Hacker News Reader

Comment by ginko | Hacker News Reader

I have yet to understand what the value proposition of an internet-connected refrigerator is.

I can imagine one good use: plotting graphs of inner temperature, configured set point, motor on/off status, door open/closed status, and power consumption. But that use case does not require having control of the fridge compressor...

I’d just throw an analog min/max thermometer in there and investigate if the max temp goes above 40F, sounds a lot easier than adding a temp probe and door switch to a residential refrigerator.

There is already a door switch in all the refrigerators I have used. It controls the light (at least I think it does, I have never seen the light go off:)

Close the door very slowly. If you do it right, you'll see the light turn off.

Or, y'know, press the switch yourself.

Oh yeah, I forgot about the built in door switch, good call XD

If there is a door open sensor there should be a close door function.

If the temperature goes out of acceptable range than then it is defective. The only people who need that plot are the lawyers for the class action lawsuit for a defective appliance.

There are scientific reasons to need the plot, but that is not normal and they likely need a special fridge with tighter controls or something anyway.

It might be nice to email me about errors and warnings. But at least my fridge will post errors on the temperature displays, and it's usually the same error (compressor is running too long; better clean the coils).

Plus, since it's a Sub-Zero, it's got a pretty cool finishing move.

Marketing demands products that sound awesomely cool and new and shiny and feature-laden.

Why should anyone care about stuff that happens after Sales has gotten the customer's money?

As someone who is bad at tracking what food I have in there and how long I have to eat it until it spoils, I can see the use for some automation here and that would be complex enough for convenient updates to make sense. Similarly, when I'm at the store I don't always know if I still have enough of $perishable or if I should get more.

I however have zero trust in our tech industry making this work without abusing me at every possibility so I will never buy such a product.

Your fridge must be a complex place to navigate. We have 70cm wide tall Siemens one and what we have vs what is missing is a question of maybe 10-15s check. This covers 4 people.

Chest freezers would be more tricky if full and could take maybe up to a minute but we don't have those. If you are bad at tracking, make a list.

No, we really don't need 'smart' fridges and people should vote with their wallets.

I did not claim that we need smart fridges, only that I can see uses for them. If you can't see that or if you are too upset to be willing to see it that's your problem.

I do not disagree with your sentiment. We have had refrigerators for 100+ years [citation needed] after all. Still there are likely cases where it is useful. Looking in on elderly family members might include picking up things from the grocery store and having a list of staples needed might be an example. There are plenty of ways to deal with this but one might be a connected refrigerator.

> Looking in on elderly family members might include picking up things from the grocery store and having a list of staples needed might be an example

You would turn up unannounced with things you think are missing from the fridge surveillance camera? Here's how that should go: Visit old person. Check fridge. Check cupboards. Visit store. Visit old person.

You jest but having elderly parents tens of miles outside of town it's a timesaver, luckily I can still request photos of things.

Here's a crazy thought, you could just talk to your elderly family members.

I live with an elderly person (as a caretaker) and find that elderly persons are not always good sources of information about needs. It could be that I am completely wrong about the usefulness of a connected refrigerator (I just look in out 1980's era fridge).

> We have had refrigerators for 100+ years [citation needed]

If you’re thinking about the domestic appliance, apparently since 1913 [1], so close enough (what a stupid name, though). AFAICT the first one with something that looks like the modern cooling loop is the first Frigidaire from 1916. But the concept of refrigeration to keep food for longer is older.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DOMELRE

...oddly enough:

  - it notifies if your kids (or spouse) have left the door open.
  - you can use as a tool to check if the power company (or the road maintenance one!) has managed to reconnect the power back (or cut it, as in literally)

  - Other than that not so much.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com