Smart mattress not so smart: Unusable without AWS

On Monday morning, a disruption occurred in an Amazon data center in the US state of Virginia. Problems with the Domain Name System (DNS) were to blame. The effects of the “increased error rates and latencies on AWS Services in the US-EAST-1 region” were felt worldwide. Numerous internet services were temporarily only partially or not at all usable. This included mattresses.

This is evidenced by complaints from various customers of the New York company Eight Sleep. They sell connected mattresses under the name “Pod,” which are misleadingly described as “smart.” These sleeping pads are characterized by their high price. In Germany, the mattress starts at 2,849 euros, plus at least 17 euros for the monthly “Autopilot” subscription, with Eight Sleep also gladly accepting 33 euros per month. In return, the sleeper receives statistical analyses, built-in heating and cooling, as well as a motor that can deform certain areas of the mattress. This allows bed users to, for example, sit up better in bed.

What is not yet included in the price is an offline mode for the mattress. When the AWS data center in Virginia failed, this also affected Eight Sleep's mattress servers. This rendered the mattresses' control application inoperable. Those who had straightened their mattress could no longer flatten it, and thus themselves. Cooling could also not be activated, making the night too hot for some tired individuals.

Similarly, any activated mattress heating remained stuck at the set heating level, which also led to complaint postings on social networks. They do not explain why the overheated sleepers did not simply unplug their mattresses.

Instead, the CEO of Eight Sleep expresses his regret and promises to work around the clock in offline mode. Mattress innovation knows no end!

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