Welcome to the World Of Tomorrow, where fridges suffer certificate errors. Just like everything else The connected refrigerator has long been the fever dream of many an IoT enthusiast, and Samsung's Family Hub has demonstrated the power of such a concept by falling over in a heap on a John Lewis sales floor. With a 21.5-inch touchscreen embedded in one of the stainless steel doors, Samsung touts the monster refrigerator as a …
Which is really shit. All you need is a genuine cert on the landing page. It's lazy design for the wifi portals. Our guest wifi needs a landing portal for its voucher info. It has a letsencrypt genuine cert. Onsite DNS handles the internal redirecting , external dns obviously goes nowhere. Cron job handles the recert process every 45 days.
Client with a moderately recent browser gets no cert errors.
Chrome (and other Chromium-based browsers) and Firefox (and other Mozilla-based browsers) attempt to detect "captive portal" login pages, and show the "you may need to log in" message rather than the certificate-mismatch alert. I haven't investigated how their captive portal detection works.
Presumably, if the user allows the redirection to the portal's landing page, but the landing page doesn't have a certificate that matches the redirection URL, then you'd get a certificate-mismatch alert.
So: User requests a site over HTTPS. Portal detects user is not signed in and redirects (by DNS or IP) to the portal server, which attempts to respond with an HTTP redirect to the landing page, with a certificate for the portal (probably with either a DNS SAN for the portal's FQDN, or an IPADR SAN for the portal's fixed IP address). Browser sees the certificate validation failure but decides - somehow - that it's probably a captive portal.1 Browser shows the "proceed to login" prompt; if the user accepts, it processes the HTTP redirect and validates that TLS conversation normally.
1I can think of some heuristics I might use here, some of which require allowing the connection and examining the untrusted response.
I get about 15 certificate errors from my email client every time I connect to one of these wifi networks
Probably because their badly setup and indifferently maintained crappy proxy that sits behind the hotspot is trying to do MITM attacks (under the guise of 'safety') and your email client, quite properly, notices.
A pox on them and the horse they rode in on.
Much like 'free' wifi setups that want all sorts of detail about you before they'll consent to let you use them. Given that (often) they only have a simple DSL line backing them, it's often quicker to use mobile data. And the worst of the worst use Facebook OAUTH so want details of your facebook login.
For £3000, you could get a normal fridge, an iPad, and a mounting bracket to stick the iPad to the door; and have plenty of change left over.
Anyway, I've never ever thought, "It would be nice if I could browse the internet on my fridge door".
Also, I don't know about other people, but I don't have any problems remembering what's in my fridge. Remembering the expiry dates of stuff in it can be a problem, but I don't think this setup would help me.
Ah, but what about webcams inside the fridge to show you the content? With, I presume, some sort of lighting, otherwise there's not much point?
See, killer app right there. Who has time to go opening their fridge for that sort of thing?
Seriously, though, if I could look at my phone and see the content of my fridge, that would actually be fairly useful. I can't count the number of times I've texted the Other Half from the supermarket, "do we need carrots?" (or whatever).
A fridge the size of that Samsung could presumably take all those Reg lunchboxes without getting overcrowded, yesno?
I've been contemplating a bigger fridge-freezer since moving to a kitchen with more space, so I've thought a bit about what I would or wouldn't pay more for.
YES obviously: sensible size, layout, power-efficiency, quiet running.
YES if not cynical about it working: frost-free, condensation avoidance.
MAYBE: my little indulgence - a dispenser for chilled water and ice, all plumbed in (would be a YES except that it's only available on "american style" models).
NO but would have some merit: IoT availability to inspect contents while in the supermarket.
NOT BLOODY LIKELY: big screen attached to the thing!
The content expands to fill the space available.
Which leads us to the next killer app: smart fridge cleanup and compression. The smart fridge registers that there is too much crap in it and that most is in danger of becoming someone's science experiment before much longer and beacons that smart trash can over for a quick word.
Great, but it needs to be a cron job that runs on a Thursday night [1], and the trash can needs to immediately take itself outside afterwards. Otherwise, rotting food will smell, a lot.
[1] My bins are collected at around 6:30am Friday morning. Your bin collection may be at a different time, and therefore you may wish to reschedule your cron job accordingly.
"MAYBE: my little indulgence - a dispenser for chilled water and ice, all plumbed in (would be a YES except that it's only available on "american style" models)"
Our fridge isn't an American-style one, and it has a very handy cold water dispenser.
Even better is that you can fill it with white wine when we've got the family round for Christmas...
Sad. I was hoping you had found a utility company that connected one's plumbing to a fine Chardonnay winery rather than a boring local reservoir. I really don't get this tap-water thing. A nice vintage shower would be a bonus.
Thames Water really ought to get into the added-value business ....
Having lived in London I understand your point about tap water except up here in Scotland the tap water is actually rather nice. In London we bought 4l bottles of water to drink, especially after I discovered how much nitrate there is in it (from trying to get the levels low in the kids' fish tank and failing).
I discovered how much nitrate there is in it
There's a lot of nitrate in the water round here too (Wiltshire) - must be because of all the arable land near whatever reservoir feeds our area. And we discovered it the same way - testing the fish tank water.
It used to make the Java weed in the tank grow like crazy (which the pleco liked) - but then when we got a water softener fitted, for some reason the Java weed stopped growing and eventually all got eaten.
So now we have to have silk plants in the tank and put in bits of veggie (cucumber and cabbage) for the pleco to nom on. Any real plants we do put in get obliterated quite quickly - the 14" Pleco tends to thrash around and batters them to pieces or eats them.
Or how about, take your existing 'fridge.
10l water carrier with tap £10
small float valve £6.40
a self-cutting isolating valve £5 (tidier methods are available)
a short length of flexible pipe and necessary inserts £2.10 & £3.20
a flat wood bit £3 (it'll get through the plastic lining and the insulation easily, and the external metal is thin enough that it should manage one hole - many fridges don't have metal at the back but you will have to be careful to avoid the radiators)
and a short flexible tap connector
Seal the hole with silicone when you're done (wouldn't advise expanding foam) and Bob's yer uncle for around £30.
I'm tempted to try it myself. Not sure how the rest of the family will take to me drilling holes in the side of our fridge though...
M.
Just be careful not to drill through a refrigerant lines in the wall of the fridge. I've converted several fridges for keeping home-brew kegs, and I would only drill through the doors (for the taps). I always wanted to drill the back wall for the co2 lines, but never wanted to take the chance of ruining a working fridge in the process...
>>MAYBE: my little indulgence - a dispenser for chilled water and ice, all plumbed in (would be a YES except that it's only available on "american style" models).
It's extremely convenient never having to refill ice cube trays or keep the ice bin topped off or finding that all the ice has merged into one blob or that the only cubes left are the little wizened half-sublimated ones that taste like plastic. I just dread the day that my dog realizes that he can just push the lever to dispense his favorite treats and I come back home to 30 small puddles all over the kitchen.
Having invested nearly a Grand into a giant, USA-style behmoth to keep my fast-growing brood from going feral, I was too stingy to go for gimmicks like Ice and cold water, figuring it's two less things to leak or break.
I refill the ice tray every time I empty it; it takes just 25 seconds (I timed it because I'm sad like that).
It works just fine, even in mid summer. The kids aren't feral, the drinks are cool, and we can store enough fresh food & milk to last a few days. Life is great.
So unless you want these useless gimmicks just because you want it, or because you're too bone idle to spend 25 seconds every few days, then I can see no reason to have them.
(Dons tin hat & awaits torrent of abuse from said incompetents & idlers who can't even remember / be bothered to refill a simple tray ..)
"(Dons tin hat & awaits torrent of abuse from said incompetents & idlers who can't even remember / be bothered to refill a simple tray ..)"
I have a bottle of water (not bottled water) in the fridge that I use to refill the ice tray. It's a bit faster making ice that way instead of using water from the tap. I've been too lazy to get under the house and rerun the water line. The old one is pretty manky and I wan't a better arrangement for the filter.
I refill the ice tray every time I empty it; it takes just 25 seconds (I timed it because I'm sad like that).It works just fine, even in mid summer. The kids aren't feral, the drinks are cool, and we can store enough fresh food & milk to last a few days.
I dunno how much/little you drink.. During spring I start hoarding ice cubes, and of course the cube trays get refilled every time they're emptied. But we still wind up running low fairly early on. In summer we seem to go through more than a hundred large 'cubes' a day!
The camera will tell you that there's carrots in the fridge, provided its view of them isn't blocked by something else, but it won't tell you if they are still safe to eat.
By the way, carrots shouldn't be stored in the fridge. Either in the freezer or the cupboard. Which highlights another problem about these smart fridges. The people who design them assume that everything you buy in the supermarket goes in the fridge when it gets home. It doesn't even all go in the kitchen. Or do they keep their 10-in-one-actions shampoo/bodywash/shaving-foam/toothpaste/etc in the fridge?
"Then potatoes and onions, for example, live in earthenware pots"
My onions live briefly on the countertop and what doesn't get used immediately gets chopped up, bagged and put in the freezer. It's dead useful to have pre-chopped/de-teared onions in a bag ready to go. Potatoes I buy when I want them. They're cheaper in the 5lb/2-3kg bags, but I can't eat that much before they go off.
I can't count the number of times I've texted the Other Half from the supermarket, "do we need carrots?" (or whatever).
I bet you could if you scrolled back through your texting log.
My shopping list tends to get dynamically updated with 'can you get...' texts while I'm in the supermarket. It's a pity the metal construction of my local supermarket renders it a signal-free zone and I don't usually get the texts until I'm on my way home!
A friend of mine once emptied the fridge and climbed inside to check. Another friend just put in a camcorder. Yes, the light went out both times.
Still, having cameras will play merry hell with pranks involving hiding raccoons in the fridge. On the other hand, you could hang up a picture in front, so long as it's a peculiarly well-behaved raccoon.
well, that cat was only halfdead halfalive because the box walls were not transparent. Make them so, and the carrots NEVER enter into the superposition state.
p.s. Strangely enough, this quirk of quantum theory never applies to my bank account, whether I check it or not, it always only goes down. Well, ok, it might hold billions when nobody's looking, but it's not much good if I can't spend it :(
It's a false concept that your carrots can be in a superposition state. Quantum theory says that objects exist in superposition until observed, without having anything to say about what constitutes an "observer".
Therefore, your carrots can't be a in superposition because the carrots themselves know what state they're in.
It might not know about the carrots though
Any self-respecting cat would completely ignore the fact that carrots exist. Because - hello - vegetable!
Not fit for eating by an advanced species.
(Mind you - a tortoiseshell cat we had when I was a kid had a thing for peas. Loved them - to the extent that she ate a whole panful of them. And then had green diahorrea for several days. Cats digestive systems are *really* not set up to handle large amounts of vegetables.. She was an odd cat, even for a tortie.)
I’m a bit tired of checking constantly if the light in my fridge is still on. So I wen’t to see a shrink to ask for help. His hourly rate was a bit too high for me, so I continue doing checking by myself.
Now this Schrödinger thing, you got me really confused. Can the light be both on and off at the same time? Is it on or off only when I observe it? Maybe it’s both on and off before I open the door for the very first time, and only then it’s state is determined.
I tried to put my cat in my fridge to see if the light is off when I open the door next time. The cat didn’t like my idea. Instead, he bit me, spilled milk and broke the light. Now the light is always off. Or is it? You never know... sigh.
Last time I looked it was not a realtime view of the interior. Rather it takes a snaphot right after the door is closed. The interior light is kept on just long enough after closing the door to take the photo.
I was playing with one at a local appliance shop. I was somehow able to move things inside the fridge without it updating the photo. Not sure how I did it, but that made the novelty wear off right there in the store.
To be honest I don't think anyone has ever been arsed enough to agree an international standard for
root vegetable storage. So I think it's down to personal preference as to where you store them.
The fridge isn't the place I'd choose to store them mind, but then again, what's life without a little risk...
so unless I have a camera and adequate lighting in each of them and also a way of telling what's underneath the bunch of broccoli where the carrots might be located, then this fridge might be interesting although a little too pricey.
The remedy for not knowing whether you need carrots (or how many) is the boring old-fashioned "shopping list". All the hardware you need is a pen (or pencil) and paper - although you can print it if you must.
You also need the discipline to maintain a cumulative list of "needs". Every time you find some item that's out of stock, in short supply, or needed soon - shove it on the list.
This also helps cut down on unnecessary spending. You march into the supermarket clutching your list, and you buy what's on it and nothing else.
I only keep carrots in the fridge at the height of summer. Otherwise they live happily in the veg basket with the spuds, onions, courgettes, cucumbers, cabbage family members and sundry other root vegetables (rarely all at once).
By the way curcubits (courgettes, cucumbers and marrows) die when you put them in the fridge (I wish the supermarkets would wise up). I never keep them in the fridge at home and they last much longer (which is of course why the supermarkets don't want you to know this).
As for unripe fruit, grump mumble. Mind you I scored three large kiwifruit on low remainder in the Coop this week. They are perfectly ripe so of course they must be market down. I almost bought a marked down pineapple once but it was just 40% yellow so nowhere near actually ripe.
"I can't count the number of times I've texted the Other Half from the supermarket, "do we need carrots?" (or whatever)."
This sounds like you wandered off to the store with no list. A little bit of planning can go a long way.
I keep a running shopping list on my phone. As I run out/low on things, I put them on the list. Chances will be good that I'll have my phone with me at the store to prop up my failing memory.
My general rule is, "When in doubt, get some". Obviously I'm not going to apply this if the item is Bulga Caviar. If it's carrots, no worries. I can dice and freeze the older ones if I wind up with too much. If that's not an option, the menu of the day will change to use up the excess.
"Also, I don't know about other people, but I don't have any problems remembering what's in my fridge. Remembering the expiry dates of stuff in it can be a problem, but I don't think this setup would help me."
Which shows just how this connected fridge is a solution looking for a problem.
The whole concept just doesn't work until you have a way to check for all product's health ...
"I don't have any problems remembering what's in my fridge. Remembering the expiry dates of stuff in it can be a problem"
For the whole connected-fridge thingy to work, you need every item to have an RFID tag that says what it is and what's the expiry. That would actually be useful for the supply logistics to the supermarket, supermarket inventory control and checkout, and IoT fridges.
I believe for the moment per-item RFID tags remain expensive to put on items sold for a few pence. And you would have to work out how to instantly program/print out RFID tags for weighing machines. And work out how to bulk-scan a hundred different tags in a trolley/fridge without mixing them all up.
But it's not unlikely that in 10-20 years time we'll see entire supermarkets working with this model, and IoT fridges will gradually offer some real utility.
Unless you are running a large commercial-style kitchen of some sort, or are a food retailer of some type, where inventory control is a necessity, this seems like an awful lot of effort to go through for a common household kitchen.
If you have a big family, say 8 kids or something, then assign to one of them the chore of keeping the inventory, that'll help keep em out of trouble.
If you are single or a couple with only one kid, how hard is it to attach a small notepad with a pen to the fridge where you note on it items that need to be purchased. I.e., a traditional shopping list. Or, if you want to be techie about it, there are plenty of 'list' apps for phones/tablets, so use one of them.
Hell ,when I'm bored at work I think about what I want to make for dinner, and buy the ingredients on the way home.
a couple with only one kid
Or even a couple with no kids but a lot of animals..
(The only pet-related thing that lives in the fridge is the lactose-reduced cat milk.. Yes - a lot of cats are lactose-intolerant once they get past being a juvenile. Hence the lactose-reduced cat milk - I think some also have extra vitamins and taurine in it. 5 of our cats are sick if they drink cows' milk, two are not. Which is why we need to guard our cereal bowls closely..).
The only pet-related thing that lives in the fridge is the lactose-reduced cat milk..
I've been told so often by "extreme experts" (usually of the female persuasion oddly) about how cats don't like milk and will only drink if if there's nothing else available.
I challenge them to go to my fridge, open it, take the milk out and put it on the bench for a few seconds (usually whilst making a cuppa), then put it back in the fridge without offering the cat any. Oh, and I point out the bowl of fresh water inside (right next to where his milk would go) and the small pool of not-so-fresh water outside.
Those who try to ignore him get a polite request clawing after a few seconds. Those who still insist he doesn't want milk.. Well, let's just say he's "self-feeding" and I don't need to worry about cat food for a while.
Seriously, this cat is nuts for milk. Dangerously so.
--> Made the mistake of using the last of the milk in my morning coffee. Will need some new clothes as a result. Mine's the one that looks like it was worn by the hulk.
"I've been told so often by "extreme experts" (usually of the female persuasion oddly) about how cats don't like milk and will only drink if if there's nothing else available."
Don't know for other pets, but you really can't draw any generalities with cats.
I have 3 as follows:
1 is crazy for anything with milk, yogourt etc ... The other 2 don't care.
1 drinks tea, mostly mint tea. Is also dangerously crazy for camphor when I put some camphor pommad on myself. Given camphor is also toxic for humans, I don't let him lick any of it ! Of course, the 2 other don't care.
1 doesn't care for anything but regular crockets and mice
And so on and so forth. You really can't generalize anything about those buggers !
I store in reverse chronological order.
Stuff on the bottom is likely to go off in the next few days (hence includes things like raw chicken/beef that shouldn't even be stored above fresh or cooked stuff, but people still put salad drawers on the damn bottom!)
Then the stuff on the top shelf is the stuff that will expire last.
If you implement a left-to-right protocol too, you know exactly what you need to eat next and/or what needs to be thrown out.
Of course, all food should be subject to the usual "does it smell/look right?" test regardless, but I find my live much easier like that and no sudden "Urgh... that's *still* in there?" shocks.
Now if someone knows of a fridge with the salad crisper drawer thing either on the top or completely removed from the rest of the food and can't have raw blood dripped on it, that'd be great.
Same in the freezer too... but that's much more often subject to packing pressure than it is things actually going off.
If you implement a left-to-right protocol too, you know exactly what you need to eat next and/or what needs to be thrown out.
I'm surprised no one's given the oblig xkcd on this!
It is the same with any "IoT" white good. The white goods should last a couple of decades, but you'll be lucky if the IoT side of the device is still getting security updates after 2 years...
I refuse to buy anything with IoT built in. If I'm going to "IoT" it, I'll buy a good quality, non-intelligent device and couple it with a dedicated IoT device that can be swapped out, cheaply, when its time has come.
E.g. a good TV and then something like a FireTV or a Raspi for media playback.
I don't need an intelligent fridge, dishwasher or washing machine. I still have to fill the washing machine with laundry and put in the washing powder. If I do that, I can start it - or set the inbuilt timer to start so that it will be finished when I get back home to hang the stuff out.
Was talking to a colleague today about his new kitchen. The hob and extractor can be controller via an app on a suitably WiFi-connected device.
I was immediately thinking of either what happens when they invariably get bricked by a firmware update, or when they get hacked due to a lack of a firmware update (as I don't think IoT security is at the top of the list for kitchen hardware manufacturers).
Another thing: A 15-20 year old oven will generally work just fine. But will a 2030s smartphone with maybe 1TB of RAM and a 128bit CPU of some description be able to run the app? The current wifi standard will be hopelessly obsolete. Will the oven be able to connect to a 2030s wireless access point?
>and then realise they won't be able to return to the kitchen soon enough, so can turn it off by their phone.
If it follows the pattern I'm used to then by the time I've got the phone active and all the 101 code updates, alerts and cookie feed back whatever's on the stove will have caught fire.
someone leaving something on to boil, then goes to another room to for whatever reason
My description of multi-tasking to my wife is "doing several things at the same time, all badly"..
(And let's not perpetuate the myth that all women are good multitaskers - some are, some are not. Just like some men are, some are not.. My wife isn't and I am. Which annoys her no end.)
(as I don't think IoT security is at the top of the list for kitchen hardware manufacturers)
And you'd be right:
Half-baked security: Hackers can hijack your smart Aga oven 'with a text message'
"E.g. a good TV and then something like a FireTV or a Raspi for media playback."
A good TV would be one that doesn't want to connect itself to the internet. Where do you get one of those these days? You might just about get away with not letting your TV connect but how soon is it going to be that you can't do that otherwise the damn thing will just have a temper tantrum and refuse to work at all?
(Maybe not so) Surprisingly, I've seen a lot of 1080p monitors being more expensive than 1080p TVs.
We use a set-top-box/DVR to get TV programming these days, and the TV hooked up to it is just a glorious monitor. I've tried to find a suitable replacement monitor with sufficient size (1080p resolution (don't need more, the box just puts out that much); larger size than the TV (hey, the worst thing about the TV is that it was originally just a small bedroom TV), and built-in speakers.
I couldn't find one that was cheap enough. It would always have been a better deal to buy another TV.
>Surprisingly, I've seen a lot of 1080p monitors being more expensive than 1080p TVs.
Definitely seen this in the 24-inch and larger sizes.
I went for the most basic ie. minimal intelligence TV with 4xHDMI and used that as a monitor/TV plugging it into PVR, Xbox & computer. Obviously, this style of TV tends to be only available on advanced order rather than from stock. But if they are in-stock they tend to get discounted at the end of the season...
Remember that a monitor connects to something that could be internet connected. The days of simple analogue signals are long gone and with the move from DVI to HDMI and DisplayPort there's facility to pass other data over the connection. It's convenient but I'd imagine this will eventually lead to some surprises and unintended consequences.
I think you people overdramatise with those smart tellies. Mine is smart, by design, but dumb, as I never let it "help" me by connecting to the internets via my router. I guess it's vaguely fuck... hackable via bluetooth, which I've never managed to disable, but I must have disabled SOME bt feature, because it won't connect to anything even if I try to (not that I tried long and hard). I never updated its firmware, because I saw it once, it was about 700 Mb, and I assumed it indicates a shitload of crap would be added to enhance my viewing pleasure, etc. It works, does what it's supposed to do, fails to do a few things which are unimportant...
ultimately, I don't see it as a problem until the moment when smart tellies will INSIST they "have to" be connected to the internet to actually work. But, in general, I find cries of horror in this field greatly exaggerated.
ultimately, I don't see it as a problem until the moment when smart tellies will INSIST they "have to" be connected to the internet to actually work. But, in general, I find cries of horror in this field greatly exaggerated.
Not too many months back there were some very good WiFi signal analysers for Android.
Then there was an update to some part of Android (leastways what my tablet's got). Now, for those same analysers to work, they MUST have "location services" turned on.
I personally cannot see how having GPS turned on will change the signal strength of the WiFi or which channels my neighbours use. I can see that such information would be of great "user-experience-enhancing""[1] interest to Slurpy McSlurpface et al.
It's coming. Connect or face reduced functionality. And there's the old "security updates" timeout (eg what IIRC MS has done with home W10) - don't get updates then your TV/etc stops working after a while, even if never connected to anything other than a STB/Pi etc
(Reminds me, I think I have an old backup .apk floating around - another app for the remove/install-from-old/never-again-update list?)
[1] Ie "we steal more of your personal info"
I think the general IoT concept is reasonable for home appliances but as you say we all know the implementation is going to be, to put it bluntly, shit. Even from the established manufacturers have and will have a raft of configuration, security, privacy and obsolescence issues. And we're at risk of the marketing team pushing wasteful gimmicks onto irresponsible consumers.
My fridge/freezer has recently passed its 20th birthday with just the trivial replacement of one 16 pound part. As far as I can work out there's been no quantum leaps in insulation so there's no need to evaluate replacement on an efficiency basis.
My Sony TV's YouTube feature broke a few years after I bought it due to some API battle. It has inconsistent support on multimedia file formats depending on the source. It was the first TV I owned that monitored what the viewer was watching and god knows what it was uploading to Sony when I had it briefly connected.
There is one important area which could benefit from some (efficient) smart features, scheduling domestic electricity demand dynamically. I think the simple solution to this used to be mains timer switches that would turn on an appliance during (in UK terminology) Economy 7 period. There is scope here for intelligent, perhaps market driven, scheduling of washing machines, dish-washers and car charging over night that could reduce costs and have positive impact for the environment.
There is scope here for intelligent, perhaps market driven, scheduling of washing machines, dish-washers and car charging over night that could reduce costs and have positive impact for the environment.
A couple of issues there. First, we had that in NZ as well (at least 2 different rates), but with the de-regulation of the market and many of us doing that, our prices are now the same 24/7.
Second, as more and more people try to use a cheaper slot the slot will not be cheaper. Used to be it was cheaper because of low demand but not easy to spin up/down a power station.
Finally, as a species we tend to be selfish, greedy, and unthinking. As electric cars become more common people will want to be able to get home from driving and plug it in and have it start charging immediately. Doesn't matter if it's at 99.99% capacity and they don't need it for another 3 days, it must be full now or I'm suing!. Of course, showing a 'charging' icon/light will be enough to settle most people even if it talks to the grid and books itself a couple of KWh between 5:45am and 6am. Different issue if the capacity is fairly low and you want to take it out again soon.
> Also, I don't know about other people, but I don't have any problems remembering what's in my fridge
You clearly live alone and certainly don't have teenagers. Those that do will know that there is also no need to know what's in your fridge - it will be empty at all times, except for perhaps 10 minutes after restocking it.
People who have teenagers will know that the vegetables will get left well alone.
Ultra sneaky trick..
Get them involved in gardening.
Sneakier even more trick.. Don't ask them to help you, actually ask them to stay away - "forbidden fruit" so-to-speak. If you don't want them doing it then it's the latest must-do thing for them.
I'm a little concerned at the rush to add "smart" features because in a lot of cases, this "smart" functionality adds little or no actual benefit for the user while adding potentially a *lot* of security vulnerabilities to a home network, which may well be managed by someone who doesn't have a clue about network security.
In the past couple of years, I've seen "smart" functionality added to ovens, fridges, washing machines and various other applicances. I've seen app controlled ovens, coffee makers and washing machines. What is the point of that? Every kitchen appliance needs to be have human interaction at some point, even if it's just to load it or unload it. What's the point in putting controls on an App that will likely have it's own security problems? OK, Apps can help users look up recipes, and look up washing instructions, but that stuff can be done a lot more securely on a website. It would not be too difficult to implement either as it's likely that app is looking up the info it needs on a website anyway.
An app-controlled smart cooker or coffee maker would appear to make more sense, because you can turn on the device remotely, but if you *really* needed to do this, having some sort of timer function on the device itself would enable you to do it..
A smart fridge makes no sense at all to me. Yes, it can check stock levels, but so can I. While I am doing it, I can also check nothing is going bad in the fridge, and clean it. Two jobs I would have to do even if the fridge did check stock levels. Yes, I can check stock levels using the interface. Depending on the UI, it may actually be easier for me to open the door and look to see if the fridge has what I need in it. Bearing in mind if it does, I'll need to open the door anyway.
Yes, it can enable me to surf the web and watch media. So can my phone (which I normally have) or my tablet, which is normally around the house somewhere.
You can get an ipad if you want to look up recipes. Would a smart device with touch screen work better than that? Almost certainly not.
It is generally recommended that you put food in your cooker before you switch it on. A remote control will not help you do that. Also, remote controls are not new technology. They have been implemented on things like TVs and video recorders, but not kitchen devices. Has anyone ever thought why that might be the case?
An app-controlled ... coffee maker would appear to make more sense, because you can turn on the device remotely
And having turned it on remotely, what then? Depending on the type of coffee-maker, you'll have various tasks like loading coffee and heating milk that can't be done remotely. Even if you have a bean-to-cup machine that stores and refrigerates its own milk, you'll find it hard to drink the coffee via a phone app.
A clock and a kettle with a switch under to disable power if you forgot to fill it. They have been selling these since before home computers with CP/M
You still have to remember to fill it each night.
To wash the cups and bring them back.
What about the milk?
Remote controlled TVs sort of make sense. Radio less so. The Teasmaid proves that there is a market for totally useless appliances.
"The Teasmaid proves that there is a market for totally useless appliances"
A former friend gave Ms Cat and myself a Goblin Teasmaid, back in the early '80s.
I still recall being woken up by ten minutes of bubbling, hissing, screeching and small explosions followed by a raucous buzzer.
Occasionally we discovered that the boiling water had ignored the slightly misaligned teapot and had instead started to dissolve the MFI dressing table on which it rested.
Even when the wretched thing managed to make a hot beverage, one of us still had to fetch milk from the fridge in the kitchen - as you correctly noted.
We gave it to a colleague who made the mistake of saying she was thinking of buying one.
Teasmade, you heathen.
The Teasmaid proves that there is a market for totally useless appliances.
It's an alarm clock that makes tea for you to wake up to.. Instead of a nasty ringer you get the creak of the clockwork, the water starting to boil, the hissing of steam and at the end a nasty buzzer.
All the other steps you mention you would have to do anyway, It also saves you from having to deal with boiling water before being fully woken up.
"you'll find it hard to drink the coffee via a phone app."
For a busy working parent, this still has the advantage of freeing up the time you would have spent making the coffee before leaving it somewhere to not get drunk.
Or maybe I just need more sleep. Or maybe a coffee to wake me up. Now where did I leave it?
This post has been deleted by its author
Also covered by Gilfoyle Hacks Jian Yang's Smart Fridge - Silicon Valley - he summarises it well at 01:14 to 01:27.
Remembering the expiry dates of stuff in it can be a problem
Which is where cats and dogs are quite useful. Not sure if the meat is safe? Offer it to a cat. If they will eat it, it's most likely safe (cats are pure carnivores and won't eat carrion or meat that's going off unless they are really, really desparate. And I can quite safely say that none of my cats are ever that desparate..). Cats also have a much better nose than ours (somewhere roughly equidistant between our sense of smell and that of a dog).
And if the cat won't eat it, it can go in the dogs food bowl and save us the cost of dog meat. Unless it's green and dripping of course..
making the sides from gnass is too crude, too... vulgar. The only fair solution would be to make all sides from screens displaying ads. Preferably with built-in micro-projectors to cast ads on your kitchen walls and ceiling for the ultimate cool. Watch my "ultimatecool" youtube channel soon...
Glass would get condensation on it
Which is why the glass fridges and freezers in the supermarket have fans.
Samsung used to make transparent LCD screens and demo'd a Coke fridge with one forming the door. Can't find the Samsung one now, but here's a similar device
M.
Transparent aluminium?
As for letting the cold out, I assume that's at least part of the justification for the idea. However, it doesn't actually happen. Air (gasses in general for that matter) has an extremely small specific heat capacity, especially when compared to something like water. If you carefully pumped all the cold air out of your fridge and replaced it with air at room temperature, it would increase the temperature of a litre of milk by somewhere around 1 degree, if that was the only thing inside. If you have a fridge full of various solids and liquids, the temperature and energy change to them caused by letting in a little bit of warm air when the door is opened isn't even a rounding error on the measurement.
And of course, even if you've managed to make your life so incredibly energy efficient that the tiny loss from opening the fridge door is a real worry for you, installing a large internet-connected touchscreen display probably isn't going to help matters.
Well, this review of the literature suggests an effect.
I've found keeping it reasonably full reduces the duty cycle of my fridge a lot, as does reducing the door openings if it's less full. I live in a warmish climate with no A/C.
Well, this review of the literature suggests an effect.
Bloody hell. Thanks for the rather chilling read! I knew the numbers were bad, but even the 30% quoted in places in that article (quick skim - to tired to read in depth sorry) is scary! Even 10% of food going to waste is a hell of a lot! (and that's the wastage before getting to the house even, not considering what is purchased, left in the fridge/cupboard for a decade, then tossed in a mad fit before the new girlfriend arrives)
I've found keeping it reasonably full reduces the duty cycle of my fridge a lot, as does reducing the door openings if it's less full. I live in a warmish climate with no A/C.
Yup, I also have used that practice especially when poorer. Used to keep a lot of bottles of water in the fridge when things were running low and it'd be a while before I was filling it again. Used to also get mocked till a very long power cut, and whereas people were finding their fridges and freezers getting badly warm after just 4 or 5 hours, mine was still plenty cold after more than 12 hours. (limiting the opening helped a lot too).
For only a bit more than half the price of this Samsung, John Lewis will sell you a Lucky Goldstar "Instaview"* fridge.
*what normal people would call a big window in the door!
I think that an A++ fridge or fridge freezer for well under a thousand is more than adequate.
this calls for a patent: if you tilt it to one side and wheel it into your living room, and unfold the 21-inch screen, the you could have a perfect twofor. Plus, with its cavernous, empty space, it would make the ultimate sub-woofer for your kids' fiesta, never mind a final resting space should your better half decide to intervene. "Would you like to add some glazing to your order to go with the beef inside m'm?"
It's a fridge. It goes in the kitchen, not in the middle of the living room. Anything that makes noise other than my TV or stereo gets shut down pretty damn quick.
The whole concept is ludicrous and I will not have that in my house.
Ever.
We removed TVs from the kitchen and dining room. Mobes are also not welcome. That makes people talk to each other instead of hissing "sssshhh" sounds to listen to some brain-dead show. The TV is only in the TV room. People can easily record anything broadcasted at lunch/dine hours.
To avoid to become something like this:
https://marvelpresentssalo.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/idiocracy-ow-my-balls.jpg
Moreover, fridges are rarely put in the centre of a room, mine is in one of the corners.
TV. In the kitchen? Why? And the dining room? That's.... I mean really totally crazy. Why would anybody do that at all?
Back in the early 90's I boasted that I was rich enough to have a TV in my kitchen, dining room, living room, bedroom and even my laundry. Worked well until someone pointed out that they were all the same room :(
@J.G.Harson - Read further, it is featuring 8 flats that are below 400 sq ft, and the smallest is 150 sq ft. Secondly, this is a lifestyle article! This luxury could be yours!
BTW, was that 200 sq ft Gross or Net?
From memory, based on picturing in my head where the furniture was and assigning standard-ish values, it was about 12ft x 16ft internally, but that was reduced by a wall around the kitchen/bathroom so subtract 6inches by 16ft. My best estimate is here.
I have a vague impression that such stories are "inserted" by various agencies working for various departments of various "manufacturers" trying to make people talk about a new and revolutionary idea (sound of retching). And hey, it works, they made up a story, you inserted a link, I picked it up and entered a comment (never mind how shitty it is, it matters not), somebody else will point it out, etc, etc. Yeah, it works :(
"I don't get it... My fridge doesn't need to be connected to the www, nor does my water cooker, lightbulbs, thermostats, TV, dishwasher etc. What kind of a world will my son have to endure?"
Wow, you have a water cooker? You're well posh, we just have a kettle!
Wow, you have a water cooker? You're well posh, we just have a kettle!
Some neighbours recently showed me their newly-refurbished kitchen -- complete with a special tap that can deliver boiling water. Yes, actually boiling water, just like you get from a kettle.
If that's not a water-cooker I don't know what is -- but at about a kiloquid a throw it's in the same bracket as this useless Sammy smart-fridge even if it doesn't have an internet connection!
Not the engineers' idea. The engineers only implement the stupid ideas from the design and marketing departments. It will have been some millennial's "wouldn't it be nice if..." wet dream that managed to escape a marketing department brainstorming session.
"What kind of a world will my son have to endure?
A fridge that shows ads?
Just think of the targeted advertising!
You appear to have too many calories in your fridge! Try our new slimming package! First week free!
You appear to be a reader of The Register based on the amount of beer in your fridge. Here are some interesting articles you may be interested in!
The possibilities are endless.
I actually did my University last year project on this in 2000. It unfortunately wasn't viable back then, but the cost and supply chain/blockchain availability makes it way more viable than it ever was. The other problem back then was the network connectivity and IoT capability. The latter of this article shows this still is in its infancy.
I've worked with a number of power groups using SCADA and even their enterprise industry grade boxes are poor protection wise and so any hope of customer grade being anywhere near protected is a pipe dream.
I imagined a connected kitchen that a) could determine the power requirements for food in microwaves and ovens, b) could actually start cooking food based on your remote commands and c) would give you meal recommendations based on what you had in your house and the expiry dates etc.
I wanted to patent a) but there was already ambiguous submissions that would have contested it.
So, like, is this just an Android thing? Could I conceivably stick Retroarch on it and play Herzog Zwei on a fridge? That would be superb, for about five minutes, and then I'd get bored and depressed about spending three thousand pounds on a big, cold cupboard that can go on the internet for some reason.
Considering the youngsters, hipsters and millenials (presumably the target for this?) claim to be so concerned about climate change and environmental matters (more than us old farts), they seem to regard items such as this as short life disposable and unrepairable. Along with so much else that they discard along the way because, well, it's more than a couple of years old and out-of-date.
I suspect there is food in my fridge which has been there longer than some of these machines will last in someones kitchen.
Make do and mend !!
> they seem to regard items such as this as short life disposable and unrepairable
They probably are going to be unrepairable or, if they are, cost-prohibitive to do so. Nobody fixes anything these days. Toss it out and by another---the new one has better features, anyway.
They probably are going to be unrepairable or, if they are, cost-prohibitive to do so. Nobody fixes anything these days. Toss it out and by another---the new one has better features, anyway.
I recently had a great fridge develop a refrigerant leak. Probably not even 20 years old. Quoted price of fixing was vastly more than I could justify, even though it'd outlast it's replacement. That was the cost of opening it up, inspecting the piping, sealing the leak (and any other bits of piping that were decaying), re-gassing and closing. I even suggested they, instead of hunting and repairing the damaged pipe just replace it (nothing special really, should've been a doddle). No, too much.
If the gas wasn't such a controlled substance over these parts I'm sure I could've done all that myself, with them inspecting any joints before refilling.
Paris coz this world is getting pretty fucking stupid in the "making stuff green" shit that really does more damage.
Maybe I'm old fashioned expecting fridges and large appliances to have 20-30 years life.
Why such a short life span?
My microwave pre-dates the 80s. I have a mate with a perfectly functional chest freezer that pre-dates me. Other than the odd clean and a change of seal, these things really could last more than 40 years if built and used right.
Come on you people- this fridge has a 'Digital Inverter Compressor'. I gotta get me some of that. That beats the pants off Dyson's digital motor.
When did 'digital' get cool again? It was boring by the late '80s. Everything sprouted red 7 segments- even stuff which needed to show a trend. Nonsense.
Must be a retro thing...
I assume Samsung has some old Android tablet parts hanging around they could no longer sell so decided they would mate them up to a fridge to sell to idiots for a vastly increased price.
While having a camera inside the fridge might be used very occasionally say if your at the supermarket and want to check whether you have ran out butter or not, as others have pointed out this relies on you laying out all the items in your fridge side by side so they can be easily viewed and even then it won't help you see inside tubs, jars etc to see how much is left in them.
But I doubt the screen size is directly proportional to the processing, memory, and storage. They could have obtained all of those parts from their extra inventory and simply attached a larger screen to the result. Of course, since nobody will actually run all that much on this device, perhaps that's the most efficient choice for all involved.
My main use case for a screen in the kitchen is following a recipe, for which my phone or the ipad is sufficient - but I want the screen in front of me and movable as I switch between worktop and cooker hob, not bolted onto the front of a kitchen appliance at what is surely going to be an inconvenient angle and position to read from where I am.
On the occasions when I have tried to use a screen for entertainment in the kitchen, I usually find that I'm too busy cooking to be able to watch the screen at the same time and might as well just be listening to something instead (see above re phone/ipad).
I have the perfect use for this fridge. With it coming into summer here in the Antipodes it can monitor the weather and ensure that it has enough cold beer on hand. If it detects LBL (Low Beer Level) it can automatically check the different stores to see which has the best price for my favourite tipple (delivered of course) and place the order.
Note to self: build an IoT enabled robot to automatically stock the fridge when the beer is delivered.
The fridge can also check my social calendar to see who will be dropping in. AI would use past visit data to predict expected consumption to ensure that enough of their favourite tipple is on hand (optimally it can send them a message to ensure they bring their preferred tipple to top up if low).
Can you tag certain people so that you, entirely coincidentally, "just run out" of their favourite whenever they arrive?
I know way to many where the act of asking them to help top up your stocks of their preferred drink means they won't show up at all.
Knowledge I've put to good use on a few occasions... :)
The only smart bit of a smart fridge for me would be to work out if the fridge is cold enough to wait until the 'leccy is cheap ( yes this relies on smart infrastructure too) in order to cool down to balance the power grid.
I'd also like zones of various coolness, so 2-3 C for meat etc, and proper cellar temperature for beer without having to resort to a second fridge.
Beer because obvs
With a 21.5-inch touchscreen embedded in one of the stainless steel doors, Samsung touts the monster refrigerator as a centre for "non-stop music, video & TV entertainment" as well as stopping fresh food from going a bit whiffy.
I'm seeing a serious problem here, not enough room for fridge magnets.
I see an opportunity for a new fridge app here.
Use the fridge's camera to take a snapshot of each of your fridge magnets and then you can have virtualised fridge magnets as overlays on the touch screen. If the door includes an accelerometer for motion sensing, it could even virtualise them falling off if you slam the door too hard.
It’s bad enough having to apply security updates to my phone, computer and routers without having to do the lightbulbs, fridge, tv, loudspeakers and whatnot.
My TV is smart only because I couldn’t find a dumb one with the spec I wanted - but I don’t let it connect to my network.
Everything else in my house, including its owner, is as thick as porcine faeces (and I like it that way). My fridge is now nigh on 15 years old (and has just had a service by Fisher & Paykel - so hopefully will last another 15). Will Samsung continue to provide parts for this in 15 years, let alone update the damn things software?
I have my doubts.
"Still, its good to see that thanks to the wonders of smart technology, a once mundane kitchen appliance can now perform all manner of Android-powered wonder."
As well as sending as much information as possible about the user, back to base.
Having recently finished Ed Snowden's biography, I am more than a little wary or IoT fridges, which get a particular mention.
Also El Reg, where is the promised review of said publication?
If the security admin was being diligent and setup deep SSL inspection to monitor network traffic from IoT devices like this, then they would get cert errors. The SSL proxy's cert would need to be installed on devices to avoid cert errors. Not saying that's what happened, since that's not a good strategy for IoT and customer facing networks, but it makes me consider how I would protect my network if those were the cards I was dealt.
So this fridge is perfect for the social media generation!
Like the contents of my fridge? Don't forget the thumbs up! Don't like? Send me stuff* and you may see it live(ish) on the fridgecam!
The fridge could finally disprove the idea that TANSTAFL. Could even combine it as an eating channel** & maybe throw in some cookery for the complete Internet experience***!
*Probably not minature C-clamps. Someone's already had that idea, and might be regreting it.
**The Internet is weird like that.
***Contact my business address for rates to display your produce prominently!
In 2017 I bought a house built in 2013 that came with all Samsung appliances. We have already replaced the refrigerator and the dishwasher. And looking to get rid of the stove and microwave next. Luckily the previous owners took the clothes washer and dryer with them! First, the "fridge". It started making a terrible noise and didn't stay cold enough. Since it was one with ice in the door, but a drawer freezer on bottom, the ice maker was inside the fridge. When the fridge started getting too warm, the ice would melt, then refreeze frosting and jamming the ice maker. We did some digging and found the cause. Poor design. There is a fan behind the false wall on the interior of the fridge. Due to a poor design ice would build up behind this false wall, the fan would then hit the ice as it went by causing the terrible noise. Also behind this false wall is the thermometer. With ice built up next to the thermometer, the fridge "thought" it was actually colder in there than it was. the only "fix" for this was to unplug it, take things out that would perish, and take a hair dryer to the back to melt the ice buildup. To prevent the noise, you'd have to do this about once a month. After a couple months of this nonsense, we replaced it. Not a great or long story about the Dishwasher, it just sucked, it doesn't clean the dishes, it's usually hard to tell if the damn thing ran or not if you run it, and then look a day or so later. Somehow we seem to burn everything on the stove top, and anything in the actual oven always takes way longer than the recipe says it will. The Microwave seems to work ok, but the controls are confusing and frustrating at times. Now, I've got nothing against Samsung, I think the phones they make are pretty awesome, but home appliances? No, they are over priced and poorly designed.
I think the phones they make are pretty awesome, but home appliances?
Phones are designed to last for 2-3 years and be replaced. Home appliances are expected to last 10+ years. Samsung's design and build philosophy seems to be aimed at the commodity, short life time market where they generate sales from "obsolescence by design".
I've previously bought both a Samsung TV (of the non-smart variety) and 24" monitor. The monitor was nice enought, but started randomly turning itself on and off after about 6 years before finally giving up the ghost, to be replaced by a cheaper Acer UHD one.
The TV still works, but very occasionally has been known to randomly turn itself on, at full volume, for no discernable cause (for this reason, we call it Pazuzu). The speaker causes terrible vibrations in the casing at certain frequencies, which could no doubt have been designed out with a bit of foam in the casing, and just smacks of lack of quiality. The TV was bought as a "bundle" deal that included a DVD recorder. The DVD recorder never worked, even to play DVDs. It went to the local tip.
All in all, not a great experience of either. When the TV finally dies, it will be replaced by a non-Samsung one.
I recently bought a dishwasher. A little research showed that the Samsung ones are known to be expensive and unreliable. We went for a Siemens in the end, which, so far, does the job well.
They used to make good HDDs then sold the plant to WD.
My boss had a Samsung TV, had to swap it due to naughty HDMI ports.
My TV has been reliable and trouble free, but is a Sony.
However my Sony video camera failed about 15 years ago, the pick up tube wore out. Apart from that I had to have its lead replaced once, and they also serviced it. Mind you its partner recorder still works but is not quite 40 years old.
Why are the IOT people missing the obvious?
If fridges are to be smart and automated, the obvious application is to add robotic sex. Yes, attached to the fridge. Many a teenager has appeared, to his or her parents, to be standing in the kitchen, fridge open, humping the door.
Business opportunity!
The idIOT designers have already added nozzles and pumps for dispensing fluids, and orifices and handles in abundance. I suppose the audio-visual enhancements would implement porn-as-a-service or something.
Don't tell me Samsung and other tech-whores are too morally squinchy to sink to such levels. I don't believe it.
If fridges are to be smart and automated, the obvious application is to add robotic sex. Yes, attached to the fridge. Many a teenager has appeared, to his or her parents, to be standing in the kitchen, fridge open, humping the door.
Oh, "Oh Matron" was already way ahead of you over here..
Mine's the rather dingy-looking creepy raincoat. Yes, the rubber one.
The tech already exists without any IOT. My Smart Receipt aka QR code gets scanned by my phone app. App now knows the expiry date of everything I bought and a probability on whether it's likely to be stored in fridge or larder. It pops up a notification if anything approaches its eat-by date. Any new purchase on item will cancel the last record on an assumption I've used the last lot up. App can also scan empty packaging barcode to mark item as eaten and direct me to the correct home recycle bin at same time. Loose fruit thats unpackaged early is the challenge. All rough and ready stuff but potentially cheap to implement and helpful.
Wonder why the retailers are unkeen to roll something like this out. Waste = profit maybe?
I don't want my toaster to leak my credit card details over the Internet.
I do not want my fridge to sell the data of what I eat online.
And I definitely don't want a home robot that can be hacked to open my doors or windows for thieves.
Password manager? Your passwords are safer on an offline text notebook, unless you lose it of course.
20 years' ago one of the young women in our office wanted us to all start talking about FML (Fridge Markup Language). She had noticed that the CEO was fond of buzzwords (especially in his sales pitches) and she was convinced that if he heard enough of us talking about it, that he would use it.
Such foresight. If she had written the spec. for it then she might be a wealthy woman on the strength of it.
the three cameras that can display the contents of the interior on that screen
Most of the time the contents of my fridge is a shameful assembly of beer and left-over takeaway food (and bacon of course, no fridge should be without bacon). The last thing I'd want to do is display that on an screen for all to see.
Why aren't they popular? Coke sells their product on those. You can tell what's inside without opening them, which is... efficient.
Why freaking cameras, when simple double-panel glass would do it?
Or looking at abandoned slice of pizza from yesterday would freak you out?
The Americans have long held a fantasy that their fridges should be connected to the internet and be the 'hub' of the house. Bill Gates once said something along those lines. A fridge is a place to pin childrens' drawings, post-its and lottery tickets to. I cannot understand why you'd need a screen on one. None of it makes the slightest bit of sense to me. If you want a screen in the kitchen, there are lots of 'assistant' type things available with screens.
The thing is, and this is the crux of the matter, that most devices last a long time - Fridges, washing machines, dishwashers, cars, boilers, kettles, TVs even USED to be able to last 10-15 years, or even longer - maybe 20+ in some cases. But stick a screen on it, give it wifi and call it 'SMART' and you've just reduced its useful lifespan to 3-5 years at most. After that, the manufacturer won't support any updates, the wifi will be too slow, the OS out of date, and it'll be time to throw it away. I've just read about older Tesla cars where the flash storage has worn out because so many gigabytes a day are written as logs. Cars out of warranty will see a $3000 bill for replacing the flash!
I find this sort of thing crap, its a solution desperately looking for a problem so you end up with a gadget that doesn't actually do anything useful and what it does can't be relied on. A waste of technology, in fact.
I'm all for intelligent devices but the intelligence has to be relevant. IoT itself is built on a massively inefficient and insecure Web framework that makes it inherently unsuitable for process control. Its main purpose seems to be to convert common household objects to a rental model, everything phoning home in a desperate attempt to add non-existent value, maybe get a revenue stream and maybe sell you even more crap (its an unsustainable business model so the products end up unsupported or even made non-functional -- that is, useless).
Inventory control on a freezer might be more useful since its periodic clean out and defrost often resembles an archaeological dig. The best way to do this would be a UPC (barcode) scanner near to the freezer connected to a database. RFID tags would be more convenient but also more expensive and less reliable (a tip, BTW -- cheap electronics doesn't like working at 0C).
I work in technology, and I don't understand the need or even desire for connected kitchen appliances.
You say that as if it is supposed to sound contradictory, as if there was an "even" in between the "and" and the I", yet I suspect that the reality is that "therefore" would be more fitting.
I expect that in the future insurance companies will require access to your fridge so they can check up on how healthy you are eating. Are you getting your five a day? Has that veg moved at all in the last week.
How about a log on when the door is opened/light goes on? Want to know when people are home and awake? Looking at fridge door events could be a good indicator.
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