A Shoe That Ties Itself May Not Be the Stupidest Thing Ever

A shoe that comes with an app just might be. Nike Is Killing the App for Its $350 Self-Tying Sneakers | WIRED

That's right. A $350 pair of Nike shoes, that came with an app. They are from 2019. The app is being discontinued and removed from the Android and Apple environments. You are SOL for the app.

You can still make the shoes tie themselves, you just can't do it by way of your phone.

Why did Nike discontinue the app? Because they can. And because they have your $350 bucks, and the side of the box said they could screw you over whenever they want to, and you agreed to that when you opened the box.

In an announcement recently spotted by The Verge, Nike's brief explanation for discontinuing the app is that Nike "is no longer creating new versions of Adapt shoes.” The company started informing owners about the app's retirement about four months ago.

Those who already bought the shoes can still use the app after August 6, but it's expected that iOS or Android updates will eventually make the app unusable. Also, those who get a new device won't be able to download Adapt after August 6.

Why did BMW try to make access to the heated seats in your car a subscription? At least they got beat down on that, but they were trying to extort a monthly or yearly payment from people who bought their cars to have continued access to the heated seats they purchased. Or did they really purchase heated seats? If BMW can take them away from you at any time, do you own it?

Samsung bricked a refrigerator, because they didn't want to support the app. The refrigerator in that case STOPPED keeping stuff cold - it wasn't just that the app features were no longer available. The refrigerator was turned into a boat anchor.

Fisker's web-connected sunroof is another example. Though it isn't clear if the bankruptcy will kill that immediately or not. It will die eventually. There are more examples.

Stop buying stuff that connects to your phone for no valid reason. Stop buying into the idea that everything needs to connect to the cloud. The companies will either abandon you, or extort money from you in the future.