I bought one of these toothbrushes almost two years ago.

It really makes a difference:

- The connection to my phone helps coach me in making sure I'm brushing my teeth properly. Bad habits sink in easily, and my various dentists all point out that my teeth and gums are much, much healthier. Given that I am cursed with some bad oral genetics, it's "money well spent" for me.

- The counter helps remind me when to change my toothbrush head. I used to be much lazier about changing it; again; because bad habits easily sink in.

Could someone figure out how to do this without an NFC chip in the toothbrush? I hope so! The toothbrush heads cost much more than traditional "dumb" manual toothbrushes. I don't want to have to spend big bucks just to have good personal hygiene.

ironically the special blue bristles in the philips heads that turn white when the brush head needs to be replaced is exactly what you want, I think?

That's not the same, because it's gradual, as opposed to a beep / notification.

When things change gradually, I tend to ignore the change.

To put it in a different context, I've had the fadeout brush heads for years, but I had to get in the habit of changing my brush head when I went in for a dental cleaning because otherwise, I'd just keep using it forever.

The chips are not a problem. Nonfree software is.

I disagree. For a toothbrush, the chips are a problem. If nothing else, manufacturing chips is very bad for the environment. We shouldn't be putting them in things that don't need them.

If we were talking about the climate problem, you would be right. But your comment is a goal shifting, because I replied to the problem of abuse of the firmware in the chips. Abuse can't happen with free software.

LOL

Nah.

Putting firmware in shit that doesn't need firmware is itself a problem, even if it's free.

I don't see a problem really. What's wrong with being able to fine tune, e.g., how strong the vibration is? Maybe my teeth are more sensitive than usual. Or between 'sensitive' and 'normal'.