Lots of appliances have actual use cases for WiFi. A Fridge for example makes a loud beep if you forgot to close the door and the temperature is too high. But forget the door and leave your house, and you won't hear the beep. A push notification would solve it. One can argue whether such a feature is actually worth having in a fridge (Added costs, security risks, complexity...) But at least it has a valid use case: n…
My dishwasher won’t start until I let it update its firmware over the WiFi
141–150 of 597 posts
Re: My dishwasher won’t start until I let it update its firmware over the WiFi
#142I can understand the appeal of most smart devices, but since a dishwasher can’t yet load and unload itself, what is the point of an internet connected dishwasher? You have to have physically loaded it. Why not just push the start button then?
Re: My dishwasher won’t start until I let it update its firmware over the WiFi
#143Smart devices are overly complex. The entire point should have been to make devices work for you, but now when you buy a ‘smart’ washing machine, it requires you 30min of setup. Downloading apps, connecting it to wifi, providing GPS location etc. why? What’s the point. We need devices that make life simpler. Straight out of the box.
My dad got a smart heater, for my parents holiday home. The idea is that he can check temperature, and prevent frost damage from home. Yesterday he ask: "What happens it the company that makes the App decides that they don't what to do that anymore, or they go out of business?". Well, then the smart thingy stops being smart.
Re: My dishwasher won’t start until I let it update its firmware over the WiFi
#144My dishwasher needs no software. The dishwasher I buy will never need software. I am a software engineer and I love technology, but I love simple technology and when something doesn't need software, I don't add software just for the sake of having software.
> The dishwasher I buy will never need software. If you have that option. Not sure if you've shopped for white goods recently, but the options without wifi are relatively few, and mostly lower end models. We needed a new stove, I wanted one without wifi/internet connectivity. Due to the above and supply chain issues that limited availability of a lot of models, I didn't have a choice and ended up with a model with wi…
Re: My dishwasher won’t start until I let it update its firmware over the WiFi
#145Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The Wi-Fi is useful [...] Performs updates, etc. Ah yes, get wifi so your dishwasher can get security updates, which you need because your dishwasher is on wifi.
Updates improve wash efficiency, etc. Not just security updates. Maybe a new cleaning powder comes with a new algo. Maybe there's a better dosing for certain levels of water hardness. But the gist is that it updates the whole module. I'm fine with this, Miele are like Bosch in that they look after the hardware they sell for decades rather than considering it deprecated the day it leaves a shop floor.
Re: My dishwasher won’t start until I let it update its firmware over the WiFi
#146I can understand the appeal of most smart devices, but since a dishwasher can’t yet load and unload itself, what is the point of an internet connected dishwasher? You have to have physically loaded it. Why not just push the start button then?
It is handy if you have a lot of laundry to do (kids) and you want to be on top of doing one load after another / not forget.
Re: My dishwasher won’t start until I let it update its firmware over the WiFi
#147Looks like a Miele. That menu can be exited (the image where it says "Software Update", the tiny bit on the right... that's a scroll bar of multiple options including the ability to exit this menu), but it does imply that the dishwasher is already connected to Wi-Fi and that it has determined that there is an update available. There are few times that a dishwasher is interacted with, if not when you go into the menu…
Nobody wants to update the firmware of their dishwasher! (or anything, really)
I'm sure one can think of "benefits" to this, but as this incident shows, the annoyance far, far outweighs any possible benefit.
This is really getting out of hand. "Right to repair" should include "right to dumb down".
Re: My dishwasher won’t start until I let it update its firmware over the WiFi
#148Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because it'd be too easy to just invest some time beforehand to figure out the optimal process beforehand.
Maybe there's some new dirt-sensing algorithms that can use crowd-sourced info to improve the efficiency for your specific dirt patterns and water type and detergent combination.
Re: My dishwasher won’t start until I let it update its firmware over the WiFi
#149I fear for the day that we can no longer purchase dumb appliances, cars without connectivity/touchscreens/etc.
Re: My dishwasher won’t start until I let it update its firmware over the WiFi
#150Looks like a Miele. That menu can be exited (the image where it says "Software Update", the tiny bit on the right... that's a scroll bar of multiple options including the ability to exit this menu), but it does imply that the dishwasher is already connected to Wi-Fi and that it has determined that there is an update available. There are few times that a dishwasher is interacted with, if not when you go into the menu…
My dishwasher is from 1992. It's from the era of packet radio and pre-dates WiFi. I can't imagine using some smart phone app to manage a dishwasher.