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I won't connect my dishwasher to your cloud

jeffgeerling.com

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Re: I won't connect my dishwasher to your cloud

#81

Post by paradox460 »

btbuildem wrote: post #47

One thing I've learned when buying a full set of appliances couple of years ago: don't read consumer reports or reviews by randos on the internet -- instead, go to industry literature, and read reports by/for service and warranty providers. They have actual hard data on the types and frequency of problems across brands and models. But back to the main theme of the article: hell to the no was my initial attitude, and…

The best friend you can make is an appliance repair man. Ask him which brands are good and which bad, and you'll rarely be steered awry

Re: I won't connect my dishwasher to your cloud

#82

Post by Larrikin »

financetechbro wrote: post #61
necovek wrote: post #59

While it's utterly true these features will simply get abandoned by the manufacturer, people seem to discount how hard (read: expensive) it is to develop local-first software, especially the one you want to just work with a mobile app that might or might not be on the same local network or subnet (try explaining that bit to your regular Bosch customer). Since we are, ultimately, such a minority, I am sure that not ev…

How complicated of software does one need in a dishwasher? Feels like a solution looking for a problem

How do I use Home Assistant to run my dish washer, charge my electric car, start my washing machine, etc based on the capacity of my solar array's battery and the fluctuation of electricity prices day to day to pay the least amount of money without software connectivity? All of this is possible today with the right hardware.

It does NOT need cloud connectivity and all of these devices should be able to communicate locally to a matter or zigbee hub or over Wi-Fi without Internet directly to my server. That is the actual problem. We should not let corporate greed stifle innovation by saying new features are pointless because a company then can try to exploit it for further profit.

Re: I won't connect my dishwasher to your cloud

#83

Post by geerlingguy »

ryao wrote: post #74

I was in a similar situation with a clothes dryer dying where the repair required a board that was half the price of a new one. A key difference is that I had a professional appliance repair guy look at it and he determined it needed a new board. Rather than buy a new machine like Jeff did, I made the opposite decision and paid for the board. It has been a few years since that and I have been happy with the result. I…

The problem is the control board/electronics was not the only thing going south on that GE unit.

The door hinges were giving way, the door gasket had started to get iffy (not quite leaking yet, but it needs a new one), the top rack doesn't go in and out easily anymore...

All those parts aren't even made to be fixable anymore. At least if it's a pump or control board, those are relatively swappable. The rail system seems to be integrated into the sidewall!

On our old fridge (only like 12 years old), we lived for 6 years with a broken drawer because the slide for it is literally integrated into the inside wall... not repairable at all, without an entire new shell.

If we had a 30 year old device, it would probably all be repairable. Sadly, there seem to be very few consumer options (and nowadays even 'professional' options) that are made with longevity as a feature target.

Re: I won't connect my dishwasher to your cloud

#86

Post by geerlingguy »

4ndrewl wrote: post #45

I was pleasantly surprised when there was an update to my Flymo robot lawnmower app where they _removed_ the requirement to setup an account to use it. Seems most other companies are going the other way though.

Would be great if Bosch found some magical way to make their firmware work with button combos for the 'hidden' modes. Or to at least make local connection the default, and have a way to set that up without Internet.

Re: I won't connect my dishwasher to your cloud

#87

Post by 1over137 »

klipklop wrote: post #56

I feel Jeff should have bit the bullet and just returned it. I know it's a waste of time, but these products have to be rejected at retail. Retailers will eventually get tired of the extra support burden and demand manufacturers drop stuff like this. They should all get hit with the open box problem from the returns.

>but these products have to be rejected at retail

That only works if other options don't have these requirements.

Having recently bought new appliances, they almost all have some features gated behind "the cloud".

Even many exhaust fans (that go above your stove) have wifi now!

Re: I won't connect my dishwasher to your cloud

#88

Post by ryao »

stiglitz wrote: post #76
necovek wrote: post #59

While it's utterly true these features will simply get abandoned by the manufacturer, people seem to discount how hard (read: expensive) it is to develop local-first software, especially the one you want to just work with a mobile app that might or might not be on the same local network or subnet (try explaining that bit to your regular Bosch customer). Since we are, ultimately, such a minority, I am sure that not ev…

Why make it work with a mobile app at all? How is that even a convenience? This is an appliance you need to be physically present at to load and unload.

I could see a remote notification that it finished being useful. That said, the manufacturers would never go for this, but a dry contact for a GPO that is asserted on the machine finishing is likely all a number of people here would ever need/want.

Re: I won't connect my dishwasher to your cloud

#89

Post by geerlingguy »

m4tthumphrey wrote: post #51

I purposely spend a lot of time ensuring that an appliance (such as dishwasher, fridge, oven etc) has no connectivity before I purchase. Even if it misses out on some of the “better features”. Surely when all appliances go down this route it will not last long, purely down to the amount of breaches that will inevitably occur. Not to mention the backlash.

We've had this with TVs for like 3 years now... though when they do terrible things, they don't turn off a home's heat or start fires, usually.

Re: I won't connect my dishwasher to your cloud

#90

Post by klipklop »

geerlingguy wrote: post #78
klipklop wrote: post #56

I feel Jeff should have bit the bullet and just returned it. I know it's a waste of time, but these products have to be rejected at retail. Retailers will eventually get tired of the extra support burden and demand manufacturers drop stuff like this. They should all get hit with the open box problem from the returns.

I'd love to take a stance like that, but the reality is I've already sunk about 6 hours total into the whole operation, and I have quite limited time for my home maintenance + improvement projects as it is (my bench currently has a new faucet set to fix the leaky bathroom faucet, as well as an exhaust fan to fix the broken one in our bathroom... and those are just the things that are currently broken , not the dozen…

Yup. It's time to replace the controlboard with an ESP32 or something! Did you keep your old dishwasher?
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