3109: Dehumidifier

2026-01-04T15:09:34Z

2600:100B:B14E:9BAC:9E2E:EA9F:E4B4:DAC0: Fixed typo

{{comic
| number = 3109
| date = June 30, 2025
| title = Dehumidifier
| image = dehumidifier_2x.png
| imagesize = 295x327px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It's important for devices to have internet connectivity so the manufacturer can patch remote exploits.
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic, [[Randall]] mocks the recent trend of appliances, including stoves and juicers, being connected to the internet even though one would expect them to be able to function without an internet connection. A dehumidifier is a device which uses refrigeration coils to remove moisture from the surrounding air. The physical operation is fairly simple and robust. Such devices can function entirely without software, but if programming does exist, it tends to be simple and local. More to the point, the operation of such a device is simple and unlikely to change. They simply run until either the desired humidity is reached or until the water reservoir is full. It's hard to imagine a situation in which this operation would need to be remotely updated, which explains [[Cueball]]'s sarcastic comment about the usefulness of an internet connection, his point being that conditions would have to change in a virtually inconceivable way for that feature to have any use at all.

In principle, dehumidifiers ''could'' provide information which might be useful to access remotely, such as the water level in the storage tank (which must be emptied when full), or a log of humidity levels and operational history. This data could potentially be useful in identifying malfunctions, or determining whether the device is adequate for its conditions. In reality, though, for a consumer-grade household dehumidifier, such functionality would be of very questionable usefulness, and status indicators on the device itself would be much simpler, and would be sufficient for most cases.

The implication of the strip is that many internet-connected devices are examples of {{w|over-engineering}}. Features are added because they sound advanced, and are used as justification to charge higher prices, rather than because they provide any added value. There are multiple disadvantages to connecting devices to the internet unnecessarily. They tend to increase the complexity of the device, costing consumers more, and increasing the chances that something will break or otherwise go wrong. Many such devices won't function properly without server connection, which means that, if the server stops function for any reason, or even if the wi-fi goes down, the device could become useless.

In addition, having more connected devices introduces additional privacy and security issues. Such devices routinely stream operational data back to the manufacturer. While this data is usually intended only to monitor device operation, there are potential situations where it can be mined for private information (for example, determining patterns of home power use could be used to figure out when people arrive at home or leave, and when they sleep and wake up). Moreover, additional wireless connection points are potentially devices that hackers could exploit for malicious purposes. The title text references this when it says that internet connectivity is required to patch remote {{w|Exploit (computer security)|exploits}} (i.e., harmful unauthorized access from the internet). The joke here is that such an argument is circular: they need internet connectivity to protect consumers against attacks on the internet connection, but if the device didn't have wi-fi in the first place, there would be no potential for a remote attack.

A related device was previously referred to in [[3044: Humidifier Review]], and the issue of possibly considering online protection of devices that (arguably) should not be so easily exploitable was looked at in [[463: Voting Machines]] and [[1966: Smart Home Security]]. Comic [[1912: Thermostat]] also deals with risks of adding computers to appliances. It is possible that this comic was inspired by {{w|Samsung}}'s announcement of the Bespoke AI Ultra, a stick vacuum cleaner that can alert you to calls and texts. This announcement spread online very quickly and resulted in widespread criticism directed at Samsung.

==Transcript==
: [A store salesman, Hairy, is showing Cueball a dehumidifier on a counter with a "SALE" label on it. Several other unidentified devices, possibly other dehumidifier models, are shown on and underneath a shelf in the store as well.]

: Hairy: This dehumidifier model features built-in WiFi for remote updates.
: Cueball: Great! That will be really useful if they discover a new kind of water.

==Trivia==
"New kind of water" could refer to {{w|heavy water}}, {{w|tritiated water}}, {{w|doubly labeled water}}, {{w|hydronium}}, {{w|semiheavy water}}, {{w|deuterium-depleted water}} or something which isn't detected/invented yet. However, generic dehumidifiers are not generally required to distinguish between these and treat them differently so, unless its hardware is already heavily modified for a particularly novel environment, the effectiveness of remotely adding differently preferential behaviours is questionable. It is also very hard to imagine a situation, in which vapors of "new kind of water" would end up in house in significant quantities.

Technically there are many different kinds of liquid water, based on the possible isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen atoms that its molecules are composed of. One of the most well known is {{w|heavy water}}, deuterium oxide, that is sometimes used in nuclear devices. There are 3 naturally-occurring {{w|isotopes of hydrogen}}, with 6 possible combinations for its two atoms in a water molecule, and 4 naturally-occurring {{w|isotopes of oxygen}}. This gives 6 × 4 = 24 kinds of naturally-occurring water molecules, which could be present in liquid water in any proportions. In ordinary water as found under mundane circumstances on Earth, 99.7% of all such molecules will be the 'normal' version of water: two atoms of 1H and one atom of 16O. (The isotopic ratios in "natural" water are relatively stable, so there's very little variation in water found in nature.) There are also synthetic isotopes of each, all radioactive, most having short half-lives. How many of these could be used to constitute water would depend in part on one's definition of whether a molecule of water could be said to have been formed prior to the decay of its constituent atoms. Each isotopically-distinct version of water has very slightly different physical and chemical properties, though the differences are small and the versions hard to separate. (Separation is further complicated by the extremely rapid rate with which molecules in liquid water {{w|Grotthuss mechanism|exchange hydrogen ions (protons)}} between themselves.) The differences would not be at all important to a consumer-grade dehumidifier.

As of when this comic was posted, there are also 26 known {{w|phases of ice}} (solid water), each of which could be made from any combination of the isotopically-distinct versions of water in any proportions. These might count as different "kinds of water", and one was discovered in 2025; others may yet be discovered. Only one of these phases, Ice Ih, is likely to be found on an iced-over dehumidifier under normal conditions of use.

In the {{w|Twin Earth thought experiment}}, there exists a second Earth (called Twin Earth), in every way identical to ours, except that there is no water as we know it. Instead, there is XYZ, a substance that is chemically distinct from water, but is experientially identical to water, and referred to by the inhabitants of Twin Earth as "water". Surprisingly, this dehumidifier might be useful, if the manufacturer was also planning to sell it on Twin Earth.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category: Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category: Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category: Internet]]

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3109: Dehumidifier