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Sorry, we replaced that old technology, “see-through glass”

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Re: Sorry, we replaced that old technology, “see-through glass”

#351

Post by Someone »

3np wrote: post #197
hedora wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fact is probably worse than fiction here: Samsung fridges have machine vision systems to catalog their contents, then combine the data with data from samsung smart TVs. That way, they can be joined against your tv watching habits. This is all to better target ads. If you disable it, then it breaks the demand response function on the fridge, indirectly killing polar bears and other living things. They cost as much (or…

Got a source for this? A quick search didn’t turn up anything for me. They’re really years ahead of the pack in this villainy, so I don’t doubt that it’s true.

https://venturebeat.com/2019/01/11/samsung-is-using-computer... says

”There is no planned release date for Bixby Vision for refrigerators, a company spokesperson told VentureBeat. It’s more of a concept than a feature today”

On the other hand, that’s from over 2 years ago, and https://www.samsung.com/us/support/answer/ANS00062803/ says

“Did you ever think the day would come when you could talk to your refrigerator, and it would actually listen? With Bixby on Family Hub, you can ask to see the contents of your fridge or even start playing music without lifting a finger.”

So, the camera is there. Whether it has machine learning to detect contents and connects that with you tv, I wouldn’t know.

Re: Sorry, we replaced that old technology, “see-through glass”

#352

Post by nkrisc »

JMTQp8lwXL wrote: post #32
nkrisc wrote: post #13

Everyone here who’s worked for some moderately large corporation knows exactly why this was done: it’s a flashy pet project for some “labs” team in an otherwise boring retailer and maybe they’ll recoup some of the cost in ads, minus whatever they lose for it being an awful idea. Some charismatic product manager sold it to execs as “being the future of connected retail” or some other BS. In a few months they’ll be rem…

Doesn't every new innovation (produced by a corporation), good or bad, generally come from the experimental arm of said corporation (e.g, R&D division)? You have teams dedicating to maintaining the core business, and you have teams exploring areas along the fringe of your TAM. HN's comments following Bitcoin's launch have made me acutely aware of how hostile we can be towards new ideas.

Usually bad ideas die in a test phase. This is a pure money grab completely at the expense of the consumer. The question they asked themselves was, “how inconvenient can we make the shopping experience without alienating our customers completely, in order to extract more revenue at the expense of their experience in our stores?”

Because this has zero benefit for shoppers.

Re: Sorry, we replaced that old technology, “see-through glass”

#353

Post by lobocinza »

rdiddly wrote: post #43
foxfired wrote: post #26

I do not blame cooler screen for selling this technology to anyone. But I want everyone to consider how much it takes to bring about a technology like this to a grocery store. If this is any of the big chain groceries, the manager doesn't even have the authority to put a sticker on the glass door. This was vetted by hundreds of people and none of them thought... glass? Business class tickets were purchased, hotels we…

It's an ad platform plain and simple; that's the whole value proposition. So I imagine every pitch, every meeting was about that. And every store that uses it will be doing it to get a cut of the ad revenue. It's true that it's lousy at being glass, but that's like saying smallpox blankets were a lousy way to make friends with Native Americans. The shittiness of it, in other words, was the goal all along, and any res…

They will get a cut in the ad revenue and in their number of customers.

Re: Sorry, we replaced that old technology, “see-through glass”

#354

Post by moogly »

pcstl wrote: post #151

I think part of the reasoning behind this is also that people are less likely to buy from a half-empty shelf. That's why markets put so much effort into constant restocking. This way, the shelf can always look full while needing less restocking.

> people are less likely to buy from a half-empty shelf.

Wait, what? Is this a thing? If anything, I would guess a half-empty shelf would trigger a "this product is popular so I should probably get some", but even that is stretching it.

I guess it's yet another proof I was born in the wrong universe.

Re: Sorry, we replaced that old technology, “see-through glass”

#355

Post by lotsofpulp »

eitland wrote: post #307
lotsofpulp wrote: post #289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have never seen anyone in America keep their butter on counter and not in the fridge. I have lived in 7 states in both coasts and upper Midwest. Generally, I assumed if it’s in the refrigerator in grocery store (which butter is) then it goes in refrigerator at home.

How do you spread the butter then? Or do you mean something else than butter? I grew up on a farm and the first first 15 or so years of the life ordinary butter was the onlh alternative. It had to be kept in a jar at the counter or it would become unusable.

Take out the butter you need beforehand to thaw. Or I’ve seen people microwave for 5 seconds. My family stopped using butter outside of occasional uses years ago though due to saturated fats.

Generally, I see people using the spreadable alternative to butter though.

Re: Sorry, we replaced that old technology, “see-through glass”

#357

Post by asyrafql »

burnt_toast wrote: post #127

The year is 2050 and your dingy old toaster has finally given up it's last crumbs. You hop onto Amazon in hopes of finding a suitable replacement as there's no longer any box stores you can travel to. Dumb appliances have been phased out and newer internet connected appliances have taken over. It's better for the consumer they claim. Not wanting an overtly fancy contraption you pick a no frills unit that includes a t…

This is suck

Re: Sorry, we replaced that old technology, “see-through glass”

#358

Post by dvtrn »

unmole wrote: post #253
dvtrn wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably refers to the flavorings used for flavored seltzer?

I thought 'seltzer' was American for club soda i.e. unflavored areated water?

At least IME ‘club soda’ and ‘seltzer’ can be used interchangeably, but flavored seltzers do exist

Re: Sorry, we replaced that old technology, “see-through glass”

#359

Post by wholinator2 »

sillysaurusx wrote: post #153
ergot_vacation wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a rough estimate, what percent of US economic activity is large piles of money being tossed into a flaming dumpster for the sake of someone's ego? Because every year it seems higher.

Eh, that’s also how projects happen at all, though. The failed ones seem like it was for the sake of someone’s ego. But you need a bit of ego, in a big corporate setting. I think TFRC was an ego project, rather than an egoless project. Yet TFRC was a wonderful project that happened to work; if it failed, it might seem like an ego project with no point. I don’t like saying “you need ego,” but it also seems true that y…

Yes, however, tensorflow is not primarily an ad platform that forcefully replaces an alternative that no one asked for, while simultaneously silently advancing the police/corporate surveillance state at the explicit detriment of average citizens who had no say in the decision.

Re: Sorry, we replaced that old technology, “see-through glass”

#360

Post by jordemort »

gherkinnn wrote: post #244
63 wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's an angle that the company making these didn't think of. That's exactly the kind of critical use case you miss when you don't do enough testing.

No. It’s bloody obvious. The answer no doubt was “think of the ads” and “our AI guy (there’s always that one AI guy) is working on a model to help detect low stock”.

I'm pretty sure this is exactly how it went. Sometimes it will show items as out of stock on the screen but it seems to miss about 2/3rds of what's actually depleted when you open the door.

And yeah, the creepy little camera on the top of all of them makes me very pleased to have an excuse to wear a mask inside the store.

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