A recent outage at Amazon Web Services disrupted a wide range of digital services, including high-end smart beds made by Eight Sleep. These beds, which can cost up to $5,000, come with internet-connected features like temperature control, adjustable incline, and vibration therapy, all managed through a mobile app. The company’s premium “Pod” models rely heavily on cloud connectivity for core functionality. When AWS went down, many Eight Sleep users reported their beds malfunctioning in alarming ways. Some said their beds suddenly heated up uncontrollably, with one user describing sweat-inducing heat despite being unable to turn it off. Others struggled to reconnect via the app or found their beds stuck in an inclined position—making sleep nearly impossible. One user even resorted to unplugging the bed entirely to regain control. The company’s CEO, Matteo Franceschetti, apologized on social media, acknowledging the disruption and promising urgent fixes. “The AWS outage has impacted some of our users since last night, disrupting their sleep,” he wrote. “That is not the experience we want to provide, and I want to apologize for it.” He added that the team was working around the clock to make the Pod experience “outage-proof.” In response, Eight Sleep introduced an “outage mode” that allows basic functions to continue using Bluetooth, even when the internet is down. This feature enables users to manually adjust temperature and position without relying on cloud services. Co-founder Alexandra Zatarain confirmed the update was being rolled out to help users sleep through future disruptions. While the outage exposed the fragility of smart home devices that depend on constant cloud access, it also highlighted a broader irony: consumers paying thousands for “smart” technology still expect basic functionality—like lying down and sleeping—when the internet fails. After all, a mattress is still a mattress, even without Wi-Fi. The incident wasn’t limited to smart beds. The outage also delayed the Bored Ape Yacht Club’s merch presale, underscoring how even blockchain-based projects built on the idea of decentralization depend on centralized cloud infrastructure. The irony didn’t go unnoticed—many pointed out that despite claims of independence, much of the crypto world still runs on the same AWS servers as the rest of the internet. Ultimately, the event serves as a reminder: as we embrace increasingly connected devices, the risks of over-reliance on a single provider grow. For now, Eight Sleep is working to ensure that even when the cloud fails, the bed can still do what it’s meant to do—help you sleep.