Osbo: Choose a IoT fridge. Choose spirit-crushing driverless cars Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne vowed today that a Tory government would bring speedier internet connections of 100Mbps to most of Britain – a bold promise given the Coalition's delayed deployment of superfast broadband during the current term. Number 11's occupant made his final pre-election budget statement by …
Perhaps I just don't get this puerile humour but what is it with people who can't use other people's actual names.
Note: Gideon Osborne is not the name of anyone associated with the budget, though it was George Osborne's previous name before he legally changed it in his youth.
@Badvok You don't get why one of Cast Iron Camerons Eton cronies doesn't like his toff name showing how out of touch he is more like.
Yes, I'm sure the russians think we're walking tall as a huge cut in defence spending hoves into view so soon our navy will consist of 1 aircraft carrier with no aircraft and a couple of men in a rowing boat to keep an eye on it. No wonder Putin is giving the whole EU the finger. Without the US intervening russia could probably take the entire continent in a month.
Meanwhile we waste 0.7% GDP (£18 billion) per year on paying for palaces and yachts and some AK47s for various dictators ... sorry , I mean foreign aid to worthy causes.. which only the most handwringing north london liberal bedwetter actually believes is a good way to spend taxpayers money in the current economic climate.
"Do you honestly believe that foreign aid is even meant to help poor countries rather than acquire natural resources from those countries?"
I honestly have no idea where the foreign aid money ends up , other than its rarely in the hands of the people who actually need it. Still, until recently we were helping India fund their nuclear and space programs which was nice.
>Do you honestly believe that foreign aid is even meant to help poor countries rather than acquire natural resources from those countries?
Have you ever actually bothered to look? As it happens, DfID has a pretty good reputation around the world, for well-managed, well-targeted aid. But you didn't read that in the Daily Mail, did you?
"Controlling multiple fridges. Heh. Can't say it's a problem that keeps me up at night. Can't say I've ever had a fridge that wasn't set and forget"
Yeah, but then mentioning controling fridges with a phone has probably never given you the opportunity to have a childish, point scoring dig at someone, while your in-bred, male, middle aged, expenses cheating colleagues, guffaw, back slap and wave paper in the air. And for balance, both sides are just as bad.
This post has been deleted by its author
This post has been deleted by its author
I thought the idea of 'connected' fridges was they could let you know when your four* litres of milk was running out or going off so you could get a fresh one.
* this is the milk that now costs £10 as it has to have electronics attached to it to be of any use at all and the people who program these devices will have to be imported from India to do it manually.
@ Tom 7
I really don't feel I actually need a fridge to tell me what I already know by a) looking at milk in fridge, note that it's getting a little low (or otherwise) and b) take a sniff of the milk. If it smells fine, I use it.
Same goes for all other food items in said fridge, and nary a Use By date do I need to look at either.
Ergo, no use for such a fridge.
This post has been deleted by its author
"Controlling multiple fridges. Heh. Can't say it's a problem that keeps me up at night. Can't say I've ever had a fridge that wasn't set and forget"
Well yeah, but if you had two kitchens, now you could NOT control both fridges with the same smartphone! See, it's working even for those who aren't even using this! Pure genius!
"Osbo was tight-lipped about exactly how the government would bring in broadband download speeds of up to 100Mbps for most Brits if re-elected in May."
We already know - from what they did with rural broadband strategy. He'll throw taxpayer's meeellions at BT, who will say they'll use it for broadband rollout, but will actually spend it on shareholders dividends, executive bonuses, and foopball rights.
But at least that puts urban broadband strategy on an equal footing with rural broadband strategy - "we're all in it (=fucked) together".
This post has been deleted by its author
Likewise, my biggest speed problems are in areas which aren't really rural (like Cornwall or the Hebrides, where I understand connectivity is excellent) but are on the edges of urban areas - say places with a ~5Km copper run to the exchange. At one site I work with, BT have listed the cabinet down the road as "Imminent" for FFTC, which should make a world of difference - but this "Imminent" status has been in place for over a year, with no sign it actually happening. Grrrr...
Osborne's little quip about people with two fridges is a not-very-subtle joke at Milliband's expense (the Labour leader had a family photoshoot in what turned out to be the smaller of the two kitchens in his house).
Now I'm all for people having a dig at well-off politicians who are trying to look more "normal" than they actually are, but not when it comes from a smug upper class twat who has spent his life nestling in a comfort blanket of inherited wealth.
This post has been deleted by its author
"Miliband is a career politician who has to entertain journalists, party members and so on quite a lot and sensibly has a small kitchen off his living room to make this easier."
Well I'd have thought it was easier to entertain lots of people in a big kitchen. But hey, what do I know? Perhaps that's why I'm not running the country.
Mind you, neither is Ed.
On a more serious note, perhaps if politicians stopped bickering about each other's kitchens they'd have more time for shit we actually care about. Like building enough houses, creating opportunities for young people, stopping America reading all our Interwebz, that sort of thing. You know, the hard stuff.
This post has been deleted by its author
Will the connected fridges be able to tell where an article was bought?
Can they refuse to accept a source, or give advantage to another?
Will this devolve into a "generic vs original ink cartridge" kind of situation?
The possibilities are endless!! although not necessarily for the customer...
Big Brother is watching you (drink milk directly from the bottle)
If you have two kitchens and an overflow fridge in the cellar and all these things are two stories apart then suddenly internet connected fridges make sense.
For the first time in my life I see why someone might want one. It might even make sense for the toasters and bread bins too.
The main fridge freezer in the kitchen and a small one next to the computer in the spare bedroom with beer, coke, pork pies and other snacks in it. That second fridge is about quarter of a century old (dating back to when I was a student). Back when I originally acquired it I'd not yet even discovered JANET, never mind such fancy internet stuff as Telnet, FPT and Usenet. Somehow I don't think it has an internet connection...
Don't take this the wrong way, Mr Os, but how often, on average, do people have an urgent need to 'control' their fridge(s)?
I have 2 fridges. I plugged em in and set the temperature when I bought em. Since then I have controlled them ... now hang on, let me think ... Oh yes, BLOODY NEVER.
So what exciting control activity am I missing out on when, it seems, other people often need to control their fridge at 2 in the morning from the other side of the world?
"So what exciting control activity am I missing out on when, it seems, other people often need to control their fridge at 2 in the morning from the other side of the world?"
You are missing out on the ability to be standing in Tesco at 3am on a sunday morning (after your pregnant wife has screamed you out of the house to go pick up some turkey slices so she can have a sandwich cause she woke up hungry) and check to see whether or not you have enough beer left in order to cope with the rest of the day because there is no chance you'll make it to the offy and back without her noticing and therefore removing your balls for leaving her in "a distressed state".
In all seriousness though if you have an IOT fridge, washing machine, freezer, circuit breaker, lights etc etc, they can communicate with each other to make power consumption more efficient, this is very important in an age where we are consuming more and more power but building less and less power generation centres (usually down to the nimbys, but that's another conversation).
Power consumption overall will not change (your bill wont reduce much at all if any) but if your fridge knew you were running a wash and had the kettle on it may delay firing up the compressor for 5 mins whilst the kettle stopped boiling, lowering the overall load on the power network. This is not so important in areas where power is plentiful (most of the UK at the moment) but in 10 to 20 years time when we are all humming around in electric cars it could be a very big deal. When power rationing starts then the kettle being able to say to you "if you turn me on you'll stop your wifes hair dryer working because there's not enough power available at the moment" may just save your life one day (did I mention the pregnancy thing!?).
I think people are putting too much emphasis on controlling the devices via the internet, rather than the reality which will be that the vast majority of options made available by the IOT will be automated services. Yes you will be able to turn on the lights with your phone, but that is pretty much going to be the only thing people will actually use the IOT for when it comes to controlling devices themselves, as everything else usually needs an additional human input, like putting the bread in the toaster before turning it on.
I can see some benefit coming in the next couple of years. All we need is the expiry date encoded into the (or an extra?) barcode or an NFC tag and the fridge could let you know when things are going out of date, and you could check your phone at work to see what you have in the fridge for dinner to decide whether or not you need to make a trip to the shops on the way home.
Sure, it's not life-changing but could be very convenient.
While we are waiting for the bollock-nosed towel-folding nore-powder afficionado to ensure my fridge can grouse about behind my back ---
I can't bloody register to vote on-line as the site says there is something wrong and I should come back later.
George - before spendin my money of more shite - try to get the currrent shite workng first. Oh, hang on, it is policy to fail most systems and then re-do the contracts to ensure that the right people get paid well -- at least twice.
Can I have your bets gentlemen, please, on when we can expect the project to go tits up like virtually every other major government IT initiative?
Seriously, I've not seen or heard any talk of this being in development - does anyone know who is putting the necessary systems in place to support this announcement?
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2025
