> To enhance our service and offer additional content to users, advertisements will be displayed on the Cover Screen for the Weather, Color, and Daily Board themes.
Think of it as a smart display (reminders, lists, timers, cooking videos, etc) that’s located on one of the most physically and visually accessible area of the kitchen, without taking up any countertop space, and it makes more sense.
The fridge is a convenient stand more than anything.
I only recently read Philip K.Dick's Ubik and this headline alone sounded oddly familiar. At least, your smart locks aren't requesting payment ... yet?
I don't think I'll ever understand why people buy such "smart" appliances. There's little value in it for the purchaser, and they come with a heavy price in terms of privacy and annoyance.
Less so for fridges, but in the TV space there are few alternatives. You can get a more expensive commercial display or maybe a projector, but most people don't even consider those options and the price is a lot higher. If you go to your local retailer, practically every TV on sale is likely going to have intrusive tracking and advertisements across all price points and mainstream manufacturers.
I expect a lot of manufacturers see the "successful" conversion of TVs from a one time sale to a near inescapable advertising platform and are trying to emulate that in other product segments.
I have a "smart" tcl tv I bought during a sale. The only thing it costs me is that it takes somewhat longer to turn on than my "dumb" dell monitor.
It's not connected to the internet, it doesn't show me any ads. When I (rarely) turn it on with its remote it boots to the last used input. If I turn it on through my set-top box, it boots to the box's input. The box can control the TV's sound volume with its own remote, and the TV has an "ambient light sensor" which allows it to adjust to ambient light. I never need the tv's remote.
It's a 65" TV which cost less than my 32" monitor. Sure, the colors aren't as precise, but I don't use it for phot editing, and delta E is actually very low. The sound is good enough to not have to turn on my stereo, and I don't need to turn it up to 11 to understand voices (my dell has 0 sound). For watching mostly voice-based content (think talk-shows, comedies), it's great.
The company I work for regularly buys "dumb" screens to be used as "signage" (it's part of what we do). I've seen those screens. The image isn't any better than my TCL, but they cost 3-4 times as much. Sure, they're supposed to run all-day-long for multiple years and burn your retinas in 0.2 seconds flat, but I only watch my tv a few hours a week tops and not in direct sunlight.
So I'm a very happy camper. An equivalent dumb TV wouldn't be a noticeable improvement for my use case.
The idea of it is incredibly appealing to the DevOps and Automation guy living inside me. The idea that I could scan groceries as I use them up and build a live shopping list, I can just push button send... sounds super cool to me. However, the Security guy that lives in me knows the reality is I am just installing barely functional spyware.
Just have a look into fridges of other people - absolute mess usually very tightly stacked. There is no way for some camera to even guess what "food" is it looking at let alone if it past the expiry date.
I have a smart gas range so I can remember if I left it on, and to automatically turn on my exhaust fans (that lead outside), to get rid of any pollutant concerns.
I’ve attached power monitors to my clothes washer and dryer to make them a little smart, for notifications when they’re done (auto dry feature means it’s not deterministic). Most people wouldn’t want to diy it.
Where I am, electricity is $.65/kwh during the day and $.19 at night. If my clothes dryer were electric, I would definitely run it on a schedule. I wish I could run my dishwasher in a schedule.
These all seem desirable, to the average person, and usually only available with the smart models.
I highly doubt that. High end appliances that are actually social media worthy are essentially the opposite of these tacky things.
If you're going to downvote then at least prove me wrong: the social media darling is the viking tuscany range, fridges are colorful 70's inspired with no "tech" -- smeg and it's competitors. Negative signaling at it's finest, it's a flex if you don't have any "smart" appliances.
Emphasis mine:
> To enhance our service and offer additional content to users, advertisements will be displayed on the Cover Screen for the Weather, Color, and Daily Board themes.
"Im so grateful for these ads, they give me a lot of value" -- what they tell us people think when they see ads.
I so hate this kind of lies, as if it's okay to lie this way coz it aint hurting anyone.
1. Why would you buy a smart fridge in the first place?
2. Why would you connect a fridge to the internet? You are visiting fridge several times a day....
Think of it as a smart display (reminders, lists, timers, cooking videos, etc) that’s located on one of the most physically and visually accessible area of the kitchen, without taking up any countertop space, and it makes more sense.
The fridge is a convenient stand more than anything.
I only recently read Philip K.Dick's Ubik and this headline alone sounded oddly familiar. At least, your smart locks aren't requesting payment ... yet?
I don't think I'll ever understand why people buy such "smart" appliances. There's little value in it for the purchaser, and they come with a heavy price in terms of privacy and annoyance.
Less so for fridges, but in the TV space there are few alternatives. You can get a more expensive commercial display or maybe a projector, but most people don't even consider those options and the price is a lot higher. If you go to your local retailer, practically every TV on sale is likely going to have intrusive tracking and advertisements across all price points and mainstream manufacturers.
I expect a lot of manufacturers see the "successful" conversion of TVs from a one time sale to a near inescapable advertising platform and are trying to emulate that in other product segments.
I have a "smart" tcl tv I bought during a sale. The only thing it costs me is that it takes somewhat longer to turn on than my "dumb" dell monitor.
It's not connected to the internet, it doesn't show me any ads. When I (rarely) turn it on with its remote it boots to the last used input. If I turn it on through my set-top box, it boots to the box's input. The box can control the TV's sound volume with its own remote, and the TV has an "ambient light sensor" which allows it to adjust to ambient light. I never need the tv's remote.
It's a 65" TV which cost less than my 32" monitor. Sure, the colors aren't as precise, but I don't use it for phot editing, and delta E is actually very low. The sound is good enough to not have to turn on my stereo, and I don't need to turn it up to 11 to understand voices (my dell has 0 sound). For watching mostly voice-based content (think talk-shows, comedies), it's great.
The company I work for regularly buys "dumb" screens to be used as "signage" (it's part of what we do). I've seen those screens. The image isn't any better than my TCL, but they cost 3-4 times as much. Sure, they're supposed to run all-day-long for multiple years and burn your retinas in 0.2 seconds flat, but I only watch my tv a few hours a week tops and not in direct sunlight.
So I'm a very happy camper. An equivalent dumb TV wouldn't be a noticeable improvement for my use case.
> in the TV space there are few alternatives.
This is true, which is why when my old, non-spying one breaks, I won't replace it.
The idea of it is incredibly appealing to the DevOps and Automation guy living inside me. The idea that I could scan groceries as I use them up and build a live shopping list, I can just push button send... sounds super cool to me. However, the Security guy that lives in me knows the reality is I am just installing barely functional spyware.
Just have a look into fridges of other people - absolute mess usually very tightly stacked. There is no way for some camera to even guess what "food" is it looking at let alone if it past the expiry date.
I have a smart gas range so I can remember if I left it on, and to automatically turn on my exhaust fans (that lead outside), to get rid of any pollutant concerns.
I’ve attached power monitors to my clothes washer and dryer to make them a little smart, for notifications when they’re done (auto dry feature means it’s not deterministic). Most people wouldn’t want to diy it.
Where I am, electricity is $.65/kwh during the day and $.19 at night. If my clothes dryer were electric, I would definitely run it on a schedule. I wish I could run my dishwasher in a schedule.
These all seem desirable, to the average person, and usually only available with the smart models.
To brag about them on social media, just like designer clothing etc.
I highly doubt that. High end appliances that are actually social media worthy are essentially the opposite of these tacky things.
If you're going to downvote then at least prove me wrong: the social media darling is the viking tuscany range, fridges are colorful 70's inspired with no "tech" -- smeg and it's competitors. Negative signaling at it's finest, it's a flex if you don't have any "smart" appliances.
Clippy would not have put adverts on your fridge.