Firmware Updates

My “app” notified me that there was a firmware update for my bird feeder. So I dutifully downloaded and then installed it.

The feeder has a camera and motion detector in it, controlled in part by firmware. The firmware also enables my feeder to connect through my home WiFi through the internet to the manufacture’s web site. This is how it can determine if there is an updated version available. The point here, however, is not to talk about the feeder, but rather how many things now have embedded firmware that enables some functionality beyond the purely mechanically based capabilities. I guess 15 – 20 years ago, Gartner call this the “internet of things”, as all these things require a connection to function, but more importantly, to determine if they should update themselves.

It made me think how many things in our home contain firmware. So in the order that I recalled, these are the things in our house that require firmware and sometimes ask to be updated:

• Desktop
• Laptop
• iPad
• iPhone
• Watch
• Light switches
• Wall Plugs / Outlets
• Power monitors
• TVs
• TV box / controller
• Air sensors / monitors
• Plant watering timers / controllers
• Speakers
• Bird feeder
• Printers
• Router
• Network Hub
• Disk drives
• Cameras
• Lenses
• Battery backup (UPS)
• Car
• Robots (Roomba and Braava)
• Garage Door
• Solar panel inverter
• Scale
• Exercise bike