Ask Slashdot: Which Software/Devices Are Unusable Without Connecting to the Internet? (techdirt.com) 201
New submitter AlejandroTejadaC writes: Currently, most commercial software and hardware manufactures rely on an internet connection for registering or activating their products and providing additional functionality. In an ideal world this works fine, but in our real world the buyer could lose access to internet for months --
such as in emergency situations like the aftermath of hurricane Maria -- and their products will refuse to work because they need an internet connection. Which companies are using their internet servers as replacements for hardware dongles? I want to see a complete list of software and devices that become completely unusable without a live internet connection. Just remember the infamous case of the Razer Synapse.
Ooh! Oooh! The Juicero!! (Score:2)
Oh wait, they went bankrupt. Never mind!
Tasty juice tho.
Depends on what it does (Score:2)
Re: Depends on what it does (Score:3)
You prefered the days of USB dongles, license servers and an inability to rent per-minute licenses? I for one didn't I ask companies to add internet connection based licensing, I'm so sick and tired of managing FlexLM servers, replacement dongles and paying $1,000 a year when we desparately need it for 60 minutes.
Re: Depends on what it does (Score:5, Insightful)
have you ever heard the term "false dichotomy"?
because, you know, internet spyware and $1000 dongles are not the only alternatives.
Re: Depends on what it does (Score:5, Interesting)
You prefered the days of USB dongles, license servers and an inability to rent per-minute licenses? I for one didn't I ask companies to add internet connection based licensing, I'm so sick and tired of managing FlexLM servers, replacement dongles and paying $1,000 a year when we desparately need it for 60 minutes.
I'll take a local license file and FlexLM manager any day over internet-dependent services.
I can handle one license server having issues, impeding work. I sure as hell don't want to deal with all of my license managers going down if I lose internet service.
And 60 minutes a year define your usage requirement? I'd outsource that shit.
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60 minutes a year define your usage requirement? I'd outsource that shit.
That's about my usage for printers, and for a long time I was relying on print services like ups store, and it was a huge pain in the ass. I ended up buying a wifi printer and it's also a pain in the ass so unfortunately there's no happy conclusion to my story.
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The problem is that I use the built-in scanner a lot, since most of the stuff I print is documents I get by email that I have to sign and return. I've looked at other solutions and none is cheaper than my piece of shit inkjet/scanner combo.
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Try wired multifunction HP LaserJet, it works with almost any computing device with a USB port. And HP is among the best at supporting SANE on GNU/Linux.
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And HP is among the best at supporting SANE on GNU/Linux.
Unfortunately, HP is one of the most evil when it comes to printer DRM. If you give them money, you're paying to be abused. They are also gigantic assholes about driver updates on Windows. They drop old scanners from the driver even when they use the same protocols as scanners they are continuing to support. If your plan involves giving HP money so that they can continue to fuck people over, it's a shitty plan.
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HP is among the best at supporting SANE on GNU/Linux.
They are also gigantic assholes about driver updates on Windows. They drop old scanners from the driver even when they use the same protocols as scanners they are continuing to support.
Then use HP if your primary OS is GNU/Linux and a different brand if your primary OS is Windows.
Price of device vs Price of ownership (Score:3)
I've looked at other solutions and none is cheaper than my piece of shit inkjet/scanner combo.
...until your ink cartridge runs out.
(Which will happen after only 3 weeks, because why pack full-capacity inks cartridge, when you can pack demo cartridges.
Also, the whole "color" cartridge needs replacement, even if only one ink ran out.
Also, the ink in question is yellow, because fuck you US with your yellow dot coding.
Also, the ink didn't exactly run out, but the counter chip with DRM on it decided it's time to give up).
Then suddenly it seems cheaper to replace the whole printer than buy new cartridges.
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PCL is fine, as an output language. It's often interpreted faster than Postscript, which means you get your print jobs quicker. But it's absolutely mandatory that a printer speak at least PCL if not also Postscript, and not just some bullshit proprietary language for which there's no support. PCL is well-supported.
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I bought a Dell 1355 multifunction colour laser about 6-7 years ago (and had it for a whole two years before my mother borrowed and found it so useful she never gave it back). It had an Ethernet port and could talk SMB and FTP, so you can scan directly to a file server and emit PDFs (and you can print PDFs from there). It was about £100 new. I don't print much and found that I was spending a lot on my old inkjet because the ink would always have dried up and I'd end up buying a new cartridge for ev
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The problem is that I use the built-in scanner a lot, since most of the stuff I print is documents I get by email that I have to sign and return. I've looked at other solutions and none is cheaper than my piece of shit inkjet/scanner combo.
Why not just get a scan of your signature and apply it to documents then send back without all the faffing around printing and scanning. Plus it's way cheaper.
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You should try Office Lens or CamScanner on your phone. It's pretty amazing what they can do with a flat document; naturally a crinkled page is better on a flatbed. I have one of those all in one printer/scanners too, and I use CamScanner 95% of the time. I bought it years ago, but I think Office Lens is as good and free.
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Or use something like ImageMagick to overlay the signature while you snooze or watch golf, or even both at the same time.
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And 60 minutes a year define your usage requirement? I'd outsource that shit.
I recognised the UserID im_thatoneguy from other post-production forums as Gavin Greenwalt [imdb.com], so am guessing '60 minutes' refers to post-production on the television show '60 minutes' rather than a unit of time-usage.
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I like my dongle. I have the software installed on every computer I use - two work laptops and home laptop and a home desktop, and just have my dongle with me. Yes, it's costly if I lose it (a lot more than $1000), but I like the flexibility. My VPN connection to work servers is normally just fine... but there are days it seems it just doesn't want to work; I'd hate to have to go into work when I normally wouldn't have to because Comcast is out, or our VPN portal is being DDOS attacked or something.
When
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MUST.......RESIST........DONGLE.............JOKE!
But seriously, as terrible as local licence managers and dongles can be, at least when something goes wrong, you aren't left sitting in the dark hoping someone a thousand miles away will do the right thing to get things running again eventually. That and in some environments, a connection to the outside world is forbidden or just unavailable.
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You prefered the days of USB dongles, license servers and an inability to rent per-minute licenses?
I prefer software that doesn't have any of that garbage.
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Personally, I'm quite happy with a piece of software needing to talk over the Internet once to get activated, but software that phones home periodically and stops working if there no connection is the spawn of Satan as far as I am concerned. I used to have a big problem with Steam in this regard. It always seemed to want to phone home exactly at the time I was on a plane or a train without the Internet.
It doesn't seem so bad these days. Or perhaps that is a reflection of the ever more ubiquitous Internet co
I like it. (Score:3, Insightful)
The tradeoff is between the bad old days of hardware locked licenses or just as bad managing a license server. We have quite a bit of software that was a huge pain in the ass to move between computers or else had to connect to our vpn just to function. Connecting to the internet every few days is a small price to pay to simplify licensing and offer more flexibility in deployment.
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I don't mind the occasional licence check, what I mind is changing from a one-off payment to a subscription model.
Dumb lightswitches (Score:3)
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However, there are a number of silly bugs and missing features that make it practically unusable.
Which is why non-cloud products don't sell. Consumers like cloud based stuff, they like being able to download a phone app that does all the set-up for them, and lets them control their lightbulb from the office. Promising more features via firmware update is also a good marketing strategy, even if you don't delivery them *cough* Tesla *cough*
Sadly, security does not sell.
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Nothing! (Score:5, Interesting)
There is nothing on this planet that I need so badly, that I have to sacrifice it's ability to function if it cannot get on the Internet. If it cannot work on it's own, then it is of no use to me.
TiVo (Score:5, Interesting)
You have a two week grace period, but once it runs out of data and is no longer able to verify your paid account status... you've got an oddly shaped brick on your hands.
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Though I thought the topic also was about *initially setting up* the device. It needs the Internet to initially set up/set up your channel lineup/get the first set of guide data. (Obviously it needs to keep connecting to keep updating the guide data.)
Worse though, and I'm a HUGE tivo fan, is the reliance on the net for some things where data _does_ exist on your local Tivo.. e.g. View Upcoming. If you have a net glitch, you can't View Upcoming, even though that data is already on your Tivo. I do use som
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I’ve heard conflicting reports on this. Some people said that as of the Series 3, the tuners wouldn’t change channels - you could only play back already recorded shows (admittedly that’s still not a brick).
I have lifetime on my current box, so I can’t really test it.
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someone uses a TiVo? wow is it 2002 again
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I honestly didnt even know they still made them anymore
Barnes and Noble Nooks (Score:2)
I have several older Nooks by Barnes and Noble. Out of the box they are bricks until you activate them online.
A lot of software packages... (Score:5, Insightful)
...no longer include on-disk help files any more. Click on "About->Help" (or whatever) and you wind up directed to an external web page. I suppose it saved some disk space when the application was installed but pretty annoying if you hit a snag while using the software, need to access a reference, and internet access isn't available.
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Re:A lot of software packages... (Score:4, Insightful)
It also enables them to delete or redirect the help for older versions of software you paid for, pushing users into upgrades they otherwise didn't want or need. Like almost any phone-home software that isn't doing it as part of a genuine communications feature, it's just one more way to artificially limit the life of something that would otherwise carry on working just fine.
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There is literally nothing online can do that local patching can't.
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It especially sucks if you're trying to look up how to access the internet.
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Outage length makes this an interesting question (Score:2)
The only devices that I have that die quickly are over-the-top settop boxes for streaming TV.
However, since the OP specifically refers to events that can cause very long outages, I have some more:
Adobe, et al (Score:4, Interesting)
I pay Adobe for a software subscription every month. I also keep the latest installers, AMT Painter, cracked amtlib.dll files, etc. lying around in case something goes wrong. The last thing I need is to be broke and unable to pay for my subscription and lose access to my countless hours of work as a result. Regardless of your position within the ethical arguments surrounding software piracy and cracking, it is good practice to keep a known working cracked copy of any "online required" software lying around just in case the vendor cuts you off for some reason.
Oh, and Adobe refuses to activate old (i.e. CS1) versions of their software, so anyone that "bought" such software and has a computer problem will soon find out that they didn't "own" jack shit. I see no ethical dilemma with using a cracked copy in such cases. Fuck software activation.
Re:Adobe, et al (Score:4, Insightful)
it is good practice to keep a known working cracked copy of any "online required" software lying around just in case the vendor cuts you off for some reason.
Congratulations AC, you have offered the only useful and practical idea I've seen so far in this thread. Virtue signalling self-policing comments like, I tolerate Internet reliance because I'm a good person and I know there are bad people out there... people (laughably) listing things that are pointless without the Internet... uggh.
It is good to have cracked [frozen,current,standalone installable] versions even if the software is not strictly 'online required' today, but you have committed to follow an automatic patch-in update path where your operating version begins to diverge seriously from your purchased installable media past a major version. And especially if any step renders your oldest files to become un-usable (or even worse!) subject to some possibly-buggy "conversion step". The gist of it is, I have typically found software to be adept at converting from the previous major versions, but as I discovered on the long and tortuous Aldus Pagemaker 2 (came bundled with 'new' Microsoft Windows version 1.0.3!) thru Pagemaker 3,4,5 Adobe Indesign now Creative Suite path, converting your documents from versions beyond previous can be a shitshow.
I cite Pagemaker only to illustrate, for it was firmly grounded on the principle that you purchase software for life and are entitled to a functional offline installer. Since Adobe arrived on the scene that idea has been challenged somewhat, and because of that I never fully committed to the Indesign path. When you have stuff that works you should start to ignore new features, especially if they are Internet-bound and just work anyhow.
But I've been caught at times, and my reaction would seem direct and 'extreme' to the silly anti-pirates that hang out here. THE FIRST TIME I'm sent a document that triggers the message "It looks like this document was saved using a previous version of [x]. Would you like to download a [special lens,filter pack,wonder-tool] so we can convert/open the document?" I sound the general bullshit alarm. This alarm triggers the following actions,
1. acquire cracked 'previous' version that installs without Internet.
2. acquire cracked current version that installs without Internet.
Every week someone at Microsoft asks someone else, "Why are so many people still using XP?" and they receive a direct honest answer. Which they forget because it is uncomfortable. Then they ask again next week, as those people continue to run XP.
If your hardware or software does not work with Windows 7 you'll never sell any to me. Life gets boring around here sometimes but hey, I own books too. And IF (some say WHEN) the Internet becomes strictly a local affair and the connected world dissolves into enclaves, bunkers and redoubts, I'll be able to assemble working systems off the shelf. What will some of you be doing?
Reading books, that's what! HA HA HA HA HA...! I'll rent them to you.
Also Autodesk (Score:2)
AutoCAD and other AutoDesk products can not even be purchased anymore. You have to rent them. Just like Adobe stuff. I still have a purchased license installed, that you can upgrade through a subscription service, but if anything happens to this PC, or disk, or whatever I will need to reinstall and it will have to connect to the internet for activation. So still not ideal condition.
Nowadays a recent version of [rented] AutoCAD (and other AutoDesk products) will check licensing server periodically and will c
Linux (Score:5, Funny)
Basically unusable without a constant connection to Stack Overflow.
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Troll or incompetent? I can't tell. I've known a few people incompetent enough to feel that way, but they feel the same way every time they get a MSWind upgrade.
Android apps from Amazon (Score:2)
I stopped buying or using Android apps from the Amazon store because they stopped working after a while without an internet connection. If they couldn't call home, they died.
Chumby (Score:4, Interesting)
Sadly, while I really like the Chumby alarm clock form factor (it's a little padded beanbag you can pound to snooze, very satisfying), it's completely dead without an internet connection at boot.
At one point the company basically went under, but a benevolent soul has kept the servers running for another 5+ years - all of them would stop working without it.
It doesn't have to be continually connected, but periodically. And when it can't connect, you've got a worthless alarm clock, which is very bad for an alarm clock I really should replace it, but I'm not all that reliant on it (set my phone as backup when I have to make a plane), and I REALLY like hitting the soft top to snooze it.
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the Chumby software is all open-source, you could always modify it yourself.
Genealogy software (Score:2)
Web browsers (Score:2)
Chrome consistently fails to work for me when I have no internet connection
Firefox isn't any better either.
I even tried Internet Explorer and Edge.
None of the web browsers I tried worked without an internet connection! I think there's some collusion going on in the industry. Maybe I should start an antitrust lawsuit.
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TLS certificates for your internal network (Score:2)
My web browsers work just fine without an internet connection.
Mind you I can only reach servers on my internal network
How do you obtain TLS certificates for the HTTPS servers on your internal network without an Internet connection? Cleartext HTTP doesn't work for a lot of things nowadays because of the Secure Contexts requirement [pineight.com] that browsers have implemented. Even if you use an ACME client elsewhere to get a certificate from Let's Encrypt and sneakernet it to your internal network, you still have to buy a domain for your internal network in order to have a name for the certificate, and you have to keep paying to renew it
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How do you obtain TLS certificates for the HTTPS servers on your internal network without an Internet connection? Cleartext HTTP doesn't work for a lot
In the absence of the Internet there would no longer be much if any incentive to do so.
of things nowadays because of the Secure Contexts requirement that browsers have implemented. Even if you use an ACME client elsewhere to get a certificate from Let's Encrypt and sneakernet it to your internal network, you still have to buy a domain for your internal network in order to have a name for the certificate, and you have to keep paying to renew it.
Common for corporations to create their own CAs for managing trust across their Internal networks. Anyone can do it for free with a few lines of OpenSSL commands. Just requires an extra step of installing your CA cert into each systems trusted certificate database.
Private CAs don't cooperate with BYOD (Score:2)
Common for corporations to create their own CAs for managing trust across their Internal networks. Anyone can do it for free with a few lines of OpenSSL commands. Just requires an extra step of installing your CA cert into each systems trusted certificate database.
Good luck walking friends and family through installing a private CA's root certificate onto each phone, tablet, laptop, or handheld video game console that they have brought to your home in order to play the videos stored on your NAS. There were plans at some time to make even the Fullscreen API secure-only, meaning any video played from a NAS over cleartext HTTP would have distracting always-on borders around it.
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Good luck walking friends and family through installing a private CA's root certificate onto each phone, tablet, laptop, or handheld video game console that they have brought to your home in order to play the videos stored on your NAS. There were plans at some time to make even the Fullscreen API secure-only, meaning any video played from a NAS over cleartext HTTP would have distracting always-on borders around it.
There seems to be a certain amount of ambiguity in the assumptions.
TFA implied time limited network outage in which case TLS does not have to be affected in the first place rendering parents comments irrelevant. Certs with three year validity periods can easily be purchased for something on the order of $10/year. Those depending on LE might be affected with the 3 month validity period depending on the particulars of outage yet this is a deficiency of LE not TLS. Alternatives to LE are readily available a
Fullscreen to go HTTPS-only because phishing (Score:2)
Are your family and friends even going to CARE to try to connect to your network if the internet is down.
Yes, because with the Internet down, at least you have some entertainment stored on your NAS that visitors can view together. This could, for example, include a mirror of Wikipedia's best articles (those in GA, A, and FA classes).
There were plans at some time to make even the Fullscreen API secure-only
Of course you could just have plaintext HTTP enabled on your NAS for media access.
That's possible but impractical once browsers make HTTPS mandatory for using the Fullscreen API [whatwg.org] in documents served from anywhere but localhost. (The LAN is not localhost.) From the Secure Contexts spec [github.io], section 4.3 "Risks associated with non-secure contexts":
Google Maps, VoIP Phone (Score:5, Informative)
There's also VoIP phone services, including a lot of the phone services provided by cable ISPs. Lose that connection, and you lose "landline" phone service...and yes, there are still lots of people who use landline phones either by choice or necessity.
Dedicated GPS device for ages 16 to 20 (Score:2)
[Lack of map data where there is no 4G/3G service or no subscription thereto] is the primary reason I still carry a standalone GPS device in my car.
The other is that some states allow use of a dedicated GPS device at license age but ban use of a smartphone as an in-car GPS until age 21.
Re: Google Maps, VoIP Phone (Score:2)
wonâ(TM)t the route continue tongive directions even without data signal?
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PC games (Score:4, Interesting)
DRM servers have killed the used games market on PCs.
There are lots and lots of games out there that are over a decade old even that you can't buy used because they have been "activated" on an old DRM server and can't be reactivated on another machine.
In several cases, legitimate copies of a game can't be played at all on any PC because the game had demanded to contact a now discontinued DRM server even to start.
Re:PC games (Score:4, Insightful)
DRM servers have killed the used games market on PCs.
There are lots and lots of games out there that are over a decade old even that you can't buy used because they have been "activated" on an old DRM server and can't be reactivated on another machine.
In several cases, legitimate copies of a game can't be played at all on any PC because the game had demanded to contact a now discontinued DRM server even to start.
Actually sales killed the used game market on the PC, not that it had a huge one to begin with. When I can buy a year old game on Steam for £10 or 2 year old game on Steam or GOG for £5 new, why would I pay £15 for it used?
The reason Consoles have a used game market is that Console owners have less money and fewer sales, 12+ months after release you're still paying near release prices for old games.
As for DRM... there's yet to be one that has remained uncracked. Also I don't reward companies that pull this kind of bollocks, hence EA and Ubisoft has not seen a single one of my currency units (I have cards in multiple countries) since they tried to force me into their own platforms.
No one mentioned Windows yet? (Score:2)
I've been using Windows for a very long time. Had a number of issues activating in the past, even when XP first came out. Activation has only got more complex and reliant on an internet connection since.
Activating Windows has always been a headache. I remember those "dongles" that we'd have to use on some software we had, that was a bit inconvenient but at least I didn't need to make a phone call or need internet to get a licensed program to work.
When in an offline network, for security reasons, this bec
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Given your username is “blindseer”, I find your sig slightly alarming.
Earth is going nowhere (Score:2)
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Latest IoT gadgets (Score:2)
Razer peripherals (Score:2)
Razer peripherals (Score:2)
Calling home (Score:4, Interesting)
Needless to say he ended up with some proverbial egg on his face on top of what you usually get when you're called "Jerker" (Swedish male surname) and try to present something in an English speaking country.
Most Smart Homes (Score:2)
Short answer: Too many (Score:2)
The trend seems to be towards more cloud-based apps than platform-specific, local apps. It illustrates a huge disconnect between developers living in Silicon Valley or other major urban centers where blazing fast and totally reliable internet access is practically guaranteed and the rest of the world. Take, for example, mapping apps. Sure, they work great and you can get satellite imagery as long as your internet connection doesn't suck. But when you need to use it for matters of public safety e.g. sear
Be careful what you wish for (Score:2)
"I want to see a complete list of software and devices that become completely unusable without a live internet connection."
And I want a pony. The entire list of this would be longer than the OP ever imagined or cared to know. The internet runs on a hierarchy of interrelated software platforms and applications we never even see.
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You could still do a point to point connection with a modem, bypassing the Internet. You would need to be on an old school copper phone line connection, though... Fiber would go over a data connection.
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You just don't understand the difference between an intranet and the Internet.
Indeed. Mobile phones work just fine in airplane mode though.
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Re:Outside of my Roku? (Score:4, Informative)
Re: Outside of my Roku? (Score:2)
Yes, it is worth remembering how many "POTS" lines turn into VOIP a short distance from the customer, probably in a little widget with a handful of hours of battery backup at best; but "my phone doesn't work because telecommunications are disrupted" isn't terribly surprising or a conspiracy of deliberate
Re: Outside of my Roku? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re: Outside of my Roku? (Score:2)
Only in caves.
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That the apk guy isn't trying to say that his stupid hosts files can fix all this.
He's currently busy using it to cure cancer.
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The only Steam games (and I have quite a few) I can't play offline are MMO games. The rest is perfectly playable, once installed.... or at least their single-player and (for those that have that) local multi-player modi are.
I have no experience with EA Origin, so please enlighten me...
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The only Steam games (and I have quite a few) I can't play offline are MMO games. The rest is perfectly playable, once installed...
The "once installed" is the rub. If you don't have Steam installed on your machine already, you can't play any Steam games. You can't install Steam without an internet connection. You can't install a Steam "Backup" without Steam installed, and if the game has Steam DRM, you won't be able to play it until it's phoned home once. So basically, all your Steam "Backups" are "worthless" if you want to do a fresh install when your internet connection is down, or after the eventual and inevitable demise of Steam.
I
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You can't install a Steam "Backup" without Steam installed, and if the game has Steam DRM,
any Steam DRM-protected title
You don't need steam to play your games, just navigate to the install directory and launch the executable. If it's using steam as drm method the game won't launch
That was a long-winded and contrary way for you to say "yes, you're right."
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Well, then I guess I managed to break mine... Guess I have to get a new one?
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That's pretty much what their support would happily tell you, yes.
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Nonsense. They are great at holding down papers and keeping a door in position when the wind is blowing and there isn't a connection to the Interwebs.
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It's not a stupid question at all, unless your goal is to intentionally misunderstand the question. The OP obviously meant software that you wouldn't expect to stop working without the Internet. My favorite word processor, for instance, starts warning about the license after a few days without Internet access. It takes a week or two until it stops entirely.
Also, Firefox works fine without Internet and my webcam, too.
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Yes - I think this is what the topic is about. A printer, for example, that requires an internet connection to set up because it only includes a software down-loader so that the user gets the latest version of the drivers.
Logitech's "Harmony Link" is a great example... I can't imagine why anyone would buy one to begin with, but most people probably didn't realize what they were getting into.
Obviously software whose main function is networking would be affected, so I don't know why everyone feels the need t
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It's also what makes buying a Chromebook dubious, but from my understanding you are able to work offline - although I'd imagine in a "crippled" way until you get back online, but I honestly don't know.
Google was actually the pioneer of offline HTML apps with Google Gears, but now we all have offline HTML features and it's been superseded. Your apps will still work fine. A better way to go, though, is to buy a Chromebook which is supported by Libreboot. That gives you a path to install a real OS on it, without having to worry about your install being wiped out by an errant keypress at boot time.
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Bollocks, MacOS doesn't require internet access. The default things the OS does internet-wise are update checks for apps, XProtect/Gatekeeper config updates, security updates and OS updates, all of which can be turned off from the Terminal using:
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Not true. I've got a Android (Samsung Galaxy recent model), and I've never activated an internet connection. I must have one somehow, because it's had me update my software a couple of times, but I never connect, and I haven't given it any permissions on my network. I suspect it's calling over the cell phone lines.
I'll grant that it keep asking me to do an internet connection, but I got it because I needed a phone. If I'd been able to get a simple phone as quickly, I would have preferred that.
This does,
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I've got a Android (Samsung Galaxy recent model), and I've never activated an internet connection. I must have one somehow, because it's had me update my software a couple of times, but I never connect, and I haven't given it any permissions on my network. I suspect it's calling over the cell phone lines.
Yep. The telco is free to use the internet functionality for their own purposes. But clearly, your phone does have an internet connection, which means anyone who has owned your telco has also owned you.
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Well, if they do all they'll get is a bunch of phone numbers, because to me it's just a phone.
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I live in region where interenet is no "always on". Therefore, I use Nintendo Wii (yes, still), iPad, iPod shuffle, Linux and Windows 7 PCs. However, some stuff is rather useless w/o internet: - Current Sony playstation, and Microsoft Xbox, practically all PC games within last 10 years or so. - Microsoft Windows (XP and up require online activation, 10 tend to have unusable parts without internet) - Cloud based devices (mouse, clocks, IP web cameras (yes, baby monitors too), weather stations, smart TV's and PVR's)
Number of devices have functionality problems - from refrigerators to light switches and dimmers, a/c controllers etc.
Fill in the list!
You can activate XP and 7 via phone calls. Maybe 10 too, I haven't installed it on any of my machine or used it extensively