Thread

1. sandworm101 · 1790169670 · focus · HN ↗

   The fridge compressor answers to software? Idiocy. It need be nothing more than a relay attached to a thermocouple. I can see having a smart screen to deliver aps/ads and to collect data on people in the home, but why on earth would that need to actually manipulate temperatures?

   1. Grombobulous · 1790172902 · focus · HN ↗

      My non-Samsung fridge lets me change the temperature settings from my phone.

      That’s why the compressor answers to software. How else would I change the temperature remotely if it didn‘t?

      I find that the anti-smart device brigade among tech enthusiasts is very detached from the reality of what consumers want. The general public does demand smart features and they want them to work well.

      The sin here isn’t that the fridge is smart, the sin is that bad software was pushed out.

      My particular refrigerator also has a purposefully limited set of features. You’ll notice that real luxury brands like Sub-Zero don’t pack their refrigerators with crazy feature lists and touch screens. Their smart apps are basic and focus on essentials like “door left open” or “change filter” notifications and remote temperature adjustment. They don’t have complicated features like craft cocktail ice and even basic stuff like water dispensing is an optional extra (since it’s assumed that luxury clients may have a separate dedicated reverse osmosis and sparkling water machine for that). They don’t push out frequent updates and they keep their smart functions as modular components since it’s assumed that the refrigerator will remain installed permanently for decades (e.g., you can add a newer control system with touch screen and WiFi to your older Sub-Zero fridge).

      It would be nice if non-luxury brands followed some of these philosophies a little more.

      1. cesarb · 1790173153 · focus · HN ↗

         > How else would I change the temperature remotely if it didn‘t?

         ...why do you need to change the fridge temperature remotely?

         1. Grombobulous · 1790173236 · focus · HN ↗

            I paid $11,000 for my luxury built-in refrigerator, I expect that functionality to exist since it’s trivial to implement.

            I could implement that in a weekend on an ESP board.

            1. Boxxed · 1790177469 · focus · HN ↗

               By that logic there's a whole lot more useless crap it should do.

               1. Grombobulous · 1790178422 · focus · HN ↗

                  Would you buy a car that cost $50,000 without air conditioning even if you don’t need air conditioning?

                  Do you think a $50,000 car that doesn’t have air conditioning is a good value?

                  1. Boxxed · 1790189638 · focus · HN ↗

                     I'll just say that if you honestly think AC in a car is a comparable feature to a network enabled fridge then we're never going to agree on anything.

                     1. [deleted] · 1790210701 · focus · HN ↗

                        [deleted]

                     2. Grombobulous · 1790342737 · focus · HN ↗

                        Is the AC necessary to operate the vehicle?

                        Cars in the United States were sold with air conditioning as an optional feature until maybe 20 years ago

                        There are still regions of the world where air conditioning is an optional feature in automobiles.

                        1. Boxxed · 1790450391 · focus · HN ↗

                           I truly have no idea what point you're trying to make

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