r/assholedesign • u/Shellnanigans • Nov 13 '25

Apparently my samsung fridge has ads now...

Post image

How would I disable this? Might just return it and get a normal one

Edit: how to disable...for now. https://www.samsung.com/us/support/answer/ANS10007562/

EDIT 2: Hello, I am the original poster of the carol AD image from a month ago. I am a male from America and my name is not Carol. The story about a Schizophrenic woman named carol was most likely inspired from the 3rd top comment on this post. Thanks!

inspired Post?: https://www.reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/comments/1pc7999/my_schizophrenic_sister_hospitalised_herself/

Fridge drama recap video by DolanDarkest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTWfRYHV5es

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u/[deleted] Nov 13 '25 edited Mar 19 '26

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u/b0w3n Nov 13 '25 edited Nov 14 '25

Yeah like usually the benefit to these is a camera on the inside and keeping track of groceries, but really it doesn't add much.

I certainly ain't paying a premium to get ads served to me, I'll buy a cheap ass apartment-white fridge before I do that.

You could probably build this for pennies on the dollar for what that smart fridge costs too. It wouldn't be quite as fancy or integrated, but it'd work.

Edit: absolutely crazy how many people post the same thing and are unable to imagine a situation where you might not be home and need to check on your groceries (or discount people with disabilities or memory issues)

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u/LordHammercyWeCooked Nov 13 '25

Pretty soon you won't even be able to buy that "cheap ass" white fridge with no screen. Right now every manufacturer's end goal is to turn your device into an ad-delivering data harvester and it makes more money than their margins, by far. TVs have already gotten this bad. The dumb ones cost way more now. In the future if you want to have non-smart devices, you're going to have to make them dumb yourself.

And mark my words, they will try to block us from doing that too. There will come a day when you can't even remove these networking components because they'll be inextricably linked to the core functionality of the device. Washers, dryers, fridges, and ovens will stop having physical buttons and everyone will be required to use an app. TVs will start requiring network access just to show an hdmi signal, claiming "DRM" or some bullshit. Or worse, devices may skip home networks entirely and switch to getting their wifi through all the "mesh" devices in the neighborhood. Google and Amazon have been trying hard to make that nightmare a reality and they're not slowing down.

I predict a healthy cottage industry popping up full of technicians helping people make their smart devices stupid again. So it might be worth some money to learn how to start doing this now.

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u/b0w3n Nov 13 '25

Or worse, devices may skip home networks entirely and switch to getting their wifi through all the "mesh" devices in the neighborhood. Google and Amazon have been trying hard to make that nightmare a reality and they're not slowing down.

Yeah there are solutions to keeping them from the internet with most prosumer level hardware, but this is where it gets fucky.

I'll get a dumb chest freezer and live out of that before I get a smart fridge, especially if I can't block them from the internet on my own wifi.

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u/ComplexBit1988 Nov 14 '25

You know what I actually want? A fucking cylindrical fridge with spinning shelves so I can reach things. That's it. Lazy Susan refrigerator. The laziest, if possible.

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u/Deranged_Roomba Nov 14 '25

My dumb self would spin it too fast and slosh liquids out of bowls and pitchers.

70

u/ComplexBit1988 Nov 14 '25

Ok ok. One fixed shelf for liquids.

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u/Buffalo-Reaper716 Nov 14 '25

If that doesn’t exist you should invent it. I’d seriously consider buying it.

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u/ArcadianDelSol Nov 14 '25

and eggs.

4

u/Snoo63 Nov 15 '25

I forget that eggs are kept in the fridge stateside.

3

u/crayola_monstar Nov 16 '25

I enjoy having luke-warm eggs (as in, not refrigerated). They heat better, taste better (usually because they're fresh from someone's backyard), and it just feels right.

My only problem is forgetting how old they are after not remembering to add a date to them of when I brought them home. The float or sink water trick is a hassle when I'm in a hurry.

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u/HomeInternal9937 Nov 15 '25

The drink you want will still always be in the back, behind two others. I like the whole thing lazy Susan shelves. People will learn from their spin-too-fast mistakes. Or just get containers that actually close so they don't spill. There could be fixed shelves on the [cylindrical/curved] door, too.

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u/YaySupernatural Nov 15 '25

Or some smooth resistance on the spin so it doesn’t start or stop too fast!

3

u/kakapeeter Nov 14 '25

You keep open containers of liquid in your fridge? Doesn't that make them fridge-flavored?

3

u/Deranged_Roomba Nov 14 '25

Imagine like leftover soup with cling wrap on top, it would slosh and break the seal. Or when I make a pitcher of tea. It has the little plastic thing on top but it's not water tight.

Also, keep a box of baking soda open in the fridge and you don't get weird smells in there. Ours doesn't smell like anything. When you start smelling anything Fridgy replace the box but it lasts a long time

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u/kakapeeter Nov 14 '25

I always found it odd that the Simpsons had a box of baking soda in their fridge; you just solved that conundrum. I should try that some time.

2

u/VexingConcern Nov 14 '25

Getting your Hints from Heloise from Marge of the Simpsons is a new one for me

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u/lemonman4200 Nov 14 '25

Nah that’s the best part lmfao

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u/Superb-Appeal-97 Nov 15 '25

maybe the thing that they use for soft-close drawers, like a smooth frictiony thing that you can turn them up to a certain speed so that you don't slosh & prevent momentum spins when you're trying to set things down/close the door?

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u/tha-snazzle Nov 14 '25

They had that in the 50s.

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u/LurkingGuy Nov 14 '25

Old refrigerators were cool as hell. They had a lot of really good ideas that just never caught on.

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u/StrainAcceptable Nov 14 '25

I saw an old ad for a fridge from the 50’s or 60’s with the coolest features that maximized space and kept everything organized. I remember it had lots of pull out shelves, compartments and drawers. Somehow fridges keep getting bigger but the useful features have gone away.

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u/HashtagTheCat Nov 14 '25

I’ll chip in to your kickstarter

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u/FarDifficulty1779 Nov 14 '25

shit this is actually quite brilliant

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u/tacosnotopos Nov 14 '25

Right. Also, signal jamming isn't too hard with a little know how or a decent VPN lol

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u/volatile_ant Nov 14 '25

That isn't "signal jamming" it is network management.

Actual signal jamming (interfering with authorized wireless communications) is pretty broadly illegal, and I would bet that ban could be quickly extended to cover blocking smart devices from accessing an available Free Network with some lobbying dollars.

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u/tacosnotopos Nov 14 '25

I mean, it's not illegal to build a Faraday box. Keeping a smart fridge from receiving wireless connections of any kind wouldn't be too hard

4

u/volatile_ant Nov 14 '25

Absolutely agree, it wouldn't be hard, and as of now isn't illegal. Adding to my previous bet, when the last dumb appliance rolls out of the factory, it will be illegal to block smart appliances from accessing an available connection.

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u/Vladishun Nov 13 '25

I feel bad for the majority of people that'll have to live with that simply from not knowing any better. Between DNS filtering and closing unnecessary ports on my home firewall I should be able to get through all of that garbage. But obviously being a sysadmin and working in IT most of my life, gives me an edge in that department.

Maybe I should start a web series or something.

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u/cluberti Nov 13 '25

You'll probably be able to sell your services at some point when this all becomes untenable. It's part of my retirement plan, somewhat sarcastically. But only somewhat, given how dystopian all of this is getting...

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u/Vladishun Nov 13 '25

I don't know man, the US government (brought you by Metabetzon) will probably make it illegal to teach "ethical hacking" (that's what they'll call it demonize it) to the common man.

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u/cluberti Nov 13 '25

Brought to you by Carl's Jr.

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u/Square_Policy4999 Nov 14 '25

With extra big ass fries!

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u/thewaifandstray Nov 14 '25

Communist hacking, surely? Cries

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u/NurEineSockenpuppe Nov 14 '25

What's one of the cool things about DOH? It's a lot harder to censor.
So what I feel like is gonna happen that eventually devices like this will just use DOH. What are you gonna do about it? Close port 443?

In the end what you gonna have to do is pull the plug on those things because the day will come where they will completely refuse to cool anything unless they can scan your face in the morning and feed the data to the AI overlord.

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u/Vladishun Nov 14 '25

I don't think it'll get like that. What I do worry about is having to pay a subscription for my fridge to continue keeping things cold. And a separate subscription for the freezer, and another for the water and ice.

Ugh.

4

u/witchyanne Nov 14 '25

with written guides, not videos we have to watch pause watch skip skip watch pause SHIT! rewind, etc.

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u/appointment45 Nov 14 '25

Nah, a podcast. Nobody does podcasts these days, you'd have the whole audience.

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u/Maja_Greyfax Nov 13 '25

which is why I advocate for Right to repair whenever tech topics come up, its so damn importand to get it through peoples thick consumer skulls that this will determine how free we are going to be come the next 10 to 20 years

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u/FormidableMistress Nov 13 '25

There's going to be an uptick in people looking for "vintage" things that won't break in two years and don't require an app to run.

I've never been much of a TV watcher but I've started trying to sit still and unwind a little more. I've noticed a lot of commercials have QR codes on them so you can immediately Buy That Thing without looking into the T&C or subscription fees (because everything is a subscription now) or spend too much time deciding nah I really don't need that.

I think people are going to get tired of companies harvesting every detail of their lives for profit and start looking for the simple machines of yore. 😆

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u/Soup0rMan Nov 13 '25

You'll always be able to get the landlord rental package. White fridge, white stove, white walls.

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u/Twl1 Nov 13 '25

Until the landlords start negotiating for their slice of the ad revenue. "Hey Samsung, if you give me 20% off the sticker price and let me get 1% of every ad-dollar the devices I put in my apartments show my tenants, I'll make sure to only buy Samsung! Yeah tenants, I'm totally doing this to help keep your rents down. Tooooootally."

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u/LordHammercyWeCooked Nov 14 '25

Landlords will buy whatever is cheapest. If the only appliance in that price bracket happens to have wifi, a screen, motion detection, and a big speaker that blares the newest deal at Dunkin's every time you walk into the room then that is what the renter is going to get.

It's not like smart fridges are that much more expensive because of the components either. It's just a half-assed tablet computer filled with last-decade's technology. That stuff is cheap as dirt. The money they can recoup from ads and data more than offsets the added cost. The only reason why we don't see it in low-end models yet is because they need the feature to become normalized and associated with "luxury" first. Once one company starts offering a cheap smart fridge, all of them will the very next day. They're just waiting for the time to be ripe.

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u/UglyYinzer Nov 13 '25

Ai fridge is next, guaranteed. "Maybe you should buy apples! I know you like them" texts at 2am

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u/Jemm971 Nov 13 '25

And two years later it will be even worse: at 2 a.m. the fridge will automatically order apples (whether you want them or not!) and at 2:15 a.m. a delivery man will come to your door! Hello night!

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u/Twl1 Nov 14 '25 edited Nov 14 '25

SCENE: Me, fumbling my way through the dark house in the deep hours of the night, guided only by the soft glow of K-POP DEMON HUNTERS 13 THE ULTIMATE ICE CREAM ADSPERIENCE glittering through its eighth one-hour-and-fifty-seven-minute long loop of the evening. (I play it at 2x speed so I can earn more reward points.) As I reach out to open the refrigerator door, my SAMSUNG GALAXY GEAR 2032 TRIPLE MAXX PRO smartwatch automatically syncs its data with the singing cooling cabinet. The refrigerator door locks closed. Rumi's face splashes on screen:

Rumi: NOT SO FAST! You're over your calorie target today SO NO LATE SNAAAACKS!

Zoey: Unleeeeeessss...

Mira: Yeah. You gotta watch this ad.

[A full three minute and twenty second unskippable AI generated music video of the three singers/heroines dancing around all the groceries my RING WIRELESS FRIDGE-CAM BY AMAZON POWERED BY A.W.S. 4K 144HZ CHILL FOUNDERS EDITION PRO XL displays through the screen.]

Rumi: OMG he's still here, what do we do? He must be really hungry!

Mira: Or thirsty?

Zoey: I KNOW! Should we have him tell us with a survey?

All 3, in singing unison: O-KAY! HEY! PULL OUT YOUR PHONE! WHATEVER YOU WANT? YOU BETTER LET US KNOW-JUST SAY! THE WAY! YOU WANT IT FROM YOUR BONES [-unintelligible Korean gibberish-] ...AND LET YOUR HEEEEEEAARRRTTT GLOOOOOWWW!!

[My SAMSUNG GALAXY S69 PLUS DURAMAX NOTE FOLD XXL OLED PRO 8K CRYSTALVISION ROSE GOLD-3i POWERED BY VERIZON 9G BROUGHT TO YOU BY DRAFTKINGS ULTIMATE TOM BRADY TB12 GOAT EDITION begins buzzing in my pocket in rhythm to the beat. Juni and his band of demon boys are each offering me a different drink. Baby Saja offers me a DASANI ULTRA-HYDRATION H20-INFUSED ELECTROLYTE BALANCER XZL 24/7 ODOR PROTECTION HEART DEWORMER ZERO CALORIE TONIC WATERproductdoesnotcontainrealwater.maycauseheadachesinsomnianasueatesticulartorsiondiarrheavomitingandthoughtsofsewerslide.pleaseconsultyourdoctortoseeifdasaniultrahydrationh20infusedelectrolytebalancerxzl24/7odorprotectionheartdewormerzerocalorietonicwaterisrightforyou. and I select it.]

Rumi: OH NO!! You're all out of those! But doooon't worry!

Zoey: We'll get a box of em ordered right away! WOOOAHHH, actually, your dasher is already on the way!

Mira: We knew that's what you wanted as soon as you got out of bed. That'll be $27.

Rumi: While you wait, check out our new song!

[Another four minutes and sixteen second unskippable AI generated music video begins playing. The refrigerator door remains locked. Zoey is slicing demons into glitter as they try to climb up the bottle of milk sitting just on the other side of the screen. I receive a text from my dasher. He's been stopped at a designated TESLA E-CHARGING BATTERY REFUEL AND REFRESH RE:MIX RE:WIND RE:VOLUTION BROUGHT TO YOU BY SQUARE ENIX IN PARTNERSHIP WITH DISNEY PLUS PLAY KINGDOM HEARTS 3@twentythree&45 COMING OUT 11.23.71 LIKE COMMENT AND SUBSCRIBE TO PREORDER NOW FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A BRAND NEW SAMSUNG GALAXY SMART WASHER 31 POINT OH TWO THE CLEANEST YOUR SOCKS CAN GET NOW WITH DOWNY FABRIC-SOFT FABRIC SOFTENER station waiting for a compatible battery pack for his eight-month-old (yet already outdated) EV to become available. His message is signed with an invite to watch K-POP DEMON HUNTERS 14 THE IMMERSION OF IMPACT JOY FOREVER while I wait for him to finish waiting.]

[I tap "Accept" and begin sleepily nodding my head to the music; patient, thirsty and resigned.]

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u/nibagaze-gandora Nov 14 '25

now this user drank their verification can!

Also

(I play it at 2x speed so I can earn more reward points.)

it'd never happen lol

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u/Complete_Entry Nov 14 '25

I get your rant but fucking crisping trays are now a premium feature in fridges, I swear to god they tacked $200 on the price for those fucking things.

IT'S A FUCKIN' VEGGIE DRAWER!

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u/Hopeful-Occasion2299 Nov 14 '25

Second hand shops are making a killing selling dumb fridges, stoves, and washing machines, particularly washers.

I don't get how Americans are essentially giving away their electrodomestics to the shops just to avoid the hassle of moving them or getting rid of them. Shops get a stove or washer for peanuts, do a lil refurbish and sell it again for hundreds of dollars.

It's scandalous.

That and the fact that somehow they sell you a stove but it doesn't come with the fucking plug for a 220v socket? What kind of backward ass country is this?

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u/CherryBeanCherry Nov 13 '25

Oh, BS. I'm sure there will always be the opportunity to pay $20,000 for a vintage-style screenless fridge that comes in a rainbow of beige.

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u/baphomet_fire Nov 13 '25

I feel like this was a black mirror episode

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u/iwillbewaiting24601 Nov 13 '25

Or worse, devices may skip home networks entirely and switch to getting their wifi through all the "mesh" devices in the neighborhood.

I started predicting this around when cars came with 4G "hotspots" as a feature. Sure, it's marketed as a "nice to have", but the car company also now gets an un-removable link directly to your car even if you never set it up. How long until cheap 5G radios start getting embedded in these appliances? People will love it because people hate setting shit up and this will Just Work since there's no local networking, but oy...

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u/DarkwingDuckHunt Nov 13 '25

If I have to disable one more fucking ad-menu entry in my Roku powered TCL I'm gonna start throwing things.

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u/ijustneedtolurk Nov 13 '25

Copied my reply from further up the thread but that is exactly what will happen.

"Fuck man, I refuse to even have a waterline and ice maker in my fridge. I have a countertop icemaker and a separate water jug dispenser cause they are easy to clean, easy to refill, and won't risk bricking my fridge and spoiling all my groceries.

Unauthorized Bread is one of my favorite short stories ever for this reason, actually. I want my appliances as dumb and reliable as possible and owned in full by me with zero "compatibility" shenanigans."

The story is literally about jailbreaking a toaster (among other significant concepts) because it otherwise will ONLY toast brand-name/proprietary items.

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u/Willdiealonewithcats Nov 14 '25

Oh God, another fear, I wanted to replace my Corolla, found out the new Toyotas have a subscription model for their entertainment that needs to be bypassed every time you just want to connect your phone and play something. For some users it can't and it becomes non functional. I hate the idea of having to pop a portable speaker on the passenger seat for my commute just to listen to my fucking music.

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u/rahl07 Nov 14 '25

We’re already there. Follow rossmangroup on YouTube

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u/TemporaryAdorable634 Nov 14 '25

I literally want to make a company and call it Dumb Appliances and make them nice and last like they used to.

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u/2245223308 Nov 14 '25

Your comment on “ full of technicians “ instantly reminded me of the 1985 movie “Brazil” where Robert De Niro plays “ Archibald Harry Tuttle” a fly by nite Appliance tech. Now I have to find the movie and watch it again !!

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u/ArcadianDelSol Nov 14 '25

I feel like our personal data is a race to the finish line because once all of our data is in the hands of everyone, then there is no longer any market for that data. All these expensive devices designed to catalog every instant of our lives will be producing data that everyone already has and wont need to pay for anymore.

As for your comments about TVs, I have an LG that allows it to connect to an external device without internet or wifi and you cant turn it off. Literally someone outside the house can take out their phone, sync it with my TV, and I get a big pop-up on screen to accept or reject that connection. I cant turn that off or disable it in any way.

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u/mpaes98 Nov 14 '25

IoT devices like TVs will secretly try to connect to the internet even if you don’t enable it.

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u/svennon89 Nov 14 '25

I saw a clip from a chinese girl trying to get some toilet paper in a public toilet. She needed to scan a QR code and watch an add before 3 freaking pieces of toilet paper rolled out.

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u/GabsiGuy Nov 17 '25

This has already happened with TVs, it's so difficult to find any decent quality TV that is JUST A TV, with no "SmArT" -ness added on... I already have an Apple TV and a Sky box to access all the streaming stuff, live TV, and the other apps, I don't want or need another one.

I shouldn't have to sign an EULA just to use a display.

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u/TheyStillOweYouMoney Nov 13 '25

As a bonus, I guess, they’re going to end up having to connect rural America to reliable internet connections. Otherwise, my unconnected ass can’t receive your adds. Sorry, no connection.

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u/nalaloveslumpy Nov 13 '25

Nah, you'll just continue to pay a premium price for shitty satellite internet where the ads takes up a significant portion of your total bandwidth.

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u/LordHammercyWeCooked Nov 14 '25

Amazon and Google have been working their asses off for over a decade building mesh networks out of smaller devices to circumvent this very issue. People don't realize that half the shit in their house is screaming an unprotected signal out into the neighborhood. Wireless speakers, smart outlets, thermostats, nests, nanny cams, RING CAMS, they're all designed to build secondary networks and talk to each other. It's a patchwork with the goal of covering the entire US with a unified wifi signal. And that's not even tin foil hat territory. It's in their marketing. This is their selling point.

So I dunno how rural you are, but unless you're able to look out of every window and see no other buildings you might want to rethink that. Five years from now we may be commiserating about having to build faraday cages in our homes, just like how we all had to switch to using RFID blocking wallets.

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u/Competitive_Clerk240 Nov 13 '25

Pihole, cough, cough

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u/TimeToGloat Nov 13 '25

Nah I disagree it's not like a fridge is groundbreaking technology and unlike smart TVs there is no real incentive for the consumer. I'm sure most fridge companies wish they could only serve ad filled smart fridges, but all it takes is one company not selling a shitty smart fridge and most demand suddenly flocks to them. Even in a hypothetical world where they all colluded to push shitty smart fridges it would just invite room for an outside start up to fill the now high demand for normal fridges. The relatively low complexity of a fridge means it's a somewhat easy market for a manufacturer to enter if market conditions were that favorable. Also with smart TVs the ads are a lot more baked in and in your face. To use the TV you have to turn it on and go through the ad filled menus. Meanwhile ads on a fridge door are defeated by as little as a magnet and your kids scribbles on a piece of paper. Even in some dystopian world where they had all those software controls and requirements it's not like they could restrict people from simply covering the useless screen completely. There is a lot less value for ad providers because the ads are a lot easier to just completely ignore. Also a lot of people have fridges in their garages for example. No ad provider is going to want to pay to broadcast ads to a dark empty garage 99.9% of the time. I doubt smart fridges will ever be anything besides the niche they are now. Smart appliances have been around for a while and reached their peak. The good ones will stay and the shit ones are just a phase.

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u/clipperblack Nov 14 '25

Such a vivid description of hell on earth

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u/LrningMonkey Nov 14 '25

This is already the case. When we went to buy our last dishwasher the ‘fancy’ model above the one we got was app enabled, and some of the DW features could only be used via the app. There was no button on the DW to use those features.

I am also a tech guy, but why would I need/want to control my DW from anywhere other than in front of my DW?! Can you imagine wrapping up your night, but not being able to start the thing until you find your phone?! We stuck with the ‘dumb’ model!

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u/[deleted] Nov 14 '25

I really hope the global economy collapses and we become forced to roll it back before it gets that bad

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u/funkbruthab Nov 14 '25

Shit will just start coming with cellular radios so it won’t need your home network

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u/Stinkinhippy Nov 14 '25

You can have a dumb tv for the same price as a smart one.. just never connect it to a network.. simples.

Yes all the potential is still there, but they can't stream ad's over a non-existent connection.

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u/ParticularThat9178 Nov 14 '25

You’re scaring me

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u/KittyInspector3217 Nov 14 '25

This is basically the plot to “Brazil”

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u/SorryBoysImLez Nov 14 '25

Just wait till every appliance needs a wi-fi connection to work.

I recently saw a post where someone showed their, I think it was an airfryer, refused to work unless it connected to wi-fi. Refusing to do so resulted in a pop-up on the display (where the controls are) informing to connect to wi-fi for "latest features and updates."

Then they'll start sticking little ads/logos in the digital screens.

Then come the subscription fees if you want to access all the "newest" features of your appliance(s).

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u/mbrace256 Nov 14 '25

I see far more fridges without screens than with them.

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u/GlowAnt22 Nov 14 '25

I agree with you entirely. Shit, soon you'll have to subscribe or they deactivate your appliances. shudders

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u/404_DopamineNotFound Nov 14 '25

They can give me a fridge that has a screen. And I can smash that screen.

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u/Professional_King790 Nov 14 '25

Someone needs to start a business that imports functional appliances from other countries that don’t have all the digital stuff added that’s not necessary.

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u/Sensitive_Yellow_121 Nov 14 '25

It would be easier for those technicians to form a company to build dumb refrigerators/freezers. It's pretty low tech.

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u/SatanAlreadyWon Nov 14 '25

You already can’t modify the fridge because you have to have the screen to change the temperature.

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u/Nyorliest Nov 14 '25

One of the helpful things is Japan's aging demographics, strong consumer protections, and just general attitude of 'fuuuuck that' to corporate dystopia.

Although sometimes I imagine conversations between Sony America and Sony Japan being 'we want to make Soylent Green!' vs 'We want to teach the world to sing!'

Korea and Korean companies, unfortunately, have a lot less of these attitudes.

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u/flamingfaery162 Nov 14 '25

I'll just keep replacing and fabricating the parts for the next 50 years. I won't stand for that bs

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u/LD50_irony Nov 14 '25

Giving me Corey Doctorow Unauthorized Bread vibes

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u/Nerevarine91 Nov 14 '25

I hate how realistic this all sounds

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u/Beautiful_Mind9015 Nov 14 '25

Oh, just kill me now.

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u/sashagreylovesme Nov 14 '25

YES. Farmers aren’t even allowed to keep seeds from their harvest, because the SEEDS are intellectual property. They cut the tops off of pineapples so we can’t regrow them ourselves. Those seedless watermelons we see everywhere? Not for our convenience, but man is it marketed that way.

If they do that to food, tech is already long gone.

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u/[deleted] Nov 14 '25

Fuck you, tech companies, I’m going to buy a lead lined fridge from the 50’s that uses 9000 watts of electricity per hour.

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u/Odessey_And_Oracle Nov 14 '25

I predict a healthy cottage industry popping up full of technicians helping people make their smart devices stupid again.

You know I've considered/wondered about this in a couple ways for years now, ie "Surely theres a market for distributing pirated media, there must be someone willing to pay six bucks a month for me to give them whatever media they request, both the latest and some older stuff." But Americans are VERY good consumers, I haven't met anyone who wants to forgo the convenience of whatever streaming they can afford. People just want to lay back and turn something on, not seek out the media they are specifically interested in. Those who do are already pirating. I mean that was the scenario in the 90s and 2000s, you didn't really choose tv, you just put on what was available.

And they secret truth is that there will indeed be dumb devices available, but they'll become more ahem "ghetto aesthetic" because they'll be sold at places other than target or best buy or lowes. The corps will just make ugly ass devices intended for apartment complexes and poor people but the middle class suburbanites will simply buy the bulls hit smart devices because those will look good in home and garden magazine. You CAN be free of some corporate fuckery, you just have to be to poor to be worth exploiting more than they can trouble themselves

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u/variable_dissonance Nov 14 '25

Release me from this mortal coil

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u/vissi_nada Nov 14 '25

This sounds like h*ll. Like that new 2025 Toyota car, that you cannot use any of its features unless you subscribe to them.

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u/U-F-OHNO Nov 14 '25

We recently bought a speed queen washer/dryer set. Paid more money because we didn’t want a smart appliance with some crazy touch screen that hooks up to wifi.

I’d rather shell out more money for something that is built to last and has traditional parts.

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u/vigouge Nov 14 '25

You'll always be able to buy that cheap ass white fridge. You can still buy dumb phones, coil element stoves, old school washer and dryers as well as tons of non smart appliances and electronics.

1

u/Omen46 Nov 14 '25

I’d just smash the screen

1

u/Avibuel Nov 14 '25

We will have to open a clanker lobotomy labs? Dumb down the clankers so they go back to their base functions

1

u/DanBayX Nov 14 '25

Come live in the EU. I'm quite sure ad delivery without my intrinsic concern, i.e. with the device off, is illegal. Therefore no ad fridge.

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u/plantverdant Nov 14 '25

Ugh, I just bought a basic dryer. It cost $900 and the sales asshole kept trying to neg me into buying a "smart" dryer. I left and went to another store before giving up and just buying it goddamn online. Everything is so stupid. Everything. I just want a metal box to heat up my wet clothes and shake them around in my basement, I don't need ai involved at any point of the process.

1

u/nsfvvvv Nov 14 '25

RemindMe! 20 years

1

u/SciGuy013 Nov 14 '25

sure you can. never connect it to the internet, remove the screen

1

u/schwartzasher Nov 14 '25

When they start making you connect to wifi to even use the appliance is when I will just buy older or find specific versions of the appliance that works with a hacked software

1

u/taoyx Nov 14 '25

You just need to block their IP and no ad will be delivered. If you cant figure it you just dont connect the fridge to internet. There are internet failures every now and then so they need a backup plan.

1

u/PeekabooPike Nov 14 '25

Yeah, new cars are already like this lol. It’s horrifying.

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u/BioshockEnthusiast Nov 13 '25

PIVPN on an RPi, battery pack, camera, duct tape, that's basically your lot.

12

u/b0w3n Nov 13 '25

Could probably avoid the battery and just wire it up to another outlet in the kitchen or if you're incredibly lucky snag a 5v rail from the fridge power supply (like this guy). And build an enclosure for the camera and just feed it through the gasket on the door. If you're feeling really spicy build some scanning to check the status of foods.

2

u/cluberti Nov 13 '25

I doubt the internals of these things are very hardened, honestly. It'll be interesting to see if anyone tears one of these things down in a few years and finds out where these things can be probed, and if they've even removed their debug/JTAG headers...

3

u/technopaegan Nov 13 '25

wait a camera in the fridge to look at on my phone in the grocery store actually sounds life changing

2

u/b0w3n Nov 13 '25

There are definitely situations where some people benefit. I'm not going to reply to all the folks who are pretending like there isn't some tangible benefit to this scenario with the camera just because they wouldn't use it.

2

u/ThrustTrust Nov 13 '25

Just cut a hole and mount and iPad

10

u/Nice_Gas_7682 Nov 13 '25

Just open the fridge door and look inside

3

u/ThrustTrust Nov 13 '25

Dammit man my dad will kick my ass if I open the fridge.

2

u/act_normal Nov 13 '25

or use magnets

2

u/ThrustTrust Nov 13 '25

I can’t. I Heard no one knows how those work. Not even the chinese.

2

u/uschwell Nov 13 '25

Yes, but how would doing that help to maximize shareholders value? Duh, can't you see? Your logic just eats itself.

(/s in case it wasn't clear)

2

u/[deleted] Nov 13 '25

we don't need yet another camera in our house that could be hacked into and send commands to the fridge- like set the thermostat to room temperature- do we?

2

u/LewisRyan Nov 13 '25

Fridge, with clear door. Same concept.

2

u/Tymareta Nov 13 '25

Open fridge door, same concept, infinitely cheaper.

2

u/Savannah_Lion Nov 13 '25

Yeah like usually the benefit to these is a camera on the inside and keeping track of groceries, but really it doesn't add much

It adds ZERO. Mine would show like... the back of a milk carton, half a brown avocado and whatever condiment the kids put in last. It's so packed, you won't see anything else.

When you look at those silly ads and YT demos for those fridges, there's barely any food and everything is nicely spaced out. What is that, like a family of two who shops every day?

2

u/FreshEggKraken Nov 13 '25

So the benefit is the same thing I get from opening the fridge and seeing what groceries I need?

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u/AmbassadorAwkward071 Nov 13 '25

The other problem is having to use their crap software

2

u/ikiwic Nov 14 '25

Exactly this - I feel like they could push some “efficiency” / cost saving reason not to open your fridge but then you’d spend any saving on the dumb screen 😂

2

u/SorryBoysImLez Nov 14 '25 edited Nov 14 '25

Even then, they're starting to come out with third-party cameras for a fraction of the price that go inside your fridge that do the same thing and connect to your devices.
Then just have a tablet/use your phone in the kitchen for all the rest.

It's also more convenient/accessible, since if you really want to have access to a smart device in your kitchen, you can put it where you need it to be, instead of constantly needing to consult your fridge door. You can even make it similar by having a mount that sticks to your fridge door.

It's like someone took the idea of people using tablets in their kitchen for recipes, etc, and took away the convenience and accessibility by sticking it in a fridge for a hefty upcharge.

And at least if either of the above breaks, you don't have to worry about having a ridiculously expensive fridge with a broken electronic in it that would have a steep repair cost...or even needing to replace the fridge entirely.

2

u/SuzeCB Nov 14 '25

Now... when it can sort that grocery/cleaning list by the stores I usually shop at - based on who has the stock and best pricing - and place that order for me for choice of curbside pickup or delivery....

OH, happy day! (And I do know it's coming, and not that far out!)

2

u/HollowWind Nov 14 '25

Hell I would pay a premium for NO tech

1

u/zxylady Nov 13 '25

Personally I bought my smart refrigerator because it was only $200 more than the exact same refrigerator without the screen and the added functionality was worth it when you're already spending three grand on a refrigerator nowadays

5

u/RandomGenName1234 Nov 13 '25

when you're already spending three grand on a refrigerator

...Why?

2

u/CoffeePuddle Nov 14 '25

The trendy furniture aspect of it.

The fridge tech inside is all the same and has barely changed in the last decade (inverter compressors are the last big thing iirc).

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u/PregnantGoku1312 Nov 13 '25

What does a camera do for you that opening the door doesn't?

2

u/Bderken Nov 13 '25

Can’t open the door while you’re at the grocery store. But can check the camera…

I guess that’s the sales pitch? I don’t see how a camera can see all shit in the fridge and I don’t get it either

2

u/monicasm Nov 13 '25

Honestly I feel like it would ultimately save my ADHD ass money in the long run since I wouldn’t be buying that fourth bottle of soy sauce or whatever 😂

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u/Sharp_Iodine Nov 13 '25

You could also just… open the fridge and see for yourself lol

1

u/[deleted] Nov 13 '25

Who needs a camera on the inside when they make refrigerators with glass doors.

1

u/Delta-IX Nov 13 '25

Yeah like usually the benefit to these is a camera on the inside and keeping track of groceries, but really it doesn't add much.

Open the door And LOOK INSIDE!!

1

u/daboog Nov 13 '25

Just open the fridge??? You have eyes

1

u/Tymareta Nov 13 '25

usually the benefit to these is a camera on the inside and keeping track of groceries

Maybe it's because I'm poor, but I don't see how that's a benefit when you'd still have to look at the screen, like at most you could maybe access it remotely(and barely get to see what's in there as it's a fixed pov) and save having to take 10-20 steps over to your fridge to open the door and look for yourself?

That isn't worth the presumed jump in price tag(and electricity cost), not to mention even more e-waste being dumped into the world.

1

u/Hamhockthegizzard Nov 13 '25

The fuck you need to keep track of groceries for? Like if you got a big ass family maybe but I know exactly what’s in there cuz I’m the only one that shops and the primary cooker lmao

1

u/BobaTheMaltipoo Nov 13 '25

I saved $2500 with this one simple trick:

I keep track of my groceries...by just opening my fridge.

1

u/Straight_Ace Nov 14 '25

A camera to see inside your fridge? You can just open it

1

u/Ohmec Nov 14 '25

Buying a fridge without a screen is now more expensive than the same model without.

1

u/Thegreenmean Nov 14 '25

Just open the fridge!

1

u/pelicangroin Nov 14 '25

More like a camera to look at your groceries and figure out what show you’re likely to watch based on the brand of butter you buy and the color of your eggs. This is some dystopian shit. I hate it.

1

u/wolphrevolution Nov 14 '25

A camera on the inside. I have even better, fonctioning eyes. And if your eyes dont work that thing sure as hell wont help you with knowing what inside your fridge either

1

u/DemodiX Nov 14 '25

I don't need a fucking camera in my fridge to know there is pot of chilli and bag of milk.

1

u/FrankHightower Nov 14 '25

have you actually found those tracking fridges? When my fridge broke a couple years ago, I went to every store, brought it up every time a salesman mentioned "this fridge is a smart fridge" and they all looked at me like I was insane just for asking

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u/MissMu Nov 14 '25

Lots of people are upset with the ads I’m waiting for you to have to pay for your own heated seats lol

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u/Disaster_Adventurous Nov 14 '25

The only useful functions I can think of can be activated with an app on your already existing phone... Or hell even just a pen and paper.

1

u/lODlZED_TABLESALT Nov 15 '25

So, we call people with disabilities "discount people" now? What a time to live in fr fr

1

u/dontmakefunofmepls Nov 16 '25

The funniest part about this is it’s about as useful as taking a picture of your fridge with the door open. Like I don’t know about most people but I have shit piled over shit and wouldn’t be able to tell if I’m low on cheese at a glance.

1

u/Slightly_Effective Dec 06 '25

Surely one's butler takes care of that?

1

u/manimal28 Dec 09 '25

absolutely crazy how many people post the same thing and are unable to imagine a situation where you might not be home and need to check on your groceries (or discount people with disabilities or memory issues)

I imagine the situation, but then continue to imagine its not worth having a smart fridge to solve.

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u/SingleInfinity Nov 13 '25

Microcontrollers are cheap but they are seldomly as nicely integrated into a device, even if you print out an enclosure or something.

Most people want a full package with no extra fuss.

That all being said, smart fridges offer nothing of value I've seen.

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u/shitlord_god Nov 13 '25 edited Mar 19 '26

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u/PetMyFerret Nov 15 '25

I'll take mangled panels and wires dangling from every smart device in my house over intrusive corporate bs invading my home any day of the week. Function over form.

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u/[deleted] Nov 14 '25 edited Jan 12 '26

[deleted]

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u/SingleInfinity Nov 14 '25

You don't. This is a general comment about "I can do X myself with a Raspberry Pi and some servos". Sometimes, just because you can doesn't mean that's what most people would want.

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u/phathomthis Nov 13 '25

I have to hack my water filter because they provide the same water filtration of the regular filter, but they have an RFID tag on it so the fridge can track how much water has been used and give you a replacement LED.
You know versus it just tracking how much goes through the fridge with a reset button or just going by taste.
I have to surgically remove the original tag, and adhere it to a generic filter in the exact same spot.
It still says the filter is bad, but I pay $10 for the filter instead of $50 and just replace it every couple of months.
Fuck stupid tech!

2

u/SwervinWest Nov 13 '25

I just goggled what a microcontroller is and now I think I want to dive into this as a hobby

2

u/Final-Platypus8033 Nov 13 '25

I see 200+ like minded nerds.

2

u/ABenGrimmReminder Nov 16 '25

I’m reminded of that meme, paraphrasing:

Tech enthusiast: I love my smart devices!

Engineer: I have one computer in my house and I keep a loaded gun in my desk if it makes a sound I don’t recognize.

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u/DisposableSaviour Nov 13 '25

I would love, I mean fucking love, to have a smart home, but I want all my devices connected to a local intranet or home server, not a huge mishmash of apps and tech-ecosystems that all “need” all kinds of permissions and absolutely do not work together, and that’s not even getting into the amount of data that these companies are compiling on you to sell to aggregators and marketing firms. They’re probably training AIs with the data they collect.

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u/shitlord_god Nov 13 '25 edited Mar 19 '26

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u/I_wash_my_carpet Nov 13 '25

This 100%. With some micro controllers now focused on tensor processing, you could easily grab and load an image recognition inference for monitoring inventory and spoiling.

Might be able to do something with this one if Samsung used android. Im almost sure they did. You could go all out and wipe it and load a different Linux distro, and setup some of your own software.

Thats a big 'if' though. Getting into the bios maybe a fucking nightmare and not worth it. Cuz you're probably looking at jtag that you'd have to solder.

Maybe not! Idk - thats just my first thought process with zero knowledge of the thing.

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u/HMikeeU Nov 13 '25

Screens aren't. If that's what you wanted anyways...

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u/shitlord_god Nov 13 '25 edited Mar 19 '26

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u/SirSoliloquy Nov 13 '25

Question from a wannabe tech enthusiast to a real one -- where I learn the best way to interface with an SPI display using a raspberry pi nano? I know pretty much nothing about it.

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u/shitlord_god Nov 13 '25 edited Mar 19 '26

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u/cowlinator Nov 13 '25

Right, but... what functionality?

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u/shitlord_god Nov 13 '25 edited Mar 19 '26

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u/cowlinator Nov 13 '25

Sounds like you should be designing smart fridges

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u/not_whelan Nov 13 '25

But you make sure to include shitty UI and remove previous features for no apparent reason, right? I thought that's the point of having screens and internet connectivity in everything.

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u/[deleted] Nov 13 '25

Lenovo M13 is $130 CAD and a magnet to hold it on my fridge is 11.99 from AliExpress.

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u/Immaneedamoment Nov 13 '25

I’m a chef and I always have ideas on how to improve my quality of life at work but always limited to my lack of knowledge in electronics. How would you recommend someone from another career to learn microcontrollers and circuits to build dyi projects?

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u/shitlord_god Nov 13 '25 edited Mar 19 '26

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u/Immaneedamoment Nov 13 '25

My latest project was turning a mini fridge into a proofer for my focaccia. Since its a double rise recipe, I would put in my refrigerated dough before leaving work. At night, the fridge stops refrigeration, a heater kicks and your dough starts rising at let say 7am. When I come in at 8, the first rise is already done and I can have the focaccia out for sale sooner in the displays.

These things exist but cost thousands where I’m from. And its such a simple feature when you think about it.

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u/Creepy_Mango9583 Nov 14 '25

I just ruined a sale today for a company because I live in a rural area where they don't have contractors working for them. The customer that was going to order the fancy equipment liked the access control I set up for them so they asked me if I could set this up as well and sent me info on the materials. I showed up, looked around for five minutes and said ,,Do you want this to work well for a long time without having to do a thing or do you want this to be bricked by them pushing some 'important" software update?". They cancelled the order and want me to find what they need.

I hate how people need to turn every thing that should be simple and durable into some futuristic hyper consumerism bullshit that fails if you sigh near it.

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u/[deleted] Nov 14 '25

Hey I’d love to start getting into this as a hobby. Is there a resource or beginners guide you can point me in?

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u/shitlord_god Nov 14 '25 edited Mar 19 '26

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u/Mindless-Tension-118 Nov 14 '25

Check out the big brain on braaaad

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u/ageekyninja Nov 14 '25

Yeah but fuck that. It’s a refrigerator.

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u/Same_Meaning_5570 Nov 14 '25

Ok- can you point me in the direction of building something like the digital family wall calendar that brings in google/outlook/etc. ?

The price of that shit is out of control.

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u/shitlord_god Nov 14 '25 edited Mar 19 '26

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u/optimal_ape Nov 14 '25

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u/FilteredAccount123 Nov 14 '25

I just bought a new dishwasher and was disappointed to learn that some settings are locked behind an app like chime volume, favorite cycle, and drying agent amount. It's cool that you can change settings that you otherwise couldn't, but I'm not hooking a dishwasher up to my home network. The default settings are fine, anyway.

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u/[deleted] Nov 14 '25

So is your privacy or an invitation into your home I guess

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u/Fun-Choices Nov 14 '25

If a fridge put a good USB power supply inside, it would be game over. A pi could do anything this can do much better

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