this post was submitted on 07 Oct 2026
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Then don't buy "smart" appliances, none of them need to tell that they are done with washing or what the temperature is in the fridge all the goddamn time.
"Smart" appliances don't make your home "smart", it just means you're stupid and your brain has rotted away to the point of you not being able to manage your own goddamn household!
Certain things being remotely controllable is great. Garage door opener, thermostat, some lights, doorbell camera.
Fridge, toaster, coffee maker, washer/dryer? Completely pointless.
It is not pointless, the point is to spy on our dumbasses.
Washer/dryer getting their signal to start from an outside source according to electricity price (with a dynamic plan) or weather (with your own solar) actually makes sense. I really don't care when it does my laundry as long as it's done between me leaving the house in the morning and coming back in the evening.
The main point is that even smart appliances barely ever need their own connection to the internet. Getting (meaningful) communication from inside your home network (including from the one device that acts as your access point from the outside that has a connection) is absolutely enough.
While the consumer carries blame, more of it goes to these data mining companies
I don't want a smart TV, but there's only a couple non-smart brands left, and neither of them seem to have the best quality product on the market.
Fridge temperature sensors are super useful to notice if you accidentally left the door open.
Similarly, sensors in a coffee machine are useful to detect limescale buildup, water level, etc.
The issue isn't the data but the fact that these "smart" devices aren't local-first.