Shearwater Teric why no password system?

[Blackcrusader]

LOL she was naive! One mans Toyota is another mans Porsche.
Worst thing you can do is underestimate the knowledge of people in a foreign country. Many of the things western people take for granted is the equivalent to six months of wages for people in poorer countries. In Taiwan a Perdix is equal to an average persons monthly income. Probably a lot more for an assistant in a dive shop.

Years after I was a victim of a robbery on a dive boat by one of the staff, I was on another boat with my iPhone playing a card game as the time passed. I soon noticed a crew member looking at me and then later looking at me again as we neared the dive site and I was putting my phone into my bag. A minute later I took it back out and asked the Captain to hold onto it for me, I just did not want a repeat of the previous incident.

Yeah she wasn't in a foreign country and neither was I lol. But she was in a dive shop with lots of customers and other people walking about. Sure in places like Indonesia Thailand or Philippines people get gear stolen and not always by locals some are visitors from other countries. Fact is if you leave expensive kit around people might not resist the temptation to even just pick it up to look at it not with the intention of stealing it. Many people ask me about my DIY camera tray and rig and will ask can they pick it up. They are interested in how it will be in the water.

 

[Robbyg]

I get the impression most are not really understanding the suggested feature. It sounds nothing like locking the device or the potential of that..

Rather, have a user created PIN code.. this pin code needs to be entered to change the user info which is shown on screen.. no locking of the computer no nothing.. stop strangers from changing user data.

I feel it would be easy to implement and adds a feeling of security to some.. how secure.. well.. still the best advice don't loose it..

Thank you! As you said most people just do not understand what it is that I am requesting. Maybe your explanation will clear things up!

 

[Blackcrusader]

Thank you! As you said most people just do not understand what it is that I am requesting. Maybe your explanation will clear things up!

I simply do not let people change the setup of my DC. Also one of the pre dive checks is knowing what air / nitrox setup your DC is on. I's very clear to know you are on 21% or something else. A pin number would be nice but imagine having to put in a pin number on a dive to see your screen if it shutdown or went into a sleep screen mode like some cell phones do.

 

[Robbyg]

I simply do not let people change the setup of my DC. Also one of the pre dive checks is knowing what air / nitrox setup your DC is on. I's very clear to know you are on 21% or something else. A pin number would be nice but imagine having to put in a pin number on a dive to see your screen if it shutdown or went into a sleep screen mode like some cell phones do.

No your still not understanding it!
The Only way you could ever see the Pin number is if you went into the: Setting -- General -- User Info Menu. In there you have THREE LINES: Name/Contact1/Contact2.
A FOURTH line would be added called "Password or PIN". You enter a four or 5 digit password in there. Once you press the Enter key it is saved along with the Name and Contact Number Info.

If someone finds a lost Teric and tries to change the Info he will see Name/Contact1/Contact2 Info but the Password line will be BLANK. Unless he puts in the right Password in he cannot change the information in the first three fields. If he presses enter it just leaves them as they were before. If he puts in the wrong password he gets a message saying it's incorrect. If he puts in the right password in he can now edit or completely change the three fields and then press Enter to save the changes.

AT NO OTHER TIME WOULD YOU EVER SEE THIS PASSWORD SCREEN AND IT SERVES NO OTHER PURPOSE THAN TO PREVENT AN UNAUTHORIZED NAME AND TELEPHONE NUMBER CHANGE.

 

[Joneill]

No your still not understanding it!
The Only way you could ever see the Pin number is if you went into the: Setting -- General -- User Info Menu. In there you have THREE LINES: Name/Contact1/Contact2.
A FOURTH line would be added called "Password or PIN". You enter a four or 5 digit password in there. Once you press the Enter key it is saved along with the Name and Contact Number Info.

If someone finds a lost Teric and tries to change the Info he will see Name/Contact1/Contact2 Info but the Password line will be BLANK. Unless he puts in the right Password in he cannot change the information in the first three fields. If he presses enter it just leaves them as they were before. If he puts in the wrong password he gets a message saying it's incorrect. If he puts in the right password in he can now edit or completely change the three fields and then press Enter to save the changes.

AT NO OTHER TIME WOULD YOU EVER SEE THIS PASSWORD SCREEN AND IT SERVES NO OTHER PURPOSE THAN TO PREVENT AN UNAUTHORIZED NAME AND TELEPHONE NUMBER CHANGE.

Which would mean nothing to someone who decides to keep your Teric is you lose it. Honest folks would contact you based on the info screen. Do you really think that the dishonest folks who won’t do that will worry if they can change the info screen or not? Really?

 

[Robbyg]

Which would mean nothing to someone who decides to keep your Teric is you lose it. Honest folks would contact you based on the info screen. Do you really think that the dishonest folks who won’t do that will worry if they can change the info screen or not? Really?

See post #24
Yeah Really! So long as that name and phone number stays in the unit it is considered stolen property and if you ever find out who has it you can report it to the police. If they try to sell it the new owner will most likely report that he was sold stolen property.

 

[kelemvor]

How so? I have had friends and coworkers that have lost iPhones and in some cases the people who had them finally used the telephone number under the phones protective case and called them saying they had found the phone and asked what kind of reward was being offered for the phone. If those phones had been usable or sellable I doubt they would have gotten that call. And yes most of them got back the phone and paid the person a small finders fee. On the other hand I know a lot less people who got back their phone when it had no info on it and back in the days when these phones could be easily unlocked and sold I knew almost no one that got back a lost iPhone.

Honestly I do not get the resistance to this idea. You have a $1000 piece of gear that can casually be put in a persons pocket. Why do you hate the idea of it having some form of anti theft protection when that protection does not have any relationship to it's diving functionality? I also find it odd that you don't get the idea that another diver is really not going to be comfortable using a Device that pops up another divers name each time it is turned on and he cannot resell it because he cannot clear the name out of it.

Except when something goes wrong.

I "lost" the use of an iphone5 (back when that was the current model) I had bought for my daughter. She had forgotten the password. Took it to the apple store with the purchase receipts and was promptly told to piss off. Go search the internet for this problem. It's VERY common. Apple has fanboys who will overlook the various problems and continue buying newer products. Shearwater would be in real trouble if 2 or 5 or 10 or more people were on the internet complaining that their $1000 dive computer was locked permanently.

Luckily, after that experience (and a handful of things the company of NO won't let you do with something you paid for) she wanted to go back to Android.

Yeah Really! So long as that name and phone number stays in the unit it is considered stolen property and if you ever find out who has it you can report it to the police. If they try to sell it the new owner will most likely report that he was sold stolen property.

Meh, I think they'd sell it online and just say they forgot the password. Often you don't get a seller's real name when buying online so the buyer would have no way to know the story wasn't true.

 

[kelemvor]

As an aside, I did leave my dive computer on a bench at K.P. Hole park a few years ago. Someone found it and turned it in to park staff. Staff found my name and number on the DC and called me. I had it back the next day. At least two people had the opportunity to claim the computer as their own but chose not to.

 

[Joneill]

See post #24
Yeah Really! So long as that name and phone number stays in the unit it is considered stolen property and if you ever find out who has it you can report it to the police. If they try to sell it the new owner will most likely report that he was sold stolen property.

Again, dishonest folks won’t care.

 

[Robbyg]

Except when something goes wrong.

I "lost" the use of an iphone5 (back when that was the current model) I had bought for my daughter. She had forgotten the password. Took it to the apple store with the purchase receipts and was promptly told to piss off. Go search the internet for this problem. It's VERY common. Apple has fanboys who will overlook the various problems and continue buying newer products.
Luckily, after that experience (and a handful of things the company of NO won't let you do with something you paid for) she wanted to go back to Android.

You can unlock your iPhone by resetting it and restoring the backup data from your ITunes account. Good luck with Android it's not like they even pretend to secure your private info. I would much rather have an Apple phone that at least takes security and personal info seriously.

Shearwater would be in real trouble if 2 or 5 or 10 or more people were on the internet complaining that their $1000 dive computer was locked permanently.

It cannot get locked permanently, it cannot stop you from using it and it cannot interfere with your dive! You did read my first post?

Meh, I think they'd sell it online and just say they forgot the password. Often you don't get a seller's real name when buying online so the buyer would have no way to know the story wasn't true.

So who is going to buy a device that displays another persons Name and Number and just accept an answer like "I forgot the password"? You would of course want a refund and if that was not forth coming you would contact PayPal, eBay or your credit card company. All of those entities would know the sellers real name and address. Also any sensible person would contact the real owner after they got their refund and let them know the case number with PayPal so that they can contact the police.

You keep maneuvering around the simple legal fact that as it stands right now if someone deletes your user info in a Teric it becomes theirs permanently, but If they cannot delete the information that DC becomes stolen property and will forever be stolen property that can lead to a possible arrest and a return of that property for as long as it exists.
Secondly someone is going to have to eventually send the unit in for a battery replacement and Shearwater would probably not return property that has a name and number discrepancy without contacting the number on the screen and verifying that everything is legit.

In a nutshell, a password system on just the user info makes keeping or selling someone else's Teric a lot less attractive than it is right now.