[Smile] What's something small that really makes you smile?

Forums › Off topic › [Smile] What's something small that really makes you smile?

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#3030650 2-Feb-2023 08:03

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/feb/01/a-touch-screen-fridge-a-seven-blade-razor-why-is-everything-suddenly-so-complicated

Wifi connected toaster anyone ?

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#3030654 2-Feb-2023 08:14

I saw a story the other day about appliance manufacturers being "sad" that <50% of customers are connecting their "smart" appliances to the Internet.

The issue, according to manufacturers quoted in a Wall Street Journal report, is that customers just don't know all the things a manufacturer can do if users connect the device that spins their clothes or keeps their food cold -- things like "providing manufacturers with data and insights about how customers are using their products" and allowing companies to "send over-the-air updates" and "sell relevant replacement parts or subscription services."

Oh no! They can't get their "insights"! I can't get updates! Guess what? If an appliance works, then by definition it doesn't need updates. If it doesn't work, it goes back to the shop and gets replaced with one that does. And why would I want a subscription service for my toaster?

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#3030658 2-Feb-2023 08:24

Saw that article as well. They don't need any feedback, no matter how much they want it. Guess it might be a way to save them (but strangely not us) some money though, I mean sending a signal to your phone that the dishwashers finished must save a fortune in aggravating beep-beep-beep devices.

Now if they could get wifi to load your toaster (using directed radio waves ?), run it, empty it, butter the toast, plate it, deliver it....though I think thats actually called a robot, and I would want one of those either. Imagine the feedback from one of those.

“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” -John Kenneth Galbraith

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#3030815 2-Feb-2023 10:39

Behodar:

I saw a story the other day about appliance manufacturers being "sad" that <50% of customers are connecting their "smart" appliances to the Internet.

The issue, according to manufacturers quoted in a Wall Street Journal report, is that customers just don't know all the things a manufacturer can do if users connect the device that spins their clothes or keeps their food cold -- things like "providing manufacturers with data and insights about how customers are using their products" and allowing companies to "send over-the-air updates" and "sell relevant replacement parts or subscription services."

Oh no! They can't get their "insights"! I can't get updates! Guess what? If an appliance works, then by definition it doesn't need updates. If it doesn't work, it goes back to the shop and gets replaced with one that does. And why would I want a subscription service for my toaster?

I see data and insights as being potentially really valuable to *everyone*. If you need a repair, it would be incredibly helpful to the repairman if he can find out exactly what brand and model your fridge is, and hopefully some insight from the fridge as to what it thinks is wrong (e.g. compressor is running, but temperature isn't dropping" or "refrigerant leak"). So he can arrive with exactly the right replacement parts, and not have to either carry dozens of parts in his van, or make another trip to get the right part.

For the manufacturer, it's probably useful to know things like how long on average motors run before failing, or if there are common faults with a particular model, so that they can be corrected quickly. So new owners get better devices.

For the owner, a software update might be a revision of the duty cycle which saves them energy costs.

Sure the device doesn't *need* updates. But it's functioning can be improved by updating it.

However, my big fear is that "subscription services" and "product notifications" and "consumer warnings" and "safety shutdowns" and "forced maintenance" will proliferate... the Internet connection to these devices will be seen as another way into the consumer's home and mind and wallet.

"Sorry Dave, I can't let you open your fridge until an authorized repairman has replaced your compressor whose planned life has expired".

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#3030819 2-Feb-2023 10:46

frankv: If you need a repair, it would be incredibly helpful to the repairman if he can find out exactly what brand and model your fridge is, and hopefully some insight from the fridge as to what it thinks is wrong (e.g. compressor is running, but temperature isn't dropping" or "refrigerant leak"). So he can arrive with exactly the right replacement parts, and not have to either carry dozens of parts in his van, or make another trip to get the right part.

While there could be some benefit there, the cynic in me reckons that only a tiny percentage of repairers will bother with getting the required contract etc. with the manufacturer in order to actually get access to that data in the first place.

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#3030895 2-Feb-2023 13:02

Behodar:

frankv: If you need a repair, it would be incredibly helpful to the repairman if he can find out exactly what brand and model your fridge is, and hopefully some insight from the fridge as to what it thinks is wrong (e.g. compressor is running, but temperature isn't dropping" or "refrigerant leak"). So he can arrive with exactly the right replacement parts, and not have to either carry dozens of parts in his van, or make another trip to get the right part.

While there could be some benefit there, the cynic in me reckons that only a tiny percentage of repairers will bother with getting the required contract etc. with the manufacturer in order to actually get access to that data in the first place.

I expect it'll be monetized like car dealerships... the repairman pays the manufacturer, in return for a monopoly to repair their fridges. The repairman's costs would of course be passed on to the customer. Ideally, the customer would also pay an annual subscription.

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#3031011 2-Feb-2023 16:46

Behodar:
the cynic in me reckons that only a tiny percentage of repairers will bother with getting the required contract etc. with the manufacturer in order to actually get access to that data in the first place.

Also it's the authorised repairers who'll swap out each tire on your car to see which one is flat while the non-authorised repairers will know that that particular product model has always had problems with the sliding paff gongbudger although the manufacturer doesn't want to admit it and they can fit a replacement taken from a for-parts device for a tenth the cost of what the authorised repairer will charge when they want to replace the whole unit.

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#3031062 2-Feb-2023 20:41

Drove past the local conspiracy nuts out with their signs this afternoon.

One sign made me laugh "Its ok to admit you were wrong", the irony of this is lost on that lot.

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#3031208 3-Feb-2023 11:08

Magnetically attached things, like chargers. Such a satisfying feeling when they connect to each other.

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#3031222 3-Feb-2023 11:35

sir1963:

Drove past the local conspiracy nuts out with their signs this afternoon.

One sign made me laugh "Its ok to admit you were wrong", the irony of this is lost on that lot.

Reminds me of the Flat Earth documentary on Netflix a year or two ago. Still makes me smile to this day, as it fades to black and they are still convinced the experiment/data is wrong, not their opinions.

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#3031410 3-Feb-2023 17:01

The kindness, empathy and calm of the nurses that visited me at home today. The health service comes in for a lot of criticism and complaint but for me those folk are truly fantastic.

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#3031574 4-Feb-2023 03:50

Got back more tax money than I had to pay for the first time. 😄

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#3031647 4-Feb-2023 09:39

Flying Emirates BC to Madrid today for a month Home Exchange in Spain - then on to a two-month exchange in Hove, England.

Exciting even at our advancing years. Not religious people but we do count our blessings and do not take them for granted.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

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#3031653 4-Feb-2023 09:58

eracode:

Flying Emirates BC to Madrid today for a month Home Exchange in Spain - then on to a two-month exchange in Hove, England.

Exciting even at our advancing years. Not religious people but we do count our blessings and do not take them for granted.

Bon voyage. Travel safe

Tinkerisk

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#3031684 4-Feb-2023 11:01

sir1963:

Drove past the local conspiracy nuts out with their signs this afternoon.

One sign made me laugh "Its ok to admit you were wrong", the irony of this is lost on that lot.

But the fact that they are paranoid does not prove that you are not after them.

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