The activation server for Synapse 2.0 went down a couple of times recently due to Hurricane Sandy and some server usage spikes that the system couldn't handle. This lets gamers log in from anywhere in the world, or switch to a new mouse and play with their personal settings intact. The subject is Synapse 2.0, a "cloud-based unified driver for gamers" offered by Razer that saves gaming preferences online, including the user-defined settings and configuration of gaming mice. Now we have a new entry in the saga of "Why the hell does this thing need to connect to the Internet?" In this case, the company on the receiving end of the backlash may not entirely deserve it, but hasn't done a great job avoiding confusion among customers. Users protested in what we think was a completely justified rebellion, and Cisco quickly back-pedaled to save face. Witness Cisco's "Connect Cloud" program that replaced the traditional management interface for wireless routers with a cloud-connected one that was less useful and contained some bizarre anti-porn and anti-piracy terms of service. We've seen really bad implementations of cloud connectivity for devices that simply don't need it. That's sometimes good, and sometimes bad, so when a basic device like a mouse requires a user to go online and set up an account to activate all of its functionality, people are understandably going to ask why? In this hyper-connected, networked world, many more of our devices are getting linked to the cloud, whether we want them to or not.
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December 2022
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