How long until we can’t get ice because we let our water filter subscription lapse? I feel like that’s where we’re headed. Gotta get that MRR.
Goodbye non-KISS appliances
261–270 of 499 posts
Re: Goodbye non-KISS appliances
#262If you want to keep it simple, don't even bother with filtered water and just drink out of the tap. It is safe in the developed world. If you are concerned about germs, which can get through the filter anyway, you should boil the water instead.
Re: Goodbye non-KISS appliances
#263When we upgraded our appliances, the "smart" or "wifi-enabled" ones were specifically avoided like the plague. "Dumb" appliances - especially fridges, for some reason - are becoming hard to come by, but they do exist. Electrolux, KitchenAid, even LG all make some no-frills models that can save both money and frustration. Hopefully those companies continue serving the "luddite techie" market.
I've had multiple Subzero basic commodity or commercial refrigerators last 15-20 years with only minor parts replacements which are easily found. Of course these are not cheap, but isn't that what everyone here is asking for? Something made well that lasts a long time?
They don't look fancy at all and nobody even knows it's a Subzero because there are no labels on it and no stainless steel front.
Re: Goodbye non-KISS appliances
#264If you want to keep it simple, don't even bother with filtered water and just drink out of the tap. It is safe in the developed world. If you are concerned about germs, which can get through the filter anyway, you should boil the water instead.
However, most people now base how water tastes from bottled water. So the preference at home is to not drink off the tap.
Re: Goodbye non-KISS appliances
#265Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, I agree. I'm not a luddite per se - heck, I make a living out of making stuff talk to one another on a network. But I don't get the appeal, from a customer standpoint, of having all physical objects talk to you or to the Internet. Like, why? I get it when it comes to alarm systems. Being able to get a notification when someone breaks in is nice, because the alarm system is mostly doing its job when you're not at…
> Why do I need voice activated lights My parents are getting older. Their knees appreciate being able to tell Siri to turn off the downstairs lights from upstairs.
Re: Goodbye non-KISS appliances
#266It's increasingly difficult to get high-end performance with a simple device with a good user interface. Incidentally, I happen to have almost the same refrigerator as the author (same thing, but without the hot water dispenser). My only failure so far has been the condenser fan after seven years of operation. It was clearly an electronic failure of the onboard motor controller, which honestly has no excuse to fail.…
It's actually not at all, but people [in general, not here] want Cheap + Features. There are expensive "prosumer/consumer" level no-feature refrigerators but people don't want to pay for them.
Re: Goodbye non-KISS appliances
#267Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not saying it is not useful, nor am I making a point about "survival" (also because people have survived long before fridges were even a thing). I'm saying it can be useful, but only very rarely.
Features that are useful but only rarely are great. Designing only for the happy path is terrible.
If dealing with an ugly path means streaming data all the time to the Internet and potentially decreasing the reliability of the whole thing, just because once every 5 or 10 years stuff defrosts...
Re: Goodbye non-KISS appliances
#268Earlier quoted context omitted.
It seem even funnier. From my research. The "side by side" standard US frige is what we call in France American fridge because it has two door and look so oversized and fancy compared to the standard fridge in france. The US "french-door fridge" take the oversizing a step further by adding a third door on the bottom of the "side by side" design. We don't even have a name for theses fridges as nobody buy theses, so I…
I wonder if EU fridges are smaller because people buy food more frequently, but in smaller quantities. Because the grocery shops are closer.
At some point you just have to accept that there are certain things the Americans have gotten right, and we haven't. Family-sized fridges, laundry machines which are roughly colocated with clothes storage and (arguably) sink-based garbage disposals are examples of that.
Re: Goodbye non-KISS appliances
#269Earlier quoted context omitted.
>Does a once in 40 years mistake justify carrying an app around that does god knows what else, and the extra expense and hassle of a fridge that might or might not spy on you? >Do we need to therefore instrument our stoves, ovens, baths and basins to insulate ourselves from the other common domestic nightmare scenarios? Exactly. There are a lot of things that could go wrong in daily life. Let's say you are sleeping a…
And since you can't always be 100% safe in any possible scenario, NFPA, airbags, seatbelts, and the EPA are just ludicrous extravagances conceived by fools who don't understand the inevitability of death?
Re: Goodbye non-KISS appliances
#270If you want to keep it simple, don't even bother with filtered water and just drink out of the tap. It is safe in the developed world. If you are concerned about germs, which can get through the filter anyway, you should boil the water instead.