Smart Beds Helped Them Sleep on a Cloud. Then the Cloud Crashed.; The New York Times, October 24, 2025

 Sopan Deb, The New York Times; Smart Beds Helped Them Sleep on a Cloud. Then the Cloud Crashed.

[Kip Currier: Another interesting example -- probably surprising for most of us who don't have "smart beds", including me -- of the ways that smart devices and the Internet of Things (IoT) can impact us. In this instance, people's sleep!

The paperback version of my book, Ethics, Information, and Technology, is available via Amazon on November 13, 2025 (link here too) and has a significant section on the ethical issues implicated by IoT and smart devices.]

[Excerpt]

"Some users of the smart-bed system Eight Sleep, who sleep atop a snug, temperature-regulating mattress cover in search of “zero-gravity rest,” were rousted from their slumber earlier this week for a surprising reason.

Eight Sleep’s collections of smart products, which the company calls “Pods,” and include those “intelligent” mattress covers, were affected by an outage involving the cloud-storage provider Amazon Web Services, which sent large sectors of the internet into disarray on Monday.

The outage, which lasted more than two hours, took down websites for banks, gaming sites and entertainment services, as well as the messaging service WhatsApp. But it also affected people trying to get some shut-eye.

(First, to answer a question readers might have: Yes, there are smart mattress covers, just as there are smart watches, smart door locks and smart refrigerators.)"

The Internet Of Things Demystified: Connect, Collect, Analyze And Act; Forbes, October 12, 2023

 Bill Geary, Forbes; The Internet Of Things Demystified: Connect, Collect, Analyze And Act

"When you get past the acronyms and buzzwords that describe the platforms that help organizations manage their operations, it all boils down to gathering information so you can make good decisions. The tech industry establishes a lot of jargon that helps differentiate one technology from another. Those terms are helpful to IT professionals but often serve to confuse everyone else. The Internet of Things (IoT) is a term that creates confusion.

I prefer to describe this technology according to what it does. IoT is nothing more than connecting things, collecting information from them, analyzing it and acting upon it accordingly: connect, collect, analyze and act. By distilling the technology into a plain description, we demystify the term. We make it attainable and approachable—something that everyone can understand."

Inspector gadget: how smart devices are outsmarting criminals; Guardian, June 23, 2017

Rory Carroll, Guardian; 

Inspector gadget: how smart devices are outsmarting criminals

"Richard Dabate told police a masked intruder assaulted him and killed his wife in their Connecticut home. His wife’s Fitbit told another story and Dabate was charged with the murder.

James Bates said an acquaintance accidentally drowned in his hot tub in Arkansas. Detectives suspected foul play and obtained data from Bates’s Amazon Echo device. Bates was charged with murder.

Ross Compton told investigators he woke up to find his Ohio home on fire and climbed through a window to escape the flames. Compton’s pacemaker suggested otherwise. He was charged with arson and insurance fraud.

All three men, besides pleading innocence, have one thing in common: digital devices may help put them behind bars and etch them in criminal history as some of the first perpetrators busted by the internet of things...

[Brian Jackson, a criminal justice scholar at the Rand Corporation] warned technology was outpacing debate over privacy. “The general public isn’t aware of the full capabilities. It’s a symptom of our love of technology and lack of detailed skepticism.”

Privacy Concerns Over Amazon Echo; WCNC, June 8, 2017

Savannah Levins, WCNC; Privacy Concerns Over Amazon Echo

"A new feature on the popular Amazon Echo is causing some major privacy concerns.

The new feature unveiled last month allows your Amazon Alexa to make calls and send voice messages. But that also means a simple slip could send your conversations out for anyone to hear.

A Cary, N.C. man says the update caused his device to record and send out a private conversation."