Re: Fridge on the Net
Some ideas may be good - i.e. a refrigerator that somehow warns me of a failure and inability to keep the proper temperature so my food may be at risk
While that may SOUND good, it's impractical and not needed.
I have the job of actually speaking to manufacturers as well as people that build things. Home appliance manufacturers tell me that while people are talking about connected appliances they see no compelling PRACTICAL sales advantage.
Consider the above quote - in truth, refrigerators have something like a 99.9% reliability rate. I'm told the reliability of the electronics to monitor and report the status of the refrigerator is much lower than the reliability of the refrigeration system!
For that reason, while the major appliance manufacturers may showcase test products, they have no real plans to produce connected appliances in quantity.
Innovation is actually being driven by insurance companies. They are getting into the act and hiring highly technical, and very expensive, security experts to evaluate the security technology of insurees. In more and more cases they are refusing to insure, which is telling manufacturers that they better get their act together or face financial consequences.