cross-posted from: https://programming.dev/post/37646129
Source: Reddit post— Private front-end.
Samsung Statement to Android Authority:
Samsung is committed to innovation and enhancing every day value for our home appliance customers. As part of our ongoing efforts to strengthen that value, we are conducting a pilot program to offer promotions and curated advertisements on certain Samsung Family Hub refrigerator models in the U.S. market.
As a part of this pilot program, Family Hub refrigerators in the U.S. will receive an over-the-network (OTN) software update with Terms of Service (T&C) and Privacy Notice (PN). Advertising will appear on certain Family Hub refrigerator Cover Screens. The Cover Screen appears when a Family Hub screen is idle. Ad design format may change depending on Family Hub personalization options for the Cover Screen, and advertising will not appear when Cover Screen displays Art Mode or picture albums.
Advertisements can be dismissed on the Cover Screens where ads are shown, meaning that specific ads will not appear again during the campaign period.
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As a reminder, just because the appliance you bought offers an internet connection, it most likely doesn’t need it for core functionality. Your smart fridge can’t get an update if it can’t talk to Samsung.
just because the appliance you bought offers an internet connection, it most likely doesn’t need it for core functionality.
…until it does.
It’s not unprecedented for manufacturers to lock hardware capabilities behind software controlled paywalls.
When I was shopping for stoves, there were a couple of models with “features” that were not available unless you connected to the internet and used their app on your phone.
We chose a model that didn’t have any networking at all.
Just in this thread to say Fuck Samsung
I see a bright future for “low tech” tech companies soon.
"Here’s our new fridge.
- What does it does?
- It cools your food.
- And?
- That’s it."
Wonderful! I’ll take two.
The low-tech appliances in my cheap apartment work pretty great. Just modern enough not to waste a ton of water, but still have knobs and rattle the floors.
Another reason to never buy their crap. Not like id buy anything from them ever lol
I think that people who would buy a fridge like that deserve to watch ads.
Will they come and collect it for a refund if you don’t agree with the new TOS?
Probably just break the smart features remotely
Lmao that’s what you get for buying a smart fridge. This was inevitable.
“Thats what you get” comments aren’t helpful or productive. Don’t demonize the customer, demonize Samsung in this case. It’s not the customers fault… I highly doubt it said “Advertisements coming soon” om the box when they bought it.
Why the fuck would you buy a smart fridge.
I just bought a fridge after my 15 year old one shit out. Let me tell you, trying to find a decently sized, dumb fridge with an ice and water dispenser is like finding the holy grail.
Samsung has evidently partnered with some timelords to get over 30 cu ft of fridge space in a 70"tall frame - including their door sized tablet.
Bosch has the next biggest but locks stuff behind an smart app. Hell, even LG has smart features to help you with your ice maker that will probably either be DOA or will break in a year.
I finally found a Whirlpool that isn’t smart and has a decent sized fridge, but it was a struggle.
When the idea of them first came in to play the thought were items put in would have rfid tags or another identifier and your fridge could help you keep inventory and track when things might be going bad, suggest recipes and whatnot.
We shoulda known it’d be ads tho
Even so, most expiration dates are a scam. Why would smart expiration dates be any better
It should display what is inside the fridge, without the energy loss of a window.
It should have a bar code scanner and a complete food inventory system.
It should be the “kitchen’s tablet” able to show recipes, watch cooking instruction videos, have a high quality curated knowledge compedium in a convenient and easy to access way.
It should be able to stream outside cameras and answer door bells.
It should be able to take video calls from Mom on XMPP.
It should have high precision control and diagnostic systems.
It should run ENTIRELY on open source software, not damn blob drivers, the display panel should connect internally with an HDMI cable.
Run Proxmox and all my menagerie of LXC containers, don’t cheap out LG!! I want 64 GB RAM and 2tb ssd and a slot to add an HDD.
It should auto-doomscroll for me while I peel potatoes.
It should be able to run a smart voice assistance running Mistral 8x70B medium, locally and OFFLINE but networked and answer my agentic commands with a posh british accent.ok, good enough, send it
I would buy and work and invest for whatever company you create.
Imagine if didn’t make things that sucked.
Where I live we had little cheapass gas station cake company called Vachon
Say what you will, they were a staple and “our beloved trash cakes”
Some company came in, bought it, and made them suck hard.
Replaced animal fat and sugar with seed oil and HFCS.
Nearly all the better cakes are getting cancelled and the company is probably on the verge of bankruptcy.
I haven’t bought those shitty cakes in years.Imagine if we had a trend of doing not-that.
You got a bit trigger happy for the last few points, but seriously, why isn’t the first 3 standards now. It can’t be that expensive to put that in a fridge, and with an open platform manufacturer could even get away by providing the barest software offering and let us do the job for them.
How else are you going to look at Facebook while you drink milk out of the carton if you forgot your phone in the living room?
It’s a fucking box that makes things cold. Humanity is cooked if we can’t bring ourselves to look away from a screen for all the time it takes to get a slice of cheese out of the fridge
“we’ve discovered we can fill 80% of the customers field of view with ads before inducing seizures”
Good. If your fridge is connected to the internet you deserve to be served ads.
Just duct tape an iPad to the refrigerator door. It’s cheaper and it works better.
Even cheaper to tape up a piece of paper that says “GO BUY SOME USELESS BULLSHIT”.
“Innovation” used to mean better prices and/or better products. Adding adverts to a product you already own isn’t innovation.
It is innovation.
Just for the company, not for you.
Don’t connect your devices to the Internet if they worked before without the Internet.
I’m now at the point where I actively seek out variants of devices that don’t have wifi capabilities. Did that for a ceiling fan and an AC unit. They were a bit cheaper, too, so win-win.
I wonder how long it will take for the “dumb” versions to become more expensive.
And pay attention if you are buying one that you don’t need to connect it! Let the company know you’ll buy a “dumb” fridge to avoid their bullshit.
but then how will I watch tiktoks on it!
Presumably on the Smart Clock?
OBLIGATORY !! Hey TOASTER ! “I’ll PUT YOU ON ICE” OUFFFFF
Anyone who fell into the trap of buying a fridge with a screen in it kind of deserves this.
I hear what you are saying. But our society is pretty fucked up if you “deserve” something bad because you bought a product without imaging how the manufacturer can make it worse in the future.
The owners should be able to return the product if something like this happens, no matter how long ago they bought it.
Yes, some people think that naiveté is worse than malice or cruelty for sone reason…
without imaging how the manufacturer can make it worse in the future.
We reached the point where companies do shitty things with all their digital services years ago. As long as it’s not open source, you’ll get shit “features”. And even if it is open source, it can be reverted on a whim (hello bambulab).
Help! My spy machine is spying on me!
Yeah but imagine how cool stuff could be if companies didn’t 100% of the time ruin their inventions
I don’t disagree but what’s also true is that some products are already as good as they can get and no longer need innovation. I know this is a bold claim but I’d argue that my dumb fridge without screen or internet connection keeps my food just as cool as the latest smart fridge.
some products are already as good as they can get and no longer need innovation
I just saw a poster for a sort-of cool fridge innovation: It has a door-in-the-door that you can open to get out commonly used things without having to open the main door and let all the cold air out. It’s called a “Conservadoor” refrigerator.
The kicker is that I saw this on Antiques Roadshow and it’s from the 1950s.
I don’t know why, but I remember seeing that somewhere, too. Fantastic idea. Ergonomic AND energy efficient. Though, I feel like adding in a mini door somewhat lowers the insulative abilities of the main door, so I’m not sure of the trade-off.
Ergonomic AND energy efficient
FWIW I don’t think it’s really all that energy-efficient. Air, being much less dense than solids, contains comparatively much less heat energy. The “cold” of a refrigerator is mostly stored in the things inside it, not in the air inside it, so letting all the cold air out to be replaced by warmer air does not have a huge effect on the overall temperature of the fridge. I think you’re right that having a door which interferes with the insulating envelope is going to be worse than just opening the main door once in a while.
I’m a big fan of “make it actually better or leave it the fuck alone”
I literally can’t imagine a box that makes things cold being made cooler by having a screen on it
