A hot potato: In a prime example of the enshittification of everything in the entire world, a fitness company pushed out an update earlier this year that essentially stops its machines from working as intended when they're not connected to the internet – you also need a subscription to see more than just basic data. A developer later jailbroke the bikes, restoring offline functionality, but he can't legally release the fix due to copyright laws.
Echelon's July firmware update changed how its smart fitness products operate offline, forcing the machines to connect to the company's servers. Without an internet connection, resistance, console metrics, and connected features are disabled, virtually bricking the machine. Moreover, a subscription of $40 per month or $400 per year is required if you want more than just basic functionality.
If that wasn't bad enough, the update also disabled compatibility with free or cheap third-party apps, which allowed users to see information such as pedaling power, distance traveled, and other stats.
In response to the update, right-to-repair advocate and YouTube star Louis Rossmann announced that he would pay a $20,000 bounty through his Fulu Foundation to anyone who was able to jailbreak and unlock Echelon equipment
"I call this a repair because I believe that the firmware update that they pushed out breaks your bike," Rossmann said.
Ricky Witherspoon, an app developer who made an app called SyncSpin that had worked with Echelon bikes before the firmware update, told 404 Media that he has already restored offline functionality to Echelon equipment and won the $20,000 bounty. But he and the Fulu Foundation say he cannot open-source or release the tool as it would violate Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which governs reverse engineering.
While there are exemptions to Section 1201, most of them allow these types of jailbreaks only to be used for personal use.
"It's like picking a lock, and it's a lock that I own in my own house. I bought this bike, it was unlocked when I bought it, why can't I distribute this to people who don't have the technical expertise I do?" Witherspoon told 404 Media. "It would be one thing if they sold the bike with this limitation up front, but that's not the case. They reached into my house and forced this update on me without users knowing. It's just really unfortunate."
Kevin O'Reilly, who works with Rossmann on the Fulu Foundation, said that many people chose Echelon's products because of their third-party compatibility that stopped them from being locked into using the company's app. "But now, if the manufacturer can come in and push a firmware update that requires you to pay for subscription features that you used to have on a device you bought in the first place, well, you don't really own it."
"I think this is part of the broader trend of enshittification, right?," O'Reilly added. "Consumers are feeling this across the board, whether it's devices we bought or apps we use – it's clear that what we thought we were getting is not continuing to be provided to us."
Another recurring problem with online-only products is that they often stop working when servers go offline – whether because a company shuts down or simply decides to pull the plug. We've seen this happen with Insteon, Spotify's Car Thing, the Humane AI Pin, and more.
Use their weapons against them 
