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

Our fridge just emailed us to say we opened its door too many times

twitter.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

251–260 of 416 posts

Re: Our fridge just emailed us to say we opened its door too many times

#251

Post by margalabargala »

Lev1a wrote: post #217
larrik wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting, this was made super clear to me, and even included instructions to leave it plugged in for at least 40 minutes after waking up in the morning so it can communicate. Generally the insurance companies don't like paying for supplies for people who aren't actually using them, and need to see that you use it for an average of 4 hours per night or whatever.

> need to see that you use it for an average of 4 hours per night or whatever That could just as easily be achieved by the method of locally recording on the SD card GP mentioned above without uploading who-knows-what about the device, your body, maybe even the surrounding area and other people to who-the-fuck-knows-where.

This doesn't really solve anything.

It can equally easily be recording exactly all of that data into some encrypted format on the SD card, which then gets uploaded to the manufacturer when opened with the proprietary application necessary to view the data.

The only difference is the choice over exactly when the data is uploaded, which in the US with its insurance system, results in no choice at all.

Re: Our fridge just emailed us to say we opened its door too many times

#252

Post by lotsofpulp »

salawat wrote: post #234
caymanjim wrote: post #140

I have a semi-related anecdote about surprises from devices. I use a CPAP. After a year, I went back to the doctor for a followup, and was asked to bring the SD card so they could review the data it collects. The device records the times and duration of use, various settings, and some metrics on breathing (apnea events, etc). I knew it recorded this stuff on an SD card. I brought the card to the appointment, but the…

Welcome to realizing Insurance companies are soft control mechanisms and one of the worst in terms of justifying rampant data aggregation to keep the actuaries busy. Also welcome to privacy violation via undisclosed industry collaboration. You'll find the same pattern pops up just about everywhere.

Do people have the right to lower their own insurance premiums in exchange for voluntarily giving up their data?

Re: Our fridge just emailed us to say we opened its door too many times

#253

Post by Aerroon »

salawat wrote: post #239
bserge wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Insurance is a racket everywhere apparently.

It's supposed to be a capital allocation optimizer and risk mitigator. Unfortunately, without hard limits on things, it degenerates to financial control mechanism formost people.

I don't see why most common types of insurance aren't offered by governments. The government has the largest pool of cash and it's not like insurance has much room for innovation. Most types of innovation in insurance is about figuring out ways to not pay out insurance claims. Ie 'innovation' by an insurance company means a worse product for the customers.

Re: Our fridge just emailed us to say we opened its door too many times

#254

Post by caymanjim »

Aerroon wrote: post #242
caymanjim wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like data. I would like to review all the metrics my medical device collects. I'd welcome an app to make it even easier to view. That's all pro-consumer. That can be done by storing data on SD cards; via a USB connection; via built-in Bluetooth or WiFi. It's an easily-solved problem, and with modern wireless networking, something that the average consumer can navigate without much trouble. Even for the most tech-un…

> At least the thing doesn't have a microphone on it too... How do you know? If they're doing tracking where tracking isn't necessary and don't disclose the full extent of tracking under some penalty for lying, then maybe the machine does have a microphone in it? How would you know without taking it apart? It's not like the doctor or device manufacturer are trustworthy on the privacy front.

In my case I actually did take it apart. The LCD screen smashed to the point of unusability and I attempted to repair it (alternative was to send it away for weeks for expensive repairs). While inside, I tried to disconnect the cellular modem, but it wouldn't function like that. I didn't actually look for a microphone (I'm not that paranoid), but I'm reasonably confident there isn't one.

Re: Our fridge just emailed us to say we opened its door too many times

#255

Post by theNJR »

My Bosch fridge claimed it would notify if the door stayed open. I read that to me I’d get a native push notification after a time threshold I can set. That would be a very useful feature.

Oh how foolish I was.

No, it’s an app that requires a whole mess of registration.

They better not email me a report card like this guy.

Re: Our fridge just emailed us to say we opened its door too many times

#256

Post by globular-toast »

djrogers wrote: post #210
OJFord wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In which case 'hey, someone is opening the door an insane amount, which is not good for the fridge or your food' might be a handy alert, so you know what they're up to and can stop them? (I'm not saying it should be internet connected for that purpose though.)

> so you know what they're up to and can stop them? Lol, sure - go ahead and stop a 5 year old from checking the fridge a few times a day when here hungry. See how much better that makes your life. Again - when you have kids, you will understand...

Just don't keep ready-to-eat food in the house. I'm sure he won't be raiding the fridge to munch on a raw cauliflower.

Re: Our fridge just emailed us to say we opened its door too many times

#257

Post by vladvasiliu »

marcosdumay wrote: post #160
elliekelly wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And yet I still manage to accidentally press them when I don’t mean to. The other day I wished out loud that my stove had a button to turn on the buttons so the buttons would work when I want and not work when I don’t. Maybe the next gen model will have a Button Button^TM and we will have reached peak absurdity.

> Maybe the next gen model will have a Button Button^TM Please, make it a switch. A touch button will never work there.

Ha! In an older flat I had a "lock" button on the stove. Touch button, of course. And for some reason, it would always register an inadvertent touch.

Of course, once locked, the buttons wouldn't work, but the lock light wasn't obvious enough.

Re: Our fridge just emailed us to say we opened its door too many times

#258

Post by unethical_ban »

xaedes wrote: post #67

In Battlestar Galactica humanity's last defense was this big "dumb" battlestar spaceship with sparsly connected systems. Sometimes it feels like the internet (of things) is the breeding ground of the Cylons in our world.

I resent that consumer IoT is almost always required to connect to a cloud service.

I love the idea of an IoT house - smart lamps, smart locks, cameras, climate conrtol, etc. I only want them connected to my LAN. If I want to access any of their controls remotely, I will set up a VPN or otherwise they should provide a jump service locally, not require cloud connectivity.

Re: Our fridge just emailed us to say we opened its door too many times

#259

Post by ericbarrett »

fennecfoxen wrote: post #125
thrwyoilarticle wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use Google Maps via Android Auto. Sometimes I like to take a more scenic route, so I'll say: 'OK Google, avoid motorways' And it will route me past anything officially called a motorway, sadly not including the A roads that are very similar. Eventually I might decide I want to proceed more quickly, so I'll say: 'OK Google, use motorways' At which point it will perform a Google search and read out the first result,…

doot dee doot, it's labor day weekend, and I'm using Apple maps to navigate instead of Google (it's easier to activate via voice). The low-fuel light turns on while cruising along an unfamiliar stretch of highway, just as I'm finishing an interchange as I leave the dense city and head through its suburbia. I'm not quite sure of whether to expect service plazas, or just-off-exit-ramp gas stations, or what. I've seen g…

“Find gas stations along the route and show me a list sorted by distance from my expected route” is a function I had in a stock nav system in 2007. I think it was two button presses away. We’ve definitely regressed.

Re: Our fridge just emailed us to say we opened its door too many times

#260

Post by tzs »

teekert wrote: post #2

It should also have an arm on the door to slap your hand when you open it for the 41st time in a day. I mean, that's insane, you deserve a slap. Btw, this reminds me a bit of my parent's Renault that would tell me every damn time I started it to follow traffic regulations. I wish I could slap that car and it would feel it. And then there's my father-in-law's Mazda, which has a GPS system that sometimes finds him 200…

Are you just objecting to the method by which the fridge is providing useful performance information to the owner, or are you objecting to the fridge providing that information at all?
Post reply on HN