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

Cooler screens

computer.rip

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 253 posts

Re: Cooler screens

#101

Post by lucideer »

bombcar wrote: post #96
lucideer wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Typically the bigger dive bars or pub-club chain types; definitely an atmosphere many enjoy, though very much a matter of taste. And/or sports bars.

Now there would be a use for these - imagine a wall of them along the side of the bar, with the game currently being watched spread across them all. Only annoyance would be when the bartender has to open the door during a touchdown.

The coolers I've seen have translucent doors (see comment above), so the game wouldn't be super clear. The Walgreens coolers could do it but I presume you're joking as it would have no concrete benefits over putting a normal screen in front of a bunch of coolers (or even projecting onto some white coolers).

Re: Cooler screens

#102

Post by gwbas1c »

IMO: If they are worried about energy efficiency: Triple pane glass with (I can't remember) gas between the panes is what we all have in our homes.

Seems like a case of someone letting their imagination run away with tech, without realizing that a simple solution, and less invasive test-marketing, is a much better approach.

Re: Cooler screens

#103

Post by Denvercoder9 »

9dev wrote: post #59
thih9 wrote: post #7

To be fair, this technology could have been introduced in a way that benefits the customer. Some products are smaller than the others, making them harder to spot. Having a well organized and clearly visible directory that is also a guiding system might help. Then again, stores like this are already doing their best to confuse, with those screens or without. No reason to believe screens have been introduced to help th…

We’re a few decades into a climate catastrophe; the world consumes far too many resources and energy. If nothing changes fundamentally, our grandchildren are going to live in a dystopian wasteland. And yet somehow screens in front of fridges seem to be a good idea to some?

Putting screens in front of fridges could actually reduce energy consumption, if they allow the badly isolated glass doors to be replaced by thick, well-isolated doors.

Re: Cooler screens

#104

Post by bombcar »

lucideer wrote: post #101
bombcar wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Now there would be a use for these - imagine a wall of them along the side of the bar, with the game currently being watched spread across them all. Only annoyance would be when the bartender has to open the door during a touchdown.

The coolers I've seen have translucent doors (see comment above), so the game wouldn't be super clear. The Walgreens coolers could do it but I presume you're joking as it would have no concrete benefits over putting a normal screen in front of a bunch of coolers (or even projecting onto some white coolers).

The only real benefit would be getting a large screen out of stupid VC money.

These things are obviously a solution in search of a problem. MAYBE it would make sense on the front of a vending machine (because then you could hide the mechanics and perhaps get them more dense).

Re: Cooler screens

#105

Post by Mistletoe »

egypturnash wrote: post #87

I hate these things, I have seen them in some of the Walgreens around town and I just keep on thinking about the energy wasted both by lighting up the whole screen brightly enough to see in the store, and by customers opening the doors up so they can see what's actually there and letting more cool air out. I've never seen them displaying ads, just big graphics saying "WATER" or "ICE CREAM" or "MILK" or whatever when…

“If there are eyes somewhere, put a screen in front of it.” could be the mantra for the 21st century so far. I wonder and worry about the tablet toddlers in the shopping cart and at restaurants and what kind of world they will create when they have spent their whole lives looking at a reality several times removed from Plato’s shadows on the wall of the cave. These stupid cooler screens are just more fake reality for them to consume.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegory_of_the_cave

Re: Cooler screens

#106

Post by rsynnott »

sspiff wrote: post #16

A fun aside: Cooler Screens, the company making these, used to be the CEO of Walgreens, and Walgreens is their only "whale" customer. Walgreens began to sour on the idea of the idea of these screens, and the current CEO basically cancelled the whole deal when he came in, calling them ugly, costly and ineffective. Cooler Screens has been forced to take back many of the screens, which are custom made to the size of the…

What is it with Walgreens and adopting terrible tech ideas? This apparently started in 2017, shortly after Walgreens had terminated their Theranos partnership; you'd think that would have given them pause.

Re: Cooler screens

#107

Post by coldpie »

pimlottc wrote: post #2

Some images in this article for those who haven’t seen them: https://www.businessinsider.com/cooler-screens-make-it-harde...

I made a positive statement to myself, as I left my teens, that I would never become that old man that hides from technology and gets left behind. But boy, I think I'm getting there. Between crap like this and the massively unethical "gig labor" economy and VR headsets, I want no part of what the world is becoming.

Re: Cooler screens

#109

Post by MichaelZuo »

bombcar wrote: post #94
MichaelZuo wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not feasible to make glass doors on coolers much thicker, or else they'd be too heavy to move for a significant portion of the population without a motor or hydraulics.

You can make incredibly heavy doors that are quite easy to open, it just costs money to design the hinges. If you really want to be energy efficient, you'd switch to chest freezers/coolers, as they don't "spill" all the "cold" every time you open them. Or at least doors where you can open the top or bottom half instead of the whole door. But the energy expended is likely quite small, much less than the energy expende…

Screens and thicker plain old insulation are likely cheaper and less energy intensive then fancy glass doors on fancy hinges.

Whether or not this kind of change is a smart move in the first place is a different discussion.

Re: Cooler screens

#110

Post by toywinder »

I encountered one of these about a year ago at a random stop for drinks. All the complaints about them are right on the mark.

If I see cooler screens. You will never see me in that store again.

Post reply on HN