does for bereavement support what MSE does for financial services, providing links to support organisations relevant to the circumstances of the loss & the local area. (Link permitted by forum team)
Tyre performance in the wet deteriorates rapidly below about 3mm tread - change yours when they get dangerous, not just when they are nearly illegal (1.6mm).
Oh, and wear your seatbelt. My kids are only alive because they were wearing theirs when somebody else was driving in wet weather with worn tyres.0 -
Can I take on the role of wet blanket?
These trackers use low-power Bluetooth technology, so I assume that your phone has to be within a few metres of the item you are looking for. So, it would be great if you drop your keys in the bin, but not very helpful if you drop them outside somewhere.
To compensate for that, they are trying to set up a network of many phones running their software, so the device only needs to be near one of these other phones to be tracked. In practice, that only works if you have a large number, a very very large number, of other phones running the software the whole time.
The claimed battery life is under a year, so it will not help you much if you sew one into a coat, as you will have to keep on changing the battery. One reviewer on the ios app says the actual battery life is one month.
I tend to lose stuff at home, not when out and about so it is ideal for me. The Generalissimos will put the remote for the TV or air con under a cushion or take it into their room.
The claimed battery life is a year and the app reports a battery level in each device so either the review is:
- From a competitor or someone else with an axe to grind
- From an older version
- The tech to check the battery doesn't work
I'm very pleased so far. We'll see how things go. I'm not going to jack in my job to sell them so if they turn out to be rubbish I can simply stop selling them.:)0 -
vivatifosi wrote: »If I was an early adopter (I'm not typically so should probably stop here), I'd want to tag multiple items: car keys, laptop, tablet, phone... so rather than paying £15 for one I'd rather pay £30 for a kit containing say six. I don't think early adopters, by their nature, will have just one thing that they want to track.
I find it interesting this sort of technology, independent of whether I am a potential consumer or not.
What happens if you attach a tag to someone elses keys and then lay claim to those keys to a passing constable (as if!), demonstrating how the technology proves ownership.
To work fully both the items doing the protecting and the devices being protected need to have a verifiable and (relatively) unmodifiable concept of "self". They then need to cooperate with other devices once the authorisation to do so is proven.
A tag which merely fastens on to something has obvious limitations.
In the security field of work (infosec) there are some often heated debates on the issues involved. It's fascinating at times.
I remember one guy arguing that you can only authenticate on the "soul" :rotfl:0 -
...
The claimed battery life is a year and the app reports a battery level in each device so either the review is:
- From a competitor or someone else with an axe to grind
- From an older version
- The tech to check the battery doesn't work
I'm very pleased so far. We'll see how things go. I'm not going to jack in my job to sell them so if they turn out to be rubbish I can simply stop selling them.:)
Early devices often face power challenges. The good thing is that you can often roll field updates nowadays and change the firmware.
Power issues are just a hurdle, not a blocker.
I hope things like this do work because it proves that crowdsourcing can inspire innovation.0 -
The underlying tech is Bluetooth.
The interesting bit when it comes to being out and about rather than at home is that anyone else with the app that happens to walk past my tagged item will transmit its whereabouts to me.
They need to reach a critical mass of people running the app for that to work. Do you know how many people have the app running?No reliance should be placed on the above! Absolutely none, do you hear?0 -
100,000-500,000 have the Android version apparently.
No idea how many have the iOS.
A rule of thumb is apparently the number of downloads is 100 times the number of reviews for a free app. The ios version has 160 reviews, so 16000 downloads. Of course, not all of those are still running the app.
I turn bluetooth off nearly all the time, to save battery life. So, even if people have the app, they might only run it when looking for something. Or, even if they run it, they might not have bluetooth on.
Perhaps I should turn the wet blanket mode off now?
No reliance should be placed on the above! Absolutely none, do you hear?0 -
A rule of thumb is apparently the number of downloads is 100 times the number of reviews for a free app. The ios version has 160 reviews, so 16000 downloads. Of course, not all of those are still running the app.
I turn bluetooth off nearly all the time, to save battery life. So, even if people have the app, they might only run it when looking for something. Or, even if they run it, they might not have bluetooth on.
Perhaps I should turn the wet blanket mode off now?
Looking at App Store, Facebook has 236 reviews. I have feeling that theory is flawed
I'm pretty sure that any update to an app seems to reboot the whole review process.Everything that is supposed to be in heaven is already here on earth.
0 -
A rule of thumb is apparently the number of downloads is 100 times the number of reviews for a free app. The ios version has 160 reviews, so 16000 downloads. Of course, not all of those are still running the app.
I turn bluetooth off nearly all the time, to save battery life. So, even if people have the app, they might only run it when looking for something. Or, even if they run it, they might not have bluetooth on.
Perhaps I should turn the wet blanket mode off now?
If you like. I quite like having my views challenged.
I note the following:
1. Everyone I have spoken to in person loves the idea of it
2. Having used it for a week or so I love it
3. I'm not going to be put off because an anonymous person on the interwebs that may or may not work for a competitor gave it a bad review.
4. It's £15 a pop so it's not like I'm stealing every last penny from an aged widow or something. TBH I'd spend £15 a year on being able to find my wallet and phone every morning guaranteed.
You are very welcome to buy one from me and test drive it. Please.0
This discussion has been closed.
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply
Categories
- All Categories
- 351.2K Banking & Borrowing
- 253.2K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 453.7K Spending & Discounts
- 244.2K Work, Benefits & Business
- 599.2K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 177K Life & Family
- 257.6K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16.2K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.6K Read-Only Boards