When is "The internet of everything" too much?

[Gingerbread Demon]

So this

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/201...exa-in-a-fridge-and-wi-fi-in-everything-else/

Seriously you can't just open the bloody door to see what is inside the fridge?

Oh and don't expect this thing to have good security to stop it being hacked, because if you are silly enough to buy this you probably wouldn't be worrying about your fridge being hacked. Oh yeah I said that I certainly did.

This "IOT" thing is just going too far IMHO.

In that case why couldn't you just buy a fridge with glass doors?

 

[Santaman]

Stupidity, Buzz words, greed and the celebrity obsessed, media drugged masses swallowing everything that gets dished out by incompetent uncaring companies because it is tweeted about by people who's vocabulary seems to consist out of: hot, kewl, must have, buy now and enlarge your stylish tech penis/boobs..

Do forget that a lot of botnets are created hacking frigging security cameras, routers and similar stuff, you can hack frigging TV's, lamps, "smart" domotica used to control your house and the list is endless, indeed security is last on the list and people buying this stuff less smart than the frigging box it came in..

So do I think it's going too far? Guess..

 

[Steven P Bastien]

This is not directly related to internet appliances, but close and maybe only one step away.

Recently my city decided to install wireless into the water meters so that they can take the water reading from the street. My thought was, "fine, whatever", and when they came by my house, I let them install it. After they left, I started thinking about it. What is to stop a hacker from reading everyone's water usage just by quickly driving around? Seems harmless, except now they can know when water is being used. Seems to me a family on vacation will show zero water usage, and a family at home is doing laundry and taking showers which will be obvious from the reading. Wouldn't burglars love to have this information?

For appliances, information from thermostats and refrigerators can tell burglars when you are likely away on travel. The questionable benefits do not seem worth the clear downside to me.

 

[TrickyDickie]

We have a new LG air conditioner with WiFi capability. Not going to use that feature, though.

I find gimmicks and gadgets to be boring, obnoxious, and generally expensive to repair.

My next vehicle will have manual crank windows, even if it has to be something from the 80s.

 

[Santaman]

This is not directly related to internet appliances, but close and maybe only one step away.

Recently my city decided to install wireless into the water meters so that they can take the water reading from the street. My thought was, "fine, whatever", and when they came by my house, I let them install it. After they left, I started thinking about it. What is to stop a hacker from reading everyone's water usage just by quickly driving around? Seems harmless, except now they can know when water is being used. Seems to me a family on vacation will show zero water usage, and a family at home is doing laundry and taking showers which will be obvious from the reading. Wouldn't burglars love to have this information?

For appliances, information from thermostats and refrigerators can tell burglars when you are likely away on travel. The questionable benefits do not seem worth the clear downside to me.

^^ Depends on how the meter is setup, in my house there's a smart meter for gas and electricity, of course I objected, but the guy who installed it told me that it is not connected 24/7 and it is not accessed by the powercompany directly, at set intervals it sends the relevant data and there ends the function of the device, so this is not so much a problem.

 

[Steven P Bastien]

Honestly, I don't know the details and how vulnerable it is, but it worries me. The installer says that the meter-reader can access the reading from a car as he/she drives by. It may not be quite that simple, not sure. They might need to stop a moment and ping the unit, or maybe wait for the periodic transmission. The question I have is how good is the security? Can anyone buy or make a device to get the readings? Or, can codes be stolen?

 

[Santaman]

Strange, the thing we have is not using WiFi but 2G IIRC

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Our electricity meter has a large antenna on it, and I think uses a cellular network like 3G or something. I don't think wifi would be used as wouldn't you see it as a new network when you look for connections?

We were given the chance to opt out of these but the process to do so was so convoluted and hidden that it was too late to do this and they had already come to install the meter.

 

[Steven P Bastien]

When I say wireless, I dont mean wifi like a computer wifi. They make a direct wireless link from the street. This won't show up as a network, but does not appear to be 3g. Previously they would walk up to the house and plug in a unit, but now they can just access it from the street.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

In the UK, smart meters use 2G for WAN and Zigbee or similar for the HAN connection to the display panel. Some industry insiders have claimed that the units emit bursts every 30 seconds or so that can degrade nearby wifi connectivity when the meters are setting up mesh links to nearby meters. There are also claims that solar panels, dimmer switches and LED lighting confuse the meters (presumably due to induced phase angle variation between voltage and current) nd that this can lead to incorrect billing. I won't go into the claims that microwave radiation from the units also causes biological damage.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

In the UK, smart meters use 2G for WAN and Zigbee or similar for the HAN connection to the display panel. Some industry insiders have claimed that the units emit bursts every 30 seconds or so that can degrade nearby wifi connectivity when the meters are setting up mesh links to nearby meters. There are also claims that solar panels, dimmer switches and LED lighting confuse the meters (presumably due to induced phase angle variation between voltage and current) nd that this can lead to incorrect billing. I won't go into the claims that microwave radiation from the units also causes biological damage.

Don't some people also claim wind turbines cause health problems as well?

 

[Butters]

There was an internet fridge being trollied out, what, twenty years ago.

I’m with the Baku on this.

 

[Butters]

Don't some people also claim wind turbines cause health problems as well?

There are some valid concerns. Flicker is one thing, and they can be noisy. I’ve got 4 massive ones in view from my living room. Not a nuisance, but in strong winds the breaks make a racket.

 

[Qonundrum]

So this

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/201...exa-in-a-fridge-and-wi-fi-in-everything-else/

Seriously you can't just open the bloody door to see what is inside the fridge?

Oh and don't expect this thing to have good security to stop it being hacked, because if you are silly enough to buy this you probably wouldn't be worrying about your fridge being hacked. Oh yeah I said that I certainly did.

This "IOT" thing is just going too far IMHO.

In that case why couldn't you just buy a fridge with glass doors?

Glass isn't that good of an insulator to begin with. It's why you often find radiators under windows in older buildings. To counter that delightfully cool crisp feel during a winter in Nova Scotia.

I fail to see any logic in slapping a LCD panel and camera inside a refrigerator or freezer. The total cost of those components (from/how it's manufactured to the added cost the customer pays), added risk of seal failure along with more components to fail, heat generated by these components (nominal, but present), for the lifespan involved, will not outweigh the cost of the electricity, whether it's produced by water falling against turbines or light hitting a panel made in a plant that uses coal to power the place with, or simply coal outright. Nuclear as well so be sure to build your nuke plant atop a fault line for an added bonus if there's water by to save on cooling costs! (or maybe not... duh...?) And compressor lifespan by it starting up during number of times the goodies inside yon fridge are warmed up by the open door. Especially if it's running while one opens said door and many new refrigerators run at constant but slower speeds since the constant on/off cycle of a faster motor has it burning out faster. Or so the theory goes. Make the motor really cheap and all you get is a needlessly bigger landfill as well as other things.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

We have a new LG air conditioner with WiFi capability. Not going to use that feature, though.

Why does it even HAVE that feature? I have absolutely no idea why an air conditioner would need WiFi. How does that help it make the house cold?

 

[Steven P Bastien]

You can hook it to the internet. Hey air conditioners get bored too.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Why does it even HAVE that feature? I have absolutely no idea why an air conditioner would need WiFi. How does that help it make the house cold?

Wifi lightbulbs exist for crying out loud.

That's so they can connect to other things and when you ask Amazon Echo to dim the lights and all.

A shade over $3000 for this fridge over here in Australia.

 

[Owain Taggart]

You can hook it to the internet. Hey air conditioners get bored too.

All so they can chill out online

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Why does it even HAVE that feature? I have absolutely no idea why an air conditioner would need WiFi. How does that help it make the house cold?

So you can adjust it at your convenience while you are out and about? Save money if you know you're going to be late home or turn it on early if you'll be back early, for example. There's no point wasting energy in keeping an empty house cooler than is necessary.

 

[2takesfrakes]

It's like those old sci-fi movies that put blinking lights into every mundane device, just to show that it's The Future. The Internet has become those blinking lights, because The Future ... is now!