Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

My dishwasher won’t start until I let it update its firmware over the WiFi

twitter.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

481–490 of 597 posts

Re: My dishwasher won’t start until I let it update its firmware over the WiFi

#481

Post by OJFord »

epicide wrote: post #297
AdrianB1 wrote: post #276

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My first reaction was to write a comment about why you don't need WiFi on a dishwasher. Then I found there may be use cases: you want to start the washing program from the office so it finishes right before you get home. That day when you need to stay another hour in the office, being able to interact with the machine is a nice to have, even if not a really important thing. Same as with air conditioning when you want…

If you already have the dishwasher loaded with the dishes before you leave for work, why not just run it then?

Better not to leave it too long after finishing IME, in terms of water marks and (after days/weeks, if you put it on before going away say) smell.

Re: My dishwasher won’t start until I let it update its firmware over the WiFi

#482

Post by fsflover »

spikej wrote: post #476
Vrondi wrote: post #446

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, but if something is abandoned by a company, then it should be made open. Your car/dishwasher/washing machine/thermostat/door locks should not stop working because some brilliant small company was bad at the profit side of things and folded. They should not stop working because some large company simply got bored and decided to follow another market trend. This is why user repair-ability/unlocking/jail-breaking of…

This even goes for older smart phones. Just because the company needs to turn a profit, doesn't mean I have the means to continually upgrade every 2 years. I love the efforts people put into things like LineageOs.

Consider a Linux phone (Librem 5 or Pinephone) instead, because those do not rely on proprietary drivers, which still can force you to throw your device away at some point.

Re: My dishwasher won’t start until I let it update its firmware over the WiFi

#483

Post by spookthesunset »

disgruntledphd2 wrote: post #259
nsxwolf wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Was that intended to be ironic?

Nope, that's how you're "supposed" to use them. Seriously, you too can save a bunch of electricity and wasted time by pre-washing stuff before putting it in the dishwasher. I do agree that it sounds like satire, though.

I've never pre-washed dishes unless it is rice. Everything else goes straight into the dishwasher as it was collected from the table. Always comes out clean and never had problems (unless it is rice... which seems to never get fully rinsed away).

Re: My dishwasher won’t start until I let it update its firmware over the WiFi

#484

Post by EricE »

ChrisLomont wrote: post #471
EricE wrote: post #421

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"A modern dishwasher that does auto-dispensing will be particularly more complex." Auto dispensing can be done without code. My parents had a GE that used an analog sensor for the water and varied the amount of soap dispensed based on its feedback. No microprocessor involved. Microcontrollers are becoming more of a curse as more designers start to wedge them in just because they can; not because they are really neede…

>My parents had a GE that used an analog sensor for the water and varied the amount of soap dispensed based on its feedback. No microprocessor involved By this same argument, old car engines without microprocessors would function just as efficiently as new ones with microprocessors, yet the evidence is that modern ones are more efficient in just about every way. Microprocessors allow much more sophisticated sensor in…

lol - few designers have the electronics backgrounds to design circuits without microprocessors. Doesn't mean they are still the best answer for all situations.

And comparing a car to a dishwasher is more than a bit silly.

Re: My dishwasher won’t start until I let it update its firmware over the WiFi

#485

Post by spookthesunset »

disgruntledphd2 wrote: post #353
ben-schaaf wrote: post #314

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Says who? This is from Miele's user manual: > There is no need to rinse items under running water! Dishwashers already pre-wash with an initial rinse cycle, the whole point is that they do the washing for you. It's also a whole lot more efficient in terms of water waste. The problem is when you don't give that first cycle any powder to work with, ie. if you're using pods.

> The problem is when you don't give that first cycle any powder to work with, ie. if you're using pods. That is really interesting, as I do use pods. I need to look into this more. More generally, I have had a lot more success with not needing to re-wash things if I rinse before hand (but I don't have a miele).

The secret is to put powdered detergent into the pre-wash tray. That and make sure it starts out with hot water...

Re: My dishwasher won’t start until I let it update its firmware over the WiFi

#486

Post by 0xffff2 »

stragies wrote: post #286
JoeAltmaier wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Similarly, mine does NOTHING when I push start. I have to stand there like an idiot for several seconds, straining to hear if something is going on. What a nuisance. It would have been trivial for them to flash a light or start the countdown (it has a timer display). But no; just sits there silently for a while.

I think, the startup delay is intentional. Otherwise they would tons of complaints by people, that notice 2 seconds after pressing the "GO"-button, that they forgot to put in another plate/cup/whatEv, opened the door, despite hearing the running water, and got doused.

My very dumb, 20 year old, dishwasher is perfectly capable of cutting the water when the latch is disengaged at any point in the cycle. I through utensils that got overlooked in up to 5 or so minutes after it starts and it has never caused a problem.

Re: My dishwasher won’t start until I let it update its firmware over the WiFi

#487

Post by EricE »

obert wrote: post #473
EricE wrote: post #454

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Never connect it to the Internet. Just use a Roku instead of the horrible built in apps. Honestly I'm amazed that so many people actually connect their "smart" TVs to the Internet. No way in hell!

not everyone likes Roku interface, and not everyone wants to or can plug in something on the back of the tv

Then enjoy being tracked in increasingly unseemly ways.

The current morass of advertising chicanery continues to exist because people are willing to trade away their privacy for convenience.

If you know something sucks but continue to do it because it's convenient then it's beyond disingenuous to keep complaining about it.

"Doctor it hurts when I do this" and all that :p

Re: My dishwasher won’t start until I let it update its firmware over the WiFi

#488

Post by spookthesunset »

imiric wrote: post #234
JohnJamesRambo wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have never once needed my dishwasher to be operated remotely. Load it and press start. The dishes get clean and it has no software just buttons. If the dishes get clean what further enhancements needed to be done?

> The dishes get clean and it has no software just buttons. Playing devil's advocate, all modern appliances run software to some extent. A modern dishwasher that does auto-dispensing will be particularly more complex. > If the dishes get clean what further enhancements needed to be done? It's not out of the question that the firmware might need to be updated to manage liquids more efficiently, tweak cycle timings, pr…

Outside of Tesla, have you ever gotten a firmware update on an appliance or car that added features or did major UX changes? Even if they could, why would they? They'd rather you buy the latest model that "supports" whatever new feature they have.

Re: My dishwasher won’t start until I let it update its firmware over the WiFi

#489

Post by stragies »

dpark wrote: post #442
stragies wrote: post #428

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't buy devices, if they need to be "on-the-internet" to function. But If I have the choice between a dumb one, and one with the same mechanics, but also a simple SoC with a bunch of sensors and relays connected, that I can talk to with "non-vendor-products" with only a small price difference, THEN I will leave the dumb one on the shelf, and take home the one, that I can actually integrate WELL into my workflows.

I fully expect a number of these smart devices to potentially break once they stop getting service support. Or at least to have a very degraded experience. “Hey, I haven’t been able to connect to the internet to download updates in a while. Can you read this and dismiss this message literally every time you use me from now on?”

"Smart" Devices, when it comes to my buying decisions, also includes, if the vendor went out of his way to produce future e-garbage by e.g. including Broadcom wifi or something else that would needlessly impede the possibility of future enhancements/bugfixes by an enthusiast community through withholding useful driver developer documentation.

Re: My dishwasher won’t start until I let it update its firmware over the WiFi

#490

Post by spookthesunset »

EricE wrote: post #454
strangattractor wrote: post #357

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My LG TV would not let we watch until I updated my Terms of Service. The only option was to agree or not be able to use the TV I had already purchased and paid for.

Never connect it to the Internet. Just use a Roku instead of the horrible built in apps. Honestly I'm amazed that so many people actually connect their "smart" TVs to the Internet. No way in hell!

The "smart" stuff on my Sony TV is pretty damn good actually. It has all the major streaming services I use and the remote isn't half bad. It's actually taken over most of the functionality we used the Apple TV for.
Post reply on HN