3109: Dehumidifier

2025-06-30T19:24:04Z

2607:FB90:9E43:BF4:5913:8C92:4A71:3576: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 3109
| date = June 30, 2025
| title = Dehumidifier
| image = dehumidifier_2x.png
| imagesize = 295x327px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It's important for devices to have internet connectivity so the manufacturer can patch remote exploits.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created WITHOUT INTERNET ACCESS. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

In this comic, [[Randall]] mocks the recent trend of various appliances, such as induction stoves or juicers, that traditionally do not require an internet connection to work, being connected to the internet. A {{w|dehumidifier}} has a relatively simple function which does not obviously offer any possibility for improvements to its operation that could be achieved without changes to its hardware, so it's unclear what benefit being able to receive updates via the internet would confer. [[Cueball]]'s sarcastic reply underlines the unlikeliness of a situation occurring where an update would be necessary. The implication is that many of these internet-connected devices are examples of over-engineering a solution to do things 'because we can' or because it makes it sound advanced to the customer, rather than because it offers any real added value.

The title text says that authorized internet access is required to patch remote exploits (i.e. harmful unauthorized access from the internet). If this is the only use case that requires internet access, it would be much simpler to remove the attack vector for remote exploits by not having it connected to the internet in the first place.

A related device was previously refered to in [[3044: Humidifier Review]], and the issue of possibly considering online protection of devices that (arguably) should not be so easily exploitable was looked at in [[463: Voting Machines]].

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

: [A salesman is showing Cueball a dehumidifier, with a "SALE" label on it.]

: Salesman: This dehumidifier model features built-in WiFi for remote updates.
: Cueball: Great! That will be really useful if they discover a new kind of water.

==Trivia==

Technically, there are many different kinds of liquid water, based on the possible isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen atoms that its molecules are composed of. There are 3 naturally-occurring {{w|isotopes of hydrogen}}, with 6 possible combinations for its two atoms in a water molecule, and 4 naturally-occurring {{w|isotopes of oxygen}}. This gives 6 × 4 = 24 kinds of naturally-occurring water molecules, which could be present in liquid water in any proportions, although 99.7% of all such molecules will be the 'normal' version of water. (The isotopic ratios in "natural" water are relatively stable, so there's very little variation in water found in nature.) There are also synthetic isotopes of each, all radioactive, most having short half-lives. How many of these could be used to constitute water would depend in part on one's definition of whether a molecule of water could be said to have been formed prior to the decay of its constituent atoms. Each isotopically-distinct version of water has very slightly different physical and chemical properties, though the differences are small and the versions hard to separate. There are also 26 known {{w|phases of ice}} (solid water), each of which could be made from any combination of the isotopically-distinct versions of water in any proportions.

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3109: Dehumidifier