“Stupid” wifi on my appliances ping me notifications when they are done, particularly useful with the dryer as that is outside the main house.
Admittedly, this can be useful, but the last thing that I want is to wait to be told that the laundry is dry, but here to each his own, as they say
“Stupid” wifi allows me to easily delay the start of the washer or dishwasher to start at a specific time, which is especially useful to coincide with free electricity sessions we get from our provider when there is excessive renewable energy on the grid.
Which you could also do with a simple timer on the machine, and forces you to spend your time waiting to be told that the free electricity time has started: thank you, but no, thank you, at least not for me: me I want to decide when it is the right time to do the laundry.
But again, to each his own.
“Stupid” wifi updates the machines as and when to improve performance. It also allows you to select additional cycles and options should you want, which aren’t available on the control panel.
So how does it happen that none of the many bugs in the software of my expensive German washing machine has been fixed in two years despite the manufacturer having been informed?
And why those additional programmes and options are not accessible from the machine? Could it be that someone is trying to "encourage" you to download and install a data-sucking app on your phone?
But be aware that here we are talking of WiFi and apps as if they were the same, and they aren't
“Stupid” wifi tells me the exact consumption that my appliances have used.
And what do you do with those consumption data? And what is the difference between reading them from the app or directly from the machine?
And by the way, those data are nor "exact" at all: they are absolutely unreliable because the machine does not have any accurate way to make the measurements.
Personally, I do not need any WiFi or app to know that the hotter the cycle, the higher the consumption, and in any case the money difference between cycles is largely irrelevant to my utilities expenses.
It isn’t a necessity, and of course doesn’t load, unload or fold the laundry for you. But I find the benefits very useful, far from stupid.
"Necessity" is a very subjective matter, and surely I will not be the one questioning yours.
The point that I am trying to make is not the usefulness of certain features, but the fact that manufacturers make them dependent on WiFi and apps, and then they do anything they can to make them look necessary so that the user connects the machine to the WiFi e installs apps allowing the manufacturer to suck data and profile the user, which I personally do not want.
And in case you wonder, my washing machine is connected to the WiFi as a "guest", which limits its ability to mind my own business and does not allow it to connect to the app, and when I first saw the app I commented "My new washing machine comes with an app: now I can see my dirty pants on my mobile. I am so excited!"
Jon, (a stupid, conditioned millennial).
Nice to meet you, Jon.
I am Don, an even more stupid boomer that tries hard not to be conditioned and, above all, not to be profiled
P.S. Has anybody heard the saying "if it's free, the product is you"?