Leading the Right to Repair advocacy team, Chamberlain helped host iFixit's fourth annual "anti-awards ceremony," spotlighting the "least repairable, least private, and least sustainable products" unveiled at CES.
Among the dubious honorees, a $2,200 "smart ring" was mocked for its non-replaceable battery lasting only 500 charges. "Wanna open it up and change the battery? Well, you can’t! Trying to open it will completely destroy this device," quipped iFixit co-founder Kyle Wiens.
The ceremony streamed live to iFixit’s one-million-strong YouTube audience, where their "panel of dystopia experts" handed out awards such as "Worst in Security," "Who Asked for This?" and the inglorious title of "Overall Worst in Show."
The event aimed to counteract the tech industry’s grand promises, with its video description warning against manufacturers "hoping to convince us that they have invented the future."
The New Stack called the livestream "a fun and rollicking romp" while acknowledging the irony of YouTube serving ads for the very products being criticised.
Highlighting privacy concerns, Chamberlain told Associated Press: "We’re seeing more and more of these things that have basically surveillance technology built into them." One of the most invasive products called out was the $1,200 "Revol" baby bassinet [pictured], equipped with a camera, microphone, and radar sensor.
Cindy Cohn, executive director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, condemned such "smart" infant products for traumatising parents with false alarms about their baby’s breathing.
The "Worst in Security" award went to TP-Link, a China-based manufacturer of wifi routers. Paul Roberts, founder of SecuRepairs, warned that about 65 per cent of routers sold in the US are made by TP-Link, which has faced scrutiny over ties to China's government and military.
Roberts highlighted Microsoft’s October report revealing "thousands" of compromised TP-Link routers linked to hacking campaigns targeting think tanks, law firms, and defense organisations. US investigations into the company’s practices are ongoing, with Roberts cautioning that TP-Link’s legal obligation to disclose software vulnerabilities to China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology before the public creates a dangerous exploitation window.
The "Overall Worst in Show" title went to LG’s "overpowered smart refrigerator," emblematic of a growing trend in tech where products are loaded with unnecessary AI features. iFixit also ridiculed Samsung’s "AI Home" initiative, which allows users to answer phone calls via their refrigerator, oven, or washing machine.
