OK, I replaced “Scientists” with “Engineers,” but it still applies. Hear me out… The subject I’m talking about is Wi-Fi-enabled appliances.
Let’s start with one of my appliances, the dishwasher. We have a really nice Bosch dishwasher. It’s one of the quietest dishwashers on the market, and I have to admit, it is so quiet I can hardly hear it running. Oh, and the pull-out silverware drawer at the top is the icing on the cake. But it’s also Bluetooth/Wi-Fi enabled, and I had to scratch my head and wonder why. What is the use case for such a thing?
So, you load the dishwasher… then what? Well, you have to put soap in it, then start it… right? Does anyone forget to start the machine? Is that a thing? Or maybe you want to start it after you get to work. You know, in case it malfunctions and blows up the house, you wouldn’t want to be near it. Not really on the top of my worry list.
Then there’s the washer and dryer. Same thing. What is the purpose of the Wi-Fi? Maybe you can see that the dryer is done? That might be handy if you’re in the house and can’t hear it beep. Other than that, you still have to be physically there to move the clothes, clean out the lint filter, add soap to the washer, etc.
Our oven… yes, it has Wi-Fi. WHYYYYY???
Then there’s the refrigerator. No way am I connecting that thing.
Two stories recently appeared, making me laugh. Well, it wasn’t funny for those who got hacked or received a bad patch, but I thought it was hilarious that they went through the trouble of hooking up their devices to the internet, where some control was out of their hands.
The first was a story about people who owned Samsung refrigerators that automatically downloaded a patch (or the company probably pushed it out), only to have their appliances bricked (see this article for more details). Was a patch really necessary? The bugs they were trying to fix were probably minor, like something to do with a touchscreen or a rarely used feature. Meanwhile, their food expired, and they had to get a fix for their appliance before going grocery shopping. I bet that was expensive.
The next story is about hundreds of grocery stores in France that owned internet-connected refrigeration units (see this X-post for more details). They got hacked, and their frozen/refridgerated food was spoiled. Now, maybe the grocery chain had a purpose to connect to their units remotely, but I don’t think I’d trust something like that connected to the internet.
I have a habit of not connecting my internet-capable devices, mainly because I don’t see a purpose in doing it. Also, I can’t keep track of everything in my house that is connected to my Wi-Fi system. Off the top of my head, I can think of a few items that have to be there. Like the solar panels. I also have two Wi-Fi-connected thermostats, which let me adjust them through my iPhone, though I haven’t touched that app in about five years. Oh, and here’s the bonus: a couple of years ago, I replaced my router with a better one. It took me weeks to troubleshoot stuff and realize that the problem was that the Wi-Fi quit, and now everything is complaining about it.
Another thing: a bunch of these devices require Bluetooth or Wi-Fi to access the advanced settings. Oh boy, that’s annoying.