alt Hacker NewsOwners mourn spoiled food after firmware update bricks Samsung smart fridges
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This is the perfect story of 2020s era tech.
Just total engineering incompetence of forced updates with new features for no reason that degrade core workflows and introduce needless instability.
If there's one thing to point to as an example of why we should make "smart fridges" and similar appliances not worth developing, it's things like this. Way way too easy for the company to just publish an update that breaks something like this. Imagine if you have a smart oven which gets an update and starts a very bad electrical fire because the company was stupid and decided it was a really smart idea to make an Oven that can connect to the internet. Wouldn't even surprise me if that's already happened.
Meanwhile, my non-smart fridge continues to run just fine. Why do we need smart fridges? That was always a bad idea.
Why is the fridge's cooling system is one with the smart features? They should be kept completely separate
This is my fear on the car side, as smart features start leaking from isolated areas in automobiles into the larger CAN bus....
Gilfoyle's take on Smart Fridges: > This thing is addressing problems that don't exist. It's solutionism at its worst.
Why does a fridge need firmware? Compressor and thermostat IC should do the trick. Maybe a fan to circulate some cold air.
For anyone looking to disconnect their Samsung appliances from the web while keeping local control through Home Assistant, there's LocalThings[0].
I found it after learning that Samsung is planning to start charging $5 a month for API access but another benefit is reducing the risk of something like this.
I've given up on not buying "smart $thing". It seems nearly impossible in many cases. However I absolutely refuse to connect them to my wifi which mostly makes them "dumb" for me.
Yesterday I learnt that Samsung has a Royal Warrant in the UK.
TIL that they really shouldn’t.
Need #1: we need a fridge. Need #2: we need it to be smart Need #3: we need it connected to internet Need #4: we need it to be controlled by the seller.
Excessive needs bring you excessive pain.
Besides Samsung incompetence, I think smart fridges were probably solving the right problem (some sense of efficiency / time saving in grocery management) the wrong way (sensors/cameras/connected fridge).
It turns out that grocery stores with real time inventory on websites & pickup/delivery are a much better solution.
I have my weekly order I add my usuals to, and then add items to the cart all week as I noticed I am out/low while making dinner.
Never owned a Samsung appliance, but I had a Samsung smart TV for about year. Worst piece of technology I have ever owned and threw it in the trash and got a Roku.
Thanks to AI and IoT, we can now have vibe coded fridges and ovens that might have fantastic features and work 80% of the time!
The future truly is incredible
Why would any company have firmware updates pushed during a holiday? For that matter, why would you do a lot all at once, rather than spreading them out? I didn't see any info about some critical "vulnerability." Maybe I missed it.
Speaking of fridges, did anything come to light about that mass failing of gov run fridges we had here a few weeks ago?
i know it's maybe an unpopular thing to say to OEMs, but i do think some should adopt an open firmware stack to prevent post-discontinuation bricking and flex that somehow in their marketing. I'd buy that, especially for a larger appliance.
So when will Samsung be compensating affected owners for their spoilt food?
My parents still have the fridge they received as a wedding present in 1969 from my mom's parents. Still running as the second fridge in the garage.
dupe: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49815381 1 day ago | 270 comments
Makes me think of all who hope to return to life from cryonics one day :)
The lesson here is that technology doesn’t always move in a positive direction. “Primitive” technology (e.g. simpler ICs, electro-mechanical machines, purely mechanical machines) can often be far better than the “modern” solutions.
This extends all the way up to software. Be wary when someone pushes a modern replacement of a reliable and effective tool you already have.
Ha ha ha. But were the ads shown OK?
https://www.techradar.com/home/smart-home/samsung-launches-a...
What is the best quality fridge that is just a compressor connected to an insulated box?
In the wake of the IoT hype, the fridge is among the top items that will never be "smart" for me.
I had a samsung fridge. Every year it would spoil all of the food inside of it. The temperature reading on the outside would say 35 (1.5 c) but the food inside would be warm and spoiled.
It only happened when it was particularly cold outside. I eventually figured out that there is an external temperature sensor that causes the fridge to stop cooling below a certain external temperature. And that space in the kitchen was particularly cold in the back. But I could never read it below 55, so I think the sensor was faulty.
But the reading on the front is what really annoyed me. I had to keep a thermometer inside the fridge so that I didn't accidentally eat food that felt cool enough but was bad.
This happened every year. I eventually gave it away for free, with a warning to the person.
If you have a fridge that new… you are probably fine.
What a profoundly idiotic way to design a smart fridge. Shame on Samsung for designing their product in such a way that this was even possible.
Granted, I think the very concept of a smart fridge is a bad idea no matter how you execute on it... but they still managed to take a bad idea and execute on it badly. Amazing.
How?! The only thing you need to do is test it on the friggin fridge?!
To err is human, to really mess up your software you need a hardware engineer.
"Smart" is stupid. It's primarily just a way to tie subscription shit and advertisements, and lock in DRM (and laws protecting DRM) on what used to be perfectly fine hardware.
"Smart" that I can back is simple sensor acquisition over open protocols. I would appreciate being able to MONITOR my fridge/freezer/stove/oven/washer/dryer. Changing shit over those connections is not needed, nor wanted.
Why can't we have dumb appliances please. It used to be a Joke used to sell java claiming it would be great in your toaster...
Sigh. Anything + computer = computer
Fridges with spyware.
Idiots who still laugh at "conspiracy theorists" deserve this shit upon them heh
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Smart fridges are a waste. Why would you need AI on your fridge - maybe to brick them so people need to buy more fridges?
I was at the store and one fridge had built in cameras so you could get pictures of your fridge all the time. :S
Samsung smart appliances in general seem to occupy a similar place in the market to vehicles like the Chevy Traverse or Nissan Altima, where people with technical knowledge in that area know them to be absolute horrific maintenance and repair liabilities and yet the consumer base places them second to God.
Obviously the review of a brand-new device or vehicle with 100 miles on it is going to have a disconnect from the realities of 60k miles of rocky ownership but I remain baffled when people buy a 7 year old used V6 Traverse, a vehicle extremely well known for catastrophic engine failure, and if I question their decision I get a "the reviews were good!". It seems like journalistic malpractice to not retroactively update reviews with a warning when critical widespread shortcomings are found later in a products life.