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

491–500 of 597 posts

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

#491

Post by jcelerier »

watwut wrote: post #319
jcelerier wrote: post #254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

on the other hand I'd rather pull my nails out than input a start time on a washing machine or oven. The UI are always atrocious for this.

It is super easy on all I have seen. There is button which adds either 30min or 1 hour (depending on model) to delay when I press it. That is it, press it until delay is what you want.

> press it until delay is what you want.

yes and then it accelerates and you go over the time you wanted and you have to wait for a whole 24:00 loop to reach the correct time again

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

#492

Post by Ajedi32 »

feoren wrote: post #439
fsflover wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is exactly why Stallman invented free software: https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-software-even-more-impor... .

Problem: People are writing bad software with bugs and dark patterns. Solution: Software development should be the only creative profession in the entire world with no legal protection on their work!? It's insane to me. Absolutely insane. Copyright is not immoral. Almost nobody in this thread would be able to make any money as a software engineer if software were not allowed to make money. And yes, I've heard the arg…

I'm with you. I've become more sympathetic to Stallman's philosophy in recent years, but it's really only "freedom 1"[1] that I find potentially valuable. The other freedoms (such as 2, which effectively abolishes copyright) would destroy the industry if they were forcibly applied to all software.

[1]: https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.en.html#four-freedoms

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

#493

Post by akhosravian »

adolph wrote: post #370
pmontra wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, it could also get functionality updates. For example they could upload a new totally different UX loved by the designers and that nobody else understands how to use ;-)

> functionality updates The only UI a dishwasher needs is "wash" and "dishes in here are still clean don't put in dirty dishes yet." I've yet to see a dishwasher do the latter with the necessary nuance.

My kitchen aid has a white light that comes on when it finishes running, and automatically shuts itself off when it is closed.

As long as you unload it instead of fishing a single item out this works pretty well for telling the clean state.

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

#494

Post by obmelvin »

alistairSH wrote: post #80
obmelvin wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

maybe I'm misunderstanding the GP - but they seem to say that they have the same dishwasher and that you can skip the update

... if you know the secret button sequence to break out of the menu. I can't think of a good reason to have a network-connected dishwasher. I don't think I'd ever start it remotely, as I still have to clear the table and rinse the dishes. The washer gets started when I'm done loading it. I can check detergent levels while the door is open. Pretty much the same for all my other appliance for that matter.

> ... if you know the secret button sequence to break out of the menu.

I did see the twitter screenshots, but as I don't own the device myself I couldn't really judge if the GP's instructions are readily apparent to the average user.

Also, I don't disagree with you. But the OP seemingly bought such a device and connected it to their wifi. Maybe they are living in a furnished apartment with pre-configured wifi? Anyway - thankfully we are not yet in an era where ones only choice is a connected dishwasher - can still buy used, older models etc.

edit: One would hope that you can factory reset the dishwasher to make it forget the wifi information, if it has been configured by someone else.

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

#495

Post by idatum »

buro9 wrote: post #5

Looks 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…

If you simply need to know when the dishwasher is on, and be alerted when then off (complete), there are simple and non-wifi solutions by monitoring the power usage on its circuit.

For example, I have CTs directly attached to my laundry circuits which I monitor to generate alerts. Helps keep the family moving along when we all have laundry queued up.

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

#496

Post by alkonaut »

chasd00 wrote: post #334
jmartinpetersen wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A pretty useful feature would be to start when electricity prices are low.

use the delay feature on your existing dumb dishwasher to start in the middle of the night.

Yes that does get you 99% of the way there at least. It does require predicting/assuming the electricity prices though. If they are predictable enough, that's fine. It doesn't quite reach feature parity with actually fetching electricity prices every hour and slowly learning when it's cheapest over many weeks.

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

#497

Post by alistairSH »

EricE wrote: post #474
alistairSH wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All those things mandated for cars are related to safety. Back-up cameras are required to prevent drivers from running over small children. ABS and stability control to prevent crashes. Etc. And none of them, in a simple implementation, reduce the usability of the car/truck. No such mandates exist for home appliances. The connectivity/apps are purely a money-grab - either people like the general idea of connected dev…

>All those things mandated for cars are related to safety. There really is a benefit for a Mazda MX-5 Miata to have a backup camera? It would be far more of a distraction than just swiveling your head. Not to mention the e-waste cost of all the useless components in millions of similar cars. One size fits all solutions should be the rarest of the rare, not the norm. Tire pressure sensors? Sure - useful and most peopl…

Do you drive a Miata? I did for years. Rearward visibility with the top up was pretty terrible. No rear quarter windows, the rear window was tiny. Yeah, the driver should turn their head and look, just as with any car, but they don't and they back into things. As the old saying goes, "this is why we can't have nice things."

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

#498

Post by loudthing »

jancsika wrote: post #267
pmontra wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, it could also get functionality updates. For example they could upload a new totally different UX loved by the designers and that nobody else understands how to use ;-)

> To be fair, it could also get functionality updates This is an important point that owners[1] sometimes miss. For example, if the owner makes a deal to partner with the maker of a particular detergent tab, the owner could create a new feature that only works with those tabs and not regular powder detergent. 1: Owner: the person who owns the firmware being sent over WiFi.

This still sounds terrible.

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

#499

Post by obert »

EricE wrote: post #487
obert wrote: post #473

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

you assume everyone, me included, is complaining, and that Roku doesn’t track either. That’s the same mentality that people had about Google in the early days. There’s a need for embedded solutions, better design, lower costs, etc.

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

#500

Post by tnwebwise »

Tech has gone too far, imagine this trend going far down the road. Everything is a subscription. Life is on hold for software updates or missed payments to make the bulb to work when I ask Alexa to control the indigo-domo server to enable the in wall wiring switch controller to work. I hope this stuff gets a little easier and everyone finishes the work to unify the communications side.

I work IT, and while the automated hardware can be useful, it's not when it forces updates with magically bad timing.

I "used" to play games on a playstation, but not often enough... so every time I wanted to play it and had the time to... it needed some playstation update right now, and the time afforded to play was lost. Hello Steam. Nord VPN seems to need required reboot updates near weekly. I always ponder that the updates have to be less a required fix and more of a marketing related update.

Did you know most cars have a cell modem in them and send "home" the can-bus data so that the car makers can see how parts from xyz corp are working out for them.

Does the dish washer listen for people talking about it and how it's used? What does it send home?

Post reply on HN