5/21/2026 at 5:15:04 PM
I remember when I first got my Flipper Zero I read into this a bit, but realized I had never actually seen one in the wild, thought it was something ancient (Not that I'm using my flipper in the wild).Is it really just not a US thing? Are these used in other parts of the world?
Edit: I think I'm actually asking about iButtons/Dallas Keys, now that I'm re-investigating, but any input is welcome!
by dpoloncsak
5/21/2026 at 5:47:40 PM
They’re used for proofs sometimes, if you expect your security company to do a specific route they need to go to each token on it and touch them, you see iButtons glued to walls outside commercial buildings for that purpose. Systems like that mean they can’t just say they walked the route and go home, I’ve seen them at airport bathrooms for the same reason.by drum55
5/21/2026 at 6:34:49 PM
If you are much into Arduino type things you will come across 1-wire as one of the most popular temperature sensors is a DS18B20.The only place I've run across it in the wild is inside an SGI Octane. I thought it was a battery to replace, but it was actually a "Number in a Can" iButton. It's a read only memory that contains the MAC address and some other stuff. Software gets licensed to this ROM, so if your system breaks you can take the iButton out and move it to the replacement.
by alnwlsn
5/21/2026 at 6:55:33 PM
It was rather widely used around here in Europe as a "key" to enter building hallways. They've been mostly replaced with NFC fobs nowadays (most of them using very vulnerable chips though).by magusor
5/21/2026 at 5:18:00 PM
I did a lot of coding for these in the UK during early 2000s.They were pretty nifty for their time, but I guess completely superseded by RFID.
Always annoyed me that it clearly has 2 wires (power/signal + ground).
by inferiordev
5/21/2026 at 6:34:06 PM
> Always annoyed me that it clearly has 2 wires (power/signal + ground).Same with "TWI" (Two-Wire Interface) , a name that Atmel (now Microchip) uses for I2C bus. There are 3 wires there (SDA, SCL, ground). Or 4, if you count power.
by kees99