
The worlds worst IoT idea is almost fully funded - lawwantsin17
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/candletouch/candle-touch-the-first-smart-connected-real-flame-candle
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smoyer
Sometimes I wonder if some KickStarter campaigns are simply money laundering
efforts. Create something that no one in their right mind would want and have
your mules make pledges.

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Moeancurly
I had the same thought, especially since 73% of their funding is owed to the
$10,000 nondescript "retail package" tier.

I can see people throwing away their money at a silly Kickstarter idea, but I
have a hard time believing that not one but two "retail entities" saw this and
came to the conclusion that $80 retail price for one candle is viable enough
to pledge 10 grand for a mystery custom retail package.

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smoyer
The guys on the Grumpy Old Geeks podcast are always laughing because the hacks
they envision when looking at new products (software, IoT, SmartAnything)
often show up some number of months later. I wonder whether we'll see this in
a newspaper headline in a couple years.

[https://gog.show/](https://gog.show/)

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aaron695
> The worlds worst IoT idea is almost fully funded

Most dangrous perhaps.

This is an absolutely great idea. An actual use for IoT that makes sense.

But it is very unsafe.

If could be put away and accidentally ignited, or have been knocked over.

If you can't see how useful it is, then you are quite short-sighted.

But the reason it's so great is people haven't designed non IoT versions
because of the extreme danger.

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lawwantsin17
How is using your phone to light something on fire a great idea? It leaves a
huge security problem in it's wake.

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aaron695
If you can solve the issue of accident fires, there are no huge security
issues. It would not be any different to a normal light.

I can not see a time where a 'hacker' could light it and cause a fire but it
not have the issue of accidental fire.

Skipping that, it an amazing product. Candles are for some reason important to
human beings. This would sell well and it's what people want, and I think make
lives a little better, actually tying abstract technology to something real.

I have no idea how you can mitigate the fire risk, if you could though you'd
probably save lives given current candle deaths, but I think it's not
possible.... Certainly in it's current form it will kill people through
accidents.

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sunnydayddr
What is the use case for lighting a candle remotely? This seems a lot worse
than a candle with a physical ignition button on it.

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aaron695
You walk home and get 10 candles going, and in places you can't reach.

I think the use case is incredibly obvious.

Exactly the same as lighting! And smells too if you want.

Being IoT it is also safer than candles once you solve the lighting it safely
without being able to see it issue. If a cat physically knocks it over it can
warn you, normal candles don't.

You could argue it'll make candles more common and cause more fires, but
that's a different issue.

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sunnydayddr
If you're lighting them in places you can't reach, that seems to imply that
you will not be able to put them out easily either, and it sounds like there
is no off switch for this smart candle-- you have to do it by hand.

Warning you when they knock over would be pretty neat though. I hope that
feature is implemented in this product.

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altec3
The real feature I would want from an IoT candle is to be able to turn it off
if I leave the house or go to sleep. You have to phyiscally put a lid on this
candle to turn it off?

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theincredulousk
Yes, what they have here is akin to an IoT light bulb that you can turn on but
not turn off, with the added bonus that in this case "on" is a safety risk.

Don't often see a true-to-life, physical embodiment of the phrase "half baked"

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bryanrasmussen
Is it really the world's worst though? I mean the candle can still be lit with
a match after the company closes down right?

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lawwantsin17
It's a remote incendiary device. That anyone can just buy and use to burn down
any structure with no barrier to entry. That's the point. Why are people so
obtuse?

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flukus
If you want to burn down a structure then a molotov cocktail is a lower
barrier to entry and requires less access than this candle would. And if you
have the access necessary the a remote control kids toy plus some fuel would
be almost as easy. At best this gives some plausible deniability.

If a lot of people really wanted to start fires I think we'd see more fires.

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bryanrasmussen
I don't even think it gives really any plausible deniability, I don't think
you could buy this, burn down your house, and expect to collect the insurance.

If I was going to burn down something it's not really great.

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wil421
Can you allow random people to control it? Kinda of like the Twitch plays
Pokémon. Reddit scents my house.

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shaftway
The best part is that you have to use their wax refills. So they'd get you on
the initial purchase and then get you again supplying you with wax.

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lawwantsin17
Please report this to the Kickstarter staff. This is the least thought through
IoT project I've ever seen and that's a tall order.

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Moeancurly
Dumb wax warmer + smart outlet is a good alternative for anyone that likes
this concept but dislikes it when their house burns down.

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testHNac
I see a demand from people making wedding videos - a couple in a romantic
backdrop and suddenly candles light up.

Other than that I am not sure. Wonder if the ignition device is height
adjustable. If I have a half used candle, where the wick doesn't reach the
ignition device - I guess I will need to replace the candle.

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mannewalis
In other news, you can now remotely start fires from your phone.

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stallmanite
Even better: Anyone on the internet can start fires in your house.

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just_myles
I'm sure no one has asked for this(Please don't judge me.). But I would be
willing to drop 25 bucks on this not 49 as that is way too high.

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tuesday20
What are you basing $25 on? Also, how much are you willing to pay for the
refills?

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DerekL
Actual title is “Candle Touch™- The First Smart, Connected, Real-Flame
Candle”. Don't editorialize in the submission title.

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Nasrudith
The real punchline is that it has a /reminder/ to blow out the candle. If they
were remotely concerned about safety it would involve local timers which
reliably extinguish it even if it lost power and the battery died. That would
still have "cat knocked it over onto flammables" risks but it would actually
be less dangerous than conventional candles.

~~~
winrid
Well, that mechanism would make the candle a lot less attractive unless they
found a way to completely change the style.

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ksaj
At least there is a market for it among magicians.
[https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/close-up-magic/spark-
self-...](https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/close-up-magic/spark-self-
lighting-candle/)

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unlinked_dll
I don't know what's more surprising, that they need 30 grand to get a
prototype out the door (I feel like this could be done with off-the-shelf
parts way cheaper than that, starting fires electrically is something every
undergrad EE should be well versed in) or that they say they've spent _five
years_ working on it.

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time0ut
Internet connected candle ransomware: insert 1btc or your house burns down?

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joshlittle
Would the Underwriters Laboratory even certify this nonsense?

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owenmarshall
“App enabled” ovens, if you read the manual, come in one of two flavors:

* Bluetooth only, no WiFi, to mandate proximity

* Manual activation steps required, like turning the knob to a “remote enable” setting, so you have to validate that nothing that’ll catch fire is in the oven.

A big reason this was done was because the UL has a real distaste for
combining fire with not being present to watch the fire - and that’s in a
closed space by an appliance that is purpose built for that.

So yeah, no. Absolutely not.

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abgrico
Can´t wait to read the "Hacked Smart Candle starts massive fire in California,
again" headlines.

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winrid
We'll just disable the internet when it gets windy.

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winrid
If you leave the lid on it's not a threat right?

Also I'd like to see one with an automatic lid.

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jascii
What could possibly go wrong?

