Earlier this year Amazon introduced the Dash buttons. Basically these are buttons that when pressed, will order whatever item is labeled on the button, meaning that you’ll save yourself a trip to the computer or to the store. At the time of announcement many had assumed it was an April Fools joke but it turns out it was real.
In fact the Dash buttons are so real that thanks to developer Ted Benson, he has figured out a way to hack the Amazon Dash buttons so that they will be more than just a button you use for buying stuff online. In fact he has detailed how he has done it online so that if you are so inclined, you can do it yourself.
It also seems to be relatively easy enough as it doesn’t even require you to crack open the button, meaning that everything will be modified using software, which is a good thing if you’re not too hardware inclined. To break it down, what the software does is that it prevents the button from fulfilling its original intention, which is to buy stuff online.
It then listens out for the Dash button ARP probes and translates those probes into spreadsheets, although this part is up to you as what Benson wanted to do is record when his baby pooped in his diapers and when he woke up, and pressing the button helps him record that kind of data very easily and efficiently. We have to admit it is pretty ingenious and like we said, if you’re so inclined you can go ahead and try hacking your Dash buttons too.