The Internet has allowed us to create some very clever gadgets and services, and we’re only just starting to entertain a new category of devices known as the Internet of Things. However, it’s easy to overlook how relying on the Internet can go so very wrong, and in 2016 it means your pet could potentially starve.
That’s the problem facing owners of the Petnet SmartFeeder, which is an automatic pet feeding system controller with an iPhone. It allows you to remotely control when your pet gets fed and the size of the portions. It sounds ideal for someone who’s out of the house all day working, or away on business or holiday for a few days.
The problem with the SmartFeeder, though, is that in order to work it requires a connection to a server, and that server isn’t working at the moment. Alan, an iOS engineer working at Uber, tweeted the following service update he received from Petnet regarding the SmartFeeder:
Loss of scheduled feeds and failed remote feedings is a fancy way of saying “your pet will not be fed.” There’s also no estimated fix time, meaning owners who happen to be away from their pets for an extended period of time right now may be left frantically trying to contact someone who can make sure their pet doesn’t starve.
Loving pet owners would never leave their pet in a situation where they may starve (or not see a human regularly), and for them this is just a frustrating situation that will be easy to resolve with a call to their designated pet sitter. However, you can bet there is at least one person out there who has gone on holiday for a week or more and left their pet’s feeding completely in the hands of a SmartFeeder.