Editing 3109: Dehumidifier

{{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|Needs to be cleaned up (grammar, etc.). Remove this notice once done.}}

In this comic, [[Randall]] mocks the recent trend of various appliances, such as stoves and juicers, being connected to the internet even though one would expect them to be able to function without an internet connection. A {{w|dehumidifier}} removes moisture from the air. There are no obvious ways to improve dehumidifier operation without changes to its hardware. Modern machines are incapable of self-modifying their hardware "on the fly". They require physical intervention to modify, by a person, and any associated firmware updates can be accomodated for through the tools the suitably-equipped engineer may use. Practical entirely self-modifying machines could, perhaps, be composed of practical self-organising nanobot elements. Thus it's unclear what benefits there are in being able to receive updates via the internet, in any classically constructed machine, and [[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, and therefore more desirable to the customer, rather than because it offers any real added-value.

Dehumidifiers ''can'' provide information which might be useful to access remotely. For instance, it might be important to know the level of water in the storage tank (which must be emptied when full), the percentage of time the humidifier is paused for de-icing, a log of the observed humidity level over time and whether the humidity exceeds a certain limit (which could indicate dehumidifier malfunction, or that the dehumidifier is inadequate to the conditions). Though how actionable and urgent this information would be is debatable, and periodic checks of an on-device status panel should suffice for most practical situations.

However, many devices like this now offer, or even require, connections to a special app or to the internet, under the remit of sending operational information to a user through their own devices for record-keeping purposes, ''or'' attempting to alert them to a particularly critical condition (or at least the temporary failure of any networking). They are typically configured to connect through servers run by the device's manufacturer, perhaps to provide them with real-time {{w|telemetry}} and (potential) adjustment of ''all'' their licensed equipment. But when that server goes away, some devices may stop working.

The title text says that authorized internet access is required to patch remote {{w|Exploit (computer security)|exploits}} (i.e., harmful unauthorized access from the internet). If this is the sole use-case that requires internet access, it would have been much simpler to never have had the {{w|attack vector}} for remote exploits connected in the first place. The most likely source of remote access would probably be the remote updater itself. (There are proofs-of-concept of devices being hacked through acoustic-based or light-based attacks, possibly through hacked speakers or even from outside the house), and a patch could possibly circumvent those attacks, but this already opens up the possibility of the secondary unsecured attack-vector being used to hide the exploit, or even close down the ability to pick up any official fixes by the 'normal' network-based method.)

"New kind of water" could refer to {{w|heavy water}}, {{w|tritiated water}}, {{w|doubly labeled water}}, {{w|hydronium}}, {{w|semiheavy water}}, {{w|deuterium-depleted water}} or something which isn't detected/invented yet. However, generic dehumidifiers are not generally required to distinguish between these and treat them differently so, unless its hardware is already heavily modified for a particularly novel environment, the effectiveness of remotely adding differently preferential behaviours is questionable. It is also very hard to imagine a situation, in which vapors of "new kind of water" would end up in house in significant quantities; the various "new waters" can cause minor biological harm (being too weak to use as chemical weapons, yet too unsafe to be found in significant quantities in an ordinary house). They are most predominantly found in nuclear reactor facilities, which in turn have no everyday use for household dehumidifiers, and don't appear naturally to any significant degree, if at all.

Yet there ''is'' a method, which could allow to get positive results from built-in computer and Wi-Fi: {{tvtropes|NotTheIntendedUse|gaining unrestricted access to device's internal computer}} (anything capable of running ''{{w|Doom (1993 video game)|Doom}}'' and/or participating in "{{w|Mirai (malware)|Mirai}}" botnet does have a computer inside), possibly via undocumented features or hacking. For example, to connect all household appliances into single distributed computation network, which could do useful computations (e.g. host a covert website; calculate chemical/biological reactions; mine cryptocurrency; initiate DDoS-attacks upon other networked systems; run arbitrary programs; be used as ersatz PC; etc). Their inner data storage (flash drive, hard drive, etc) could be used to store all sorts of files, as extra disk space or for confidential data (since household appliances aren't ''meant'' to store arbitrary data or run arbitrary programs, they're unlikely to be attacked or searched). Some devices connect through the {{w|cellular network}}, or similarly independent communications with the manufacturer/vendor/supplied, and so may accordingly have some form of connection that is entirely independent of your own household internet. If they have this ''and'' the ability to establish a local Wi-Fi connection, this could result in several unanticipated connotations for the user and/or provider. They should have access to variety of interesting places (e.g. the servers of their manufacturer, from which they download updates, and to which send error messages). The problem with this, is that "smart" appliances are often comparable or weaker than micro-PCs (like "{{w|Raspberry Pi|Pi}}" variants) — while often costing more than a combination of a normal appliance and a Pi micro-PC — making such devices not viable for computations, unless either user ''already'' has smart devices in his house, or a device requires abnormally high computing power for it's job due to over-engineering (some multifunction printers may have storage capacities ranging from significant fractions of gigabytes up to terabytes, as a means of buffering documents being [[2369: All-in-One|scanned/printed]]).

A related device was previously referred 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]] and [[1966: Smart Home Security]]. Comic [[1912: Thermostat]] also deals with risks of adding computers to appliances.

==Transcript==
: [A store salesman, Hairy, is showing Cueball a dehumidifier with a "SALE" label on it. Several other unidentified devices, possibly other dehumidifier models, are shown in the store as well.]

: Hairy: 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. One of the most well known is {{w|heavy water}}, deuterium oxide, that is sometimes used in nuclear devices. There are 3 naturally-occurring {{w|isotopes of hydrogen}}<!-- including one of 'trace' quantities-->, with 6 possible combinations for its two atoms in a water molecule, and 4 naturally-occurring {{w|isotopes of oxygen}}<!-- including one of 'trace' quantities-->. This gives 6 × 4 = 24 kinds of naturally-occurring water molecules, which could be present in liquid water in any proportions. In ordinary water as found under mundane circumstances on Earth, 99.7% of all such molecules<!-- based upon given prevalences --> will be the 'normal' version of water: two atoms of <sup>1</sup>H and one atom of <sup>16</sup>O. (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<!-- as are the two 'trace' Hydrogen and Oxygen ones, so maybe it should be 2x3=6 kinds of stable water..?-->. 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. (Separation is further complicated by the extremely rapid rate with which molecules in liquid water {{w|Grotthuss mechanism|exchange hydrogen ions (protons)}} between themselves.) The differences would not be at all important to a consumer-grade dehumidifier.

As of when this comic was posted, 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. These might count as different "kinds of water", and one was discovered in 2025; others may yet be discovered. Only one of these phases, Ice I<sub>h</sub>, is likely to be found on an iced-over dehumidifier under normal conditions of use.

In the {{w|Twin Earth thought experiment}}, there exists a second Earth (called Twin Earth), in every way identical to ours, except that there is no water as we know it. Instead, there is XYZ, a substance that is chemically distinct from water, but is experientially identical to water, and referred to by the inhabitants of Twin Earth as "water". Surprisingly, this dehumidifier might be useful, if the manufacturer was also planning to sell it on Twin Earth.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category: Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category: Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category: Internet]]