- cross-posted to:
- technology@beehaw.org
- medicine@mander.xyz
- hackernews@derp.foo
- cross-posted to:
- technology@beehaw.org
- medicine@mander.xyz
- hackernews@derp.foo
Software that controls your body should always respect your freedom. This article is a recap of scandals of medical devices, like hearing aids, insulin pumps, bionic eyes, and pacemakers, and what we can learn from them. It’s astonishing: you wouldn’t expect these devices to be run by software in such a way that they can leave you completely helpless.
There’s a reason why Google and Apple let developers test out pre-release versions of their OSes months before the release. Companies which don’t test their apps out to prepare for new versions are at fault, nothing else.
I agree wholeheartedly, alas we live in an imperfect world. It sounds like you’ve waited for an update or two that took longer than expected.
I’m not arguing that the source code shouldn’t be made public. If someone posses the right skills they should definitely be able to take full control over the devices they depend on to keep them alive. It’s a invasive feeling knowing you depend on a gizmo to not die.
The author of this article is glossing over a lot of steps by implying that open sourcing the apps and firmware is a fix for delays in app store approval or other common problems that are inherent in the software/hardware ecosystem. It not really a flawed argument, it’s just not what I would’ve lead with.