Title text:
It’s important for devices to have internet connectivity so the manufacturer can patch remote exploits.
Transcript:
Transcript will show once it’s been added to explainxkcd.com
Source: https://xkcd.com/3109/
Title text:
It’s important for devices to have internet connectivity so the manufacturer can patch remote exploits.
Transcript:
Transcript will show once it’s been added to explainxkcd.com
Source: https://xkcd.com/3109/
I got new appliances a couple weeks ago and they’re all “smart”. Turns out a smart microwave just sends you a phone notification when it’s done. By default.
As someone with multiple people living in the house, I can confidently say this is the dumbest “smart” feature ever. Promptly disabled.
My appliances are ‘smart’ but I didn’t bother actually connecting them to my WiFi. I guess preheating the oven remotely could be cool(?) but nah.
The stuff I do use…
The microwave above the stove can talk via Bluetooth(no app or phone involvement at all). Turn on a burner and you can set it to turn on the light and/or vent fan. Another nicety is being able to set the clock on the stove with the full keypad and it just syncs to the microwave.
My stove won’t preheat, I guess because it’s a safety issue. Apparently you can set a remote start capability ahead of time that gets reset if you open the over door. But I’ve never tried it, since that seems like a lot.
Any appliance with IoT is a value-subtract.
They do it so in the future they can monetize you in perpetuity in some way
I can see value in HVAC IoT. Away from home and there’s a cold spell? Turn up the heating so your pipes don’t freeze, but also run it higher when electricity is cheaper (if you have variable pricing).
I don’t think I’d want my microwave, washing machine, or toilet to have IoT features though.
I want my washing machine to notify my phone when a cycle completes… But maybe not quite that much
Mine chimes a quaint little song. It’s enough because it can be heard pretty much anywhere in the house unless I’m in the basement. If I’m not home, the notification wouldn’t be particularly useful - I might as well just check when I get home.
I mean the idea isn’t the absolute worst. I just don’t think it’s a huge QoL improvement either.
Most people tend to stay in the same room (or a neighbouring room) when they’re microwaving something. They could probably save on the cost of having a full-blown computer with wifi inside the microwave by just having the noisy thing from an alarm clock. But, ah, the fuck do I know?
Some 90’s microwaves actually used some chips to measure humidity and using a little reference table adjust how long certain foods need to cook for, for instance, popcorn can be popped perfectly without burning and almost without leftover kernels if you can measure how much water is being released. The same goes for cooking frozen meats, vegetables, and so on.
But what we get in modern ones instead are horrendous touchscreens, simple timers that never quite match the food they promise to work on, and Wi-Fi.
a full blown computer, depending on how one defines the term, is so cheap that they are available in disposable pregnancy tests. This shouldn’t be a thing because of the E waste and inefficiency but it’s how things are.