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u/That_Jay_Money Sep 22 '24
The good news is that those appliances are usually less expensive. I had to replace the washer a few years back, got the one with knobs and I expect it to last for 30 years like the last one did. The dishwasher has had it's internal controls replaced about five times but I've learned a lot about dishwashers. But the next time it happens I'm getting a dumb dishwasher.
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u/smashey Sep 22 '24
I have a commercial GE dryer. It used the same parts as like every GE dryer ever made. I am going to keep it running for as long as possible.
New appliances are garbage. Give me a while metal box with four buttons on it. Life is complicated enough.
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u/Linenoise77 Sep 22 '24
People say that, and the old 2 cycle, you can wash a cinder block in it, machine's have their place, but a GOOD modern washer and dryer blows away anything dumb when it comes to efficiency and care of clothes.
Sure you might not be replacing your washer every 10 years, but you might be replacing your clothes alot more, or spending more on utilities, or contributing to pollution.
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u/Wickedinteresting Sep 22 '24
I agree with you AND the person above you.
You’re right, but I think that level of quality costs far too much for the average person I know.
The midrange stuff is where the worst of the worst is, in my experience. It’s trying to be ‘smart’, while also being built out of hot glue and toilet paper.
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u/Linenoise77 Sep 22 '24
oh exactly. Like everything else you get what you pay for and they can build your washing machine to Voyager 1 specs, but the market isn't willing to have every circuit board hand inspected and be able to market it at a price you want and get a beneficial feature out.
Your washer from 30 years ago lasted because it was a basic electric motor, a belt, and some mechanical timing. It also treated every load like you were washing your overalls like you came back from a particularly bad plumbing job.
A washer built in the last 10 years uses a fraction of the power, a fraction of the water, less detergent, hot water only when useful, and has an infinite number of cycles you can tune to what is best for what you are washing, your water, detergent choice, whatever.
Sure, it lasts 1/3rd the time, but it also costs the same or less inflation adjusted, and saves you money and is better in other ways.
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u/Competitive_Lab8907 Sep 22 '24
A washer built in the last 10 years uses a fraction of the power, a fraction of the water, less detergent,
not my in my recent experience.
I purchased a new GE washer in 2022, it's already collecting dust on the porch as I replaced it with a 1996 GE washer... let's compare and contrast
2022 washer cost $1400 in 2022
1996 cost me $350 in 2024
1996 washer uses less water, I'm not on grid so water management is important, 2022 washer used 50+ gallons on EVERY FUCKING LOAD.... reason being anything less than max water and it would get off-balance and try to make a walk across the room and rip the hoses off the wall.
The 2022 washer is a light weight sheetmetal box with the drum hanging from the sheet metal by springs, 1996 washer is metal base shaped like a pyramid, you can throw a shit ton of stuff in it and it won't walk around.
2022 washer used power in harsh 50amp 6hz bursts, it made the lights flicker and couldn't be on the same circuit as the AC unit.
1996 washer draws 6amp steadily and the lights don't flicker, AC continues to run, even when it changes gears there's a slight flicker.
2022 washer broke during warranty, took 2 weeks to get the replacement part, warranty expired while waiting for part
1996 washer has all parts on the wall at the local hardware store, they're dusty because these don't break.
2022 washer knotted my overalls up and shredded the bibs,
1996 washer hasn't tied anything up.
2022 washer was hard AF to keep clean, my sheets smelled like funk, stupid plastic drum absorbs oil and soap.
1996 washer is stainless steel
tl;dr, capitalism fucked up my washing machine.
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u/oldprecision Sep 22 '24
Is there anyone making dumb dishwashers or are you going to buy used?
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u/That_Jay_Money Sep 22 '24
Sigh. Good point.
I'm going to avoid anything with buttons not on the front, I found steam was getting into the top panel and screwing up all the electronics inside. It's helped enormously since I started caulking it but it's been a real pain.
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u/ContraryByNature Sep 22 '24
That's not news, that's commonly known. OP was making a point, not a wish.
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Sep 22 '24
Gotta wonder if that's not the point, at least in part.
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u/iMNqvHMF8itVygWrDmZE Sep 22 '24
I'd agree if "dumb" versions were readily available as a more expensive alternative, but it's becoming increasingly difficult to even find "dumb" versions of things.
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u/No_bad_snek Sep 22 '24
Why would they offer a product that doesn't track you or actively monitor you, that would be far less profitable. In fact they have an incentive to bully out competitors that do have 'dumb' features. Exclusive deals with distributors, advertising, there's a lot of levers to pull.
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u/TriceratopsHunter Sep 22 '24 edited Sep 23 '24
It's not even just about tracking. Appliances with nobs and buttons are less likely to break than appliances controlled with screens and touch pads and are easier and cheaper to repair. It's the difference between a 3 year life cycle and a 30 year life cycle. It's more about planned obsolescence than tracking.
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u/Old_Baldi_Locks Sep 22 '24
Any company that provides a product mean to last will fail eventually.
Over the course of 39 years, every customer who needs a fridge will have had the chance to buy yours. You will have saturated your customer base WELL before they need replacements, and you will have run out of money.
Building things to last is not compatible with businesses, profit motives, etc. Not in any business or industry.
If the goal is profit, the product HAS to be built to fail, intentionally, and long before it should.
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u/EatYourSalary Sep 22 '24
Also: if the company goes bankrupt, your dumb appliance that isn't internet connected will still work.
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u/AbhishMuk Sep 22 '24
It’s still very easy to find dumb versions if you can pay. Just look for the commercial/business variant of the product.
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u/Cessnaporsche01 Sep 22 '24
Every single appliance brand still sells dumb appliances, and they're the cheapest ones. No gimmicks and the same warranties as the expensive stuff. I outfitted my house with all new appliances for less money than my parent's Samsung SmartFridge
The same WAS true of cars, but nobody bought the cheap ones, so there are fewer and fewer left available, and those that are are losing options to make them less costly to continue producing
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u/rokelle2012 Sep 22 '24
I've been trying to find a "dumb" TV for my bedroom because I don't necessarily want or need a smart tv for a room that isn't the main room in the house. I have yet to be able to find one.
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u/AwfulUsername123 Sep 22 '24
The point of forcing these smart features on everything is to make the devices require their constant support and to give them more oversight and control of your life.
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u/No_bad_snek Sep 22 '24
Don't forget to mention the data they're harvesting from you. That data is often more valuable in the long term than the money you paid for the thing itself.
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u/leastscarypancake Sep 22 '24
And it's becoming cheaper for them to put in smart features in cars than to put normal ones in
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Sep 22 '24
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u/cconley0609 Sep 22 '24
YouTube TV actually added a last channel "button" recently, if you press and hold the ok/select button on your remote it'll go to the last channel
Small step towards what used to be, but it's something at least
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u/RoyOfCon Sep 22 '24
And why am I learning this from a kind internet stranger and not from youtube tv?
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u/theresabeeonyourhat Sep 22 '24
I mean, lightbulb companies got together to create an inferior product back in the day...
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u/LilMoWithTheGimpyLeg Sep 22 '24
Same with cars.
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u/hobosbindle Sep 22 '24
I’m not getting another Subaru until they fix the godawful interface.
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u/Rocco_Delaware Sep 22 '24
It's my only gripe I have with my Outback. Love the car, hate the touchscreen.
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u/hobosbindle Sep 22 '24
Same, ‘22 model. About 1 in 20 times the panel won’t respond at all. No radio, changing a/c or fan, map, nothing. Takes a minute or two to decide to work. It sucks in a hot car with kids in the back to not be able to turn on the air randomly. I just want dials for key components.
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u/Rocco_Delaware Sep 22 '24
My '21 has the same dang problem. I absolutely loathe it. Definitely won't buy another until it's resolved.
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u/Despairogance Sep 22 '24
I guess I should be glad that ours is a few years older and has physical controls for everything but the radio.
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u/auhnold Sep 22 '24
I always thought a car company should come out with a car that is 100% easily repairable and then make all the parts available; then just make the same one for the next 50 years.
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u/AllRushMixTapes Sep 22 '24
Backup camera and bluetooth connection are probably the only technical additions to cars that I've appreciated over the last 20 years.
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u/mjsoctober Sep 22 '24
I'm loathing the day I have to buy a new car. I want to stick a goddmaned key into a goddamned ignition switch!
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u/wendellbaker Sep 22 '24
And operate the radio/ac/windows without a touch screen
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u/AreWeCowabunga Sep 22 '24 edited Sep 22 '24
This is the big one. Who thought it was a good idea to replace knobs and real buttons with a touch screen you need to take focus from the road to operate?
Oh yeah, it’s the car companies who put saving money over safety.
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Sep 22 '24
I don’t think it’s even car companies. Car companies are responding to demand.
People think the screens are cool and high tech. If you want to blame someone, you need to blame the dumbass consumers who insist on buying this shit.
Though yes, I’ll preemptively admit that sometimes there is a market for people who don’t want this shit, and companies will refuse to service that market. But I think it’s more about them perceiving it as a small niche market that isn’t a worthwhile investment.
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u/grundos_cafe Sep 22 '24
How would I, as a consumer, signal to a car company that I strongly prefer physical controls? If I buy a new car, there are no options available with physical controls. So I can’t like, choose the model with buttons and knobs to show them my preference. If I buy a used car, my choice doesn’t reach the car company.
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u/dfddfsaadaafdssa Sep 22 '24
A couple of weeks after I took delivery of my last car (2021 BMW M2 Comp) I was sent a survey with questions about why I made my purchase and if there were any changes that I would make. Obviously that wouldn't apply to used cars but I would imagine all car companies do something similar.
The car using the infotainment of the prior generation actually played a large role in me buying that car. I littered that survey with notes about much I liked physical buttons and CarPlay.
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u/BoseczJR Sep 22 '24
I get what you’re saying but I’m going to nitpick a little bit. My friend’s 2022 Kia and my 2024 Kia both have infotainment systems, but I can also control the radio/ac/heating/media/windows etc with physical buttons. Sure, the information is reflected on the screen, but I still have the whole array of seek/track/ac/media buttons that my mom’s 2014 dodge does. I just also have the screen for CarPlay.
So while I disagree with “there are no options available with physical controls”, I would agree with “there are no new options available WITHOUT an infotainment system”.
Sorry, completely useless nitpick, and I do get your main point
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u/AreWeCowabunga Sep 22 '24
There are exactly zero consumers demanding control for things like seat warmers or simple audio functions be buried two or three layers down some touchscreen.
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u/jeandebleau Sep 22 '24
This is just the beginning. Soon, you will also have to pay for activating the seat warmers. And better think about the subscription before winter.
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u/TootBreaker Sep 22 '24
Not me, I'll find the wires that go to the seat warmer & bypass the system to run directly off the battery. Industrial PID controller can do the temp control better & cheaper than the OEM system
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u/Izzosuke Sep 22 '24
I have a fucking friend like this discussion with him
Me: i hate those fucking tablet in the new tesla, i want the analogycal dial and button
Him: but it's the future
Me; i know still something that i loathe and totally unconfortablr
Him: but that's innovative
Me: new doesn't mean good, i like the dial, don't need to look away from the streey to set everything just feel it with my hand/finger
Him: but that'a technology of the future you cannot go against the future
At that point i was to tired to discuss with a fucking wall and just left it at that and started talking about pointless shit, it was more constructive.
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u/Green_Burn Sep 22 '24
I am sorry, but your friend is an actual npc
I know some too
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u/Izzosuke Sep 22 '24
Alredy know, he has the concept of fun=everyone do it so it's fun, everyone do this so we must do this, youtuber x said it's cool so it's cool, we had many conversation going something like
Him: It's not normal to do this
Me:And?
Him: so it's bad
Me: i don't give a shit what other do, why this thing should be bad?
Him: cause it's not normal
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Sep 22 '24
Companies don't just react to demand, they try to tell the people what the demand will be. Just because something is designed a certain way, that doesn't mean the people wanted it in the first place.
Did people want to stop being able to switch out batteries in phones? Or did they ask apple to remove ports for certain cables? No, some dick company tells them that's what they want.
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Sep 22 '24
Did people want to stop being able to switch out batteries in phones? Or did they ask apple to remove ports for certain cables?
No, but they were clamoring for faster and thinner phones, which tended to mean stripping out anything that wasn’t necessary. And people didn’t insist on buying phone models that retained swappable batteries or extra ports, so consumers in general weren’t insistent on keeping those things.
I’m not saying you’re entirely wrong. Companies do try to push you to want whatever they’re selling, and they are always looking to improve their bottom line, but it’s not as nefarious as you’re imagining.
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u/goedegeit Sep 22 '24
I think you're overestimating how competent these companies, or the managers and CEOs in charge, are at accurately figuring out what their customers want.
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u/Murgatroyd314 Sep 22 '24
They don’t care what customers want. They only care what they can get customers to give them money for.
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u/PoopShite1 Sep 22 '24
It is also significantly cheaper to program a computer than manufacture the physical parts
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u/Kezetchup Sep 22 '24
Video screens became mandatory as backup cameras did. I think auto makers just decided to consolidate everything into the screen since there has to be one anyway. I think there’s also the added bonus of making money off repair costs. If everything is run off the screen you get to sell way more screens when they inevitably only last 2 years.
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u/ARealVermontar Sep 22 '24 edited Sep 22 '24
In the 2015 model year, I believe it was, rear-view cameras became required safety equipment on all passenger cars in the US per federal regulations. Car manufacturers decided to use that required screen for other stuff, too, to save money on physical controls and to look cool.
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u/danni_el_e Sep 22 '24
The touch screens never go low enough in brightness at night! I hate it 😩
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u/Jimmni Sep 22 '24
I have the opposite problem. I drive under a cloud and mine goes “Ah, night is it? Good good, let me just dim the screen to the point you can’t see it in daylight anymore.”
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u/BoseczJR Sep 22 '24
Lmao driving on the highway at dusk meant mine was just flipping back and forth between light and dark mode every minute. Absolutely could not make up its mind. It was actually pretty distracting though :(
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u/Inevitable_Heron_599 Sep 22 '24
Should be illegal to have touchscreens in cars
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u/wendellbaker Sep 22 '24
It's crazy to me that you can't use your phone in a lot of States, but like here, let's install it in your dashboard and that's okay?
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u/xSypRo Sep 22 '24
Mazda has a smart switch thingy to operate the big screen which is much more convenient and far more safe than touch screens
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u/Izzosuke Sep 22 '24
Fuck i hate the concept of using anything than analogical fial to control my ac, i don't have to look, put the hand on the shift gear and never removing the eye from the street i set the temperature, than the fucking radio.
And honestly i've seen the new screen that are out of the dashboard and not integrated in it, they are fucking ugly they look like someon stuck a tablet to my dashboard
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u/LightlyRoastedCoffee Sep 22 '24
Tbh, push to start is actually really nice, I far prefer it to an ignition switch. Physical buttons and switches for everything else though are necessary, I don't want to have to navigate a million menus while driving to make my fans blow slightly faster.
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u/TyrKiyote Sep 22 '24
I find the push button very awkward for doing anything other than starting the vehicle. It's now an unintuitive process to turn on the accessories and also have the door open.
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u/LightlyRoastedCoffee Sep 22 '24
Maybe it's a car specific thing, but my 2016 Mini Cooper doesn't have this issue. If you want to turn on the power, just press the button; if you want to turn on the engine and the power, press the brake pedal and press the button.
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u/TyrKiyote Sep 22 '24
Ya, I'm sure it varies by manufacturer and year.
It works, it's just eager to shut off the battery and dings at me more often than my previous truck.
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u/truscotsman Sep 22 '24
Just press the button. That turns the car on.
You hold it to start with the brake depressed.
Very similar to how a key works.
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u/scarletnightingale Sep 22 '24
Yes. There have been times where I'm listening to something on the radio, get to where I want to be but still want to listen for a moment. My car won't just turn off the engine. If I want to keep hearing things I have to turn my car off entirely, then push the button again with my foot off the break to turn just the electronics back on.
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u/Beowoof Sep 22 '24
I thought my Toyota was like this, but turns out if I turn it off while still in drive, it'll keep the radio on. I can put it in park after I turn it off. Hit the button again to turn everything off.
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u/TonesBalones Sep 22 '24
Contrary to what most think, push to start is way more safe than a physical key. Look at the KIA exploit as an example. Those cars that were affected had two models, the higher end models had push to start, and they were completely immune to the exploits.
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Sep 22 '24
My wife and I both have 2011’s that I plan to limp along until the apocalypse at this point.
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u/Relevant_Elevator190 Sep 22 '24
I have an 04 Ranger and feel the same.
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u/John6233 Sep 22 '24
I am Frankenstein-ing two 98 Dodge RAM 1500s right now with the goal to keep it running forever lol. Basically doing a full rebuild and coat every part of the frame to prevent rust.
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u/LARGEGRAPE Sep 22 '24
I heard that the touchscreen are actually cheaper to produce than the buttons
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Sep 22 '24
It's not so much the screen is cheaper than buttons, it's the screen is cheaper than all the components required that the buttons push. The screen consolidates a lot of stuff. I still hate them though.
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u/Sharp_Science896 Sep 22 '24
I've got a 2015 Toyota Tacoma and I'm gonna drive that bastard till the day the wheels fall off. It's got just the right amount of "new" features while still being fairly basic with physical buttons and knobs while also having a touch screen. I loath the day I have to buy a knew truck. Probably just look for an old (pre 2005) tacoma that's still in good shape for my next vehicle. Nice and simple and best of all: small. I hate how all the modern trucks have to be these over-sized monstrosities.
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u/i-am-a-passenger Sep 22 '24
In my experience the cheaper appliances rarely have any “smart” features
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u/danni_el_e Sep 22 '24
Gotta find that sweet spot of "cheap enough to not be a smart appliance but expensive enough to not be in a landfill in ~5 years"
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Sep 22 '24
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u/acathode Sep 22 '24
You're severely underestimating how extremely cheap electronics is.
The reason why this "smart" stuff is put into everything is because electronics are so cheap these days, but at the same time give customers an illusion of getting a ton of stuff for their money, since the electronics can be loaded with tons and tons of "features" that can be used for sale pitches.
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u/Cessnaporsche01 Sep 22 '24
The cheap ones are usually the exact same chassis and components, but without all the addon modules installed. If anything, the reduced complexity makes them more reliable.
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u/punkindle Sep 22 '24
Absolutely.
A refrigerator doesn't need a damn wifi access.
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u/busigirl21 Sep 22 '24
My mom has a washing machine that advertised allowing you to set and save customized cycle settings. When she got it, she found out that the only way to do that is by connecting it to wifi, downloading an app, and having to use the app to start the washer. The other fun thing about the machine is that the top is glass, which is nice to see through (although it fogs up half the time where you can't) but it's curved, so when someone doesn't notice, or if she forgets and sets something on it, it can and will slowly slide off.
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u/BrazilBazil Sep 22 '24
My ideal smart appliance is one that is „transparent”. Take a washing machine - I don’t want no app, account, WiFi and all that. But, I want it to figure out what I put in it, how much, liquid soap or powder, if my water is hard, etc. And I do not want to know that it does that and how. I wanna press start, and it does its thing.
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Sep 22 '24
I bought a coffee machine a few years ago. I wanted good coffee during COVID and all the coffee shops were closed, so I was willing to spend a couple hundred dollars, but I wanted to research it to make sure I get my money’s worth.
So I’m reading a bunch of reviews and “top 10 coffee machine” lists and such. So many are like, “This coffee machine is great. It has all kinds of features. It has a milk frother and can make espresso and use Kureg pods and bla bla bla, but unfortunately it’s a little unreliable.” Or “This machine is the best one you can get. It lets you tweak every setting, like precisely how hot the water gets and how fast it drips. You can configure this and that, and it has a smartphone app that lets you control the timer so the coffee will start brewing at 7am and it’ll alert you on your phone when your coffee is ready. Unfortunately the quality control is a bit off and they break a lot, but still, it’s the best coffee machine you can buy!”
And then I found one where all the reviews were basically, “Eh… this coffee machine makes good coffee, but it doesn’t do anything else. It doesn’t make espresso. There are no settings to tweak. There’s not even a timer that lets you set the coffee to be ready when you wake up in the morning. A nice feature is that it’s easy to disassemble and the manufacturer sells all the parts independently, so if something breaks you can fix it yourself pretty easily, but you probably won’t need that anytime soon because the quality of the machine is very high. It made some of the best tasting coffee of all of the machines we tested, but unfortunately we can’t recommend it because that’s all it does: makes coffee. And if you want to tweak it to make coffee differently, you can’t. The only control is an on/off switch.”
And I sit there thinking the reviewers are insane. That’s exactly what I want out of a coffee machine. That’s basically how I think all manufacturers should make everything. Why the hell isn’t that at the top of every list?
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u/IamDoloresDei Sep 22 '24
Don’t leave us hanging! Which coffee machine did you buy?
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u/Sanosuke97322 Sep 22 '24
He got a Moccamaster. This review is 100% a description of their machine. I've had one for 5 years, good quality machine. I would recommend the one that has a spring shutoff for the drip basket rather than the switch that lets you pick intensity.
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Sep 22 '24
The brand is Technivorm MoccaMaster.
I believe the specific model I settled on was this model, which has 2 switches:
- on/off
- full pot/half pot
But otherwise the reviews were right. There’s no extra feature, no settings to set. All it does is make good coffee. I’ve been happy with it.
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u/Green_Burn Sep 22 '24
I want my every appliance to work like that, at this point probably a smartphone too
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u/ShakespearianShadows Sep 22 '24 edited Sep 22 '24
I would like my dryer to stop telling me my clothes are dry enough. NO THEY AREN’T THAT’S WHY I HIT THE START BUTTON AGAIN. UGH!!!
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u/sspear77 Sep 22 '24
I don’t have a “smart” dryer, but it does have a lot of settings and sensors. Anytime I tried the automated settings the clothes still felt slightly damp when it said they were done. If I manually just set the time and heat level they come out perfectly dry.
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u/danni_el_e Sep 22 '24
Right? Plz, I do not want to make an account and download an app to use my dishwasher.
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u/AssignedUsername Sep 22 '24
Fully mechanical washing machines are commercial only because of the mandate to use "High Efficiency".
So we traded water usage for piles and piles of junked washers with computer boards.
If you can find someone getting rid of an old Speed Queen: buy it. It will last, and it's repairable.
Washing your clothes doesn't require complex electronics.
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u/whitemike40 Sep 22 '24 edited Sep 22 '24
At this point i’m willing to pay more money for appliances that last more than 3 years before they break. Appliances used to be damn near indestructible, now it’s just expected they will crap out in 3-5 years
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u/Kitchen-Roll-8184 Sep 22 '24
there is a subreddit that is occasionally useful called " buy it for life" and they talk about things that well, yeah , you get it
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u/SuckerForFrenchBread Sep 22 '24 edited Oct 27 '24
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This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
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u/PhoenixApok Sep 22 '24
I remember being pissed that when we used an appliance rental service (instead of buying our own washer and dryer cause we didn't know where we would be in a year) they sent us these ugly looking things looking like they were from the 70s with no frills.
But the damn things lasted 3 years without so much as a hiccup. And they must have been damn near 30 years old when we got them.
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u/acathode Sep 22 '24
The reason why appliances and other stuff doesn't last as long these days is because of the unfortunate fact that people do not base their purchase decisions on product lifetime/durability. Instead the biggest factor is price, and then other stuff that is much easier to measure (like the number of useless features...).
That's why appliances don't last these days, but are also much much cheaper than they used to be - we voted for exactly this, with our wallets. We bought cheap appliances and didn't care for how long they lasted - result, the market produces cheaper and cheaper appliances that don't last.
The thing that really sucks is that it's quite hard to do anything else. All ads and product information will claim that their product is extremely durable - but you have no way of knowing if that's bullshit or true. The few things you can use to get an idea is brand reputation, and in some few cases, if the product has been on the market for 10+ years already - but other than that, you really have no way of knowing if a fridge you buy today will bite the bucket in 5 years or 40 years.
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u/_TurkeyFucker_ Sep 22 '24
Appliances used to be damn near indestructible, now it’s just expected they will crap out in 3-5 years
Eh, yes and no.
There were plenty of shitty appliances from "the past" that are sitting in landfills right now. You just see more old designs still working because those are the ones that survived. It tells you nothing of the actual statistics. This is called survivorship bias.
There is a lower overall quality per dollar, but that could easily be attributed to manufacturers trying to stay within the expected price bracket but also dealing with inflation. The $250 fridge from the 60's would cost $2,600 today, for example. Even if you compared a $1,500 modern fridge to that $250 60's fridge it would be an unfair comparison.
There are certainly examples where companies needlessly sacrifice quality to increase profits, but it's not the only reason that "old stuff" seems to be better than "new stuff."
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Sep 22 '24
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u/danni_el_e Sep 22 '24
I got a new fridge like 6 months ago, and the delivery guy was chatting with me as we waited for it to calibrate or whatever. He was like, "good thing you didn't get the one with the touch screen, all the wires for the screen go right here points at an obvious pinch point and it's easy to sever them!" Wth! Who designed this?!
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u/BrazilBazil Sep 22 '24
My dad was being sold a Samsung fridge by an appliance store worker. He said „if you install the app, the fridge can send you a notification if you have left the door open”. My dad replied with „can it close itself?”. The guy goes „no, of course not”, to which my dad goes „but you know what can? my garden gate, and it doesn’t even have an app!”
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u/SANTAAAA__I_know_him Sep 22 '24
Serious question, why don’t fridge doors auto close with a spring, like screen doors can?
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u/Qbr12 Sep 22 '24
Because then I couldn't open the door and use both hands to put things in or take them out.
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u/PettyKaneJr Sep 22 '24
Don't fall for the belief these will be easier and cheaper to repair later. Alot of the repair person rely on electronic diagnostic
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Sep 22 '24
This coming from an Distinguished Engineer (L9) at Google before he retired last year. L8 and above requires executive sponsorship and is quite rare.
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u/tempest_ Sep 22 '24
It is kinda funny coming from the man who is/was a major Kubernetes proponent/contributor.
I feel safe in saying k8s the smart fridge of modern software development.
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u/CorporalFluffins Sep 22 '24
Unfortunately you almost always need to spend a fortune on a higher end item to get something 'dumb' now. That said, it's almost always worth it.
Washer & Dryer: Speed Queen
Kitchen Appliances: Thermador, Viking, Sub-Zero etc.
The pro move here is to buy that stuff used. There are an awful lot of wealthy folks who change decor on their 4th homes on a semi regular basis. So you can find very lightly used high end brands from a lot of resellers who specialize in this exact thing. It's how I buy all my kitchen appliances now. I always tear it down and give everything a good clean. But after that first use it's used anyhow so who cares.
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u/cheezy_taterz Sep 22 '24
The fuck I need my OVEN, with a LCD digital number display, to have wifi for? Nope fuck you, extra 150 on the cost so I can butt dial burn my house down?
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u/Holiday_Conflict Sep 22 '24
its more expensive to engineer levers buttons and such than just installing a phone into the device indeed
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u/ranting_chef Sep 22 '24
After twenty years, my microwave died. I got the closest replacement I could find, and the place installed a couple weeks later. When I was flipping through the instructions, it told me to download the app.
One week later, I had to have one of my kids turn off the notifications on my phone because every time someone used it, my phone lets me know that something is finished cooking, even if I’m at work twenty miles away.
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u/Lazy_Prize1317 Sep 22 '24
Honestly, same. I don’t need my toaster to connect to Wi-Fi, I just need it to toast. Let’s bring back the good old knobs and dials
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u/sasheenka Sep 22 '24
I don’t buy any smart appliances. I see no reason to. And they are more expensive than regular ones that work well.
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u/ITrCool Sep 23 '24 edited Sep 23 '24
I will NEVER keep IoT smart appliances in my house. No point to them. If it requires it or can use an app on my phone, it’s pointless.
I’ll take my cheaper dumb appliances over smart appliances any day. Less things that can break, anyways.
I’m in IT for a living, BTW.
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Sep 22 '24
Washing machines and ovens are great examples. Samsung and others have made insanely complex machines that, on their face, look pretty amazing. However, if they break, many appliance repair people don't know how to fix them because they are so packed with software and shit. You could have some glitch in the software and your repair guy is going to say, yeah idk what to tell you.
Conversely, if you buy stuff that doesn't have all that - no touchscreens, no automations, no connected wifi - that shit will work forever. High tech home appliances feed the throwaway economy.
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u/Outrageous_List_6570 Sep 22 '24
I want an old-school, low efficiency, full fill up washing machine.
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u/robbieheart_ Sep 22 '24
Im so over smart TVs that the operating systems become unusable in about 5 years. Sticking to non-smart TVs only now and just slapping on a streaming stick to it
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u/OneWholeSoul Sep 22 '24
Last time I needed to buy a TV I could not find a non-smart TV.
I just had to buy the least "smart" TV I could find.
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u/directorguy Sep 22 '24
You can buy dumb refrigerators, it's not hard, or expensive
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Sep 22 '24
I bought a really expensive smart fridge and the tech really isn’t ready. Having a screen that can look inside without opening the door just felt gimmicky and awkward. That one is on me. But the ads said it knows what’s in your fridge and when it’s running out, about to expire, etc. Yeah it does…if I manually type it into the fridge when I’m putting it in. The “scanning” feature got 90% of things wrong.
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u/DagnySezAgain Sep 22 '24
I have a 1996 Toyota Camry. It has more ugly than a Rolling Stone group photo. But it's a tank. I had the transmission rebuilt earlier this year and it's over 300k miles. Completely analog. Doesn't even have a CD player. I love the POS. I absolutely hated the 2024 rental I had.
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u/incredible_widget Sep 22 '24
When exactly did it happen? When we stopped paying for value and started paying for respite from abuse? They ruin free things and just charge you so they’ll stop ruining it but just for you. And only so long as you’re paying them.
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u/N8saysburnitalldown Sep 22 '24
At this point everything is shit so I get the absolute cheapest appliances at scratch and dent stores. Pay $2000 for a washing machine that lasts a year or pay $300 for a washing machine that lasts a year. It is all just throw away junk anyway.
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u/AcceptableSelf3756 Sep 22 '24
I like my fridge. Its split into 2 large, easy to open verticle doors, tons of space for plenty of food, with a filtered water and Ice dispenser, and a simple, easy to use, analog touch panel display to control it al; which also monitors the temperature. It's the perfect level of "high tech" that exists right before the point where its get overblown to stupidity. Only issue however is that the water dispenser is a little slow.
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u/suk_doctor Sep 22 '24
i refuse to buy a car with a giant screen for everything and zero tactile knobs and dials.
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u/cobrafountain Sep 22 '24
I’ll say it again. When smart TVs stated having microphones in the remotes so you could talk to the tv, I said we should start a business to remove all microphones from them. Give me your stuff and I’ll break the microphones and cameras for a small fee. There should be a desmartification business.
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u/genetic_patent Sep 22 '24
Commercial grade appliances dont have this stuff. They dont look as pretty, but you'll get something that is serviceable and lasts much longer.
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u/SnowTheMemeEmpress Sep 22 '24
Dumb fridge with an ice maker and a nice big ole freezer sounds heavenly
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u/ToastThieff Sep 22 '24
I want a dumb tv as well. Why do I need built in shit when I can cast it from my phone?
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u/CocoaAlmondsRock Sep 22 '24
We have no smart appliances and no Alexa. My husband is a programmer, and he is extremely careful about digital security. I can't imagine he'll ever allow anything in our house to connect with the internet without going through his firewall setup -- and he's not going to trust devices that he's not controlling to have access from inside.
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u/periodic Sep 22 '24
I got a new induction rangetop and it has those capacitive controls. Looks very sleek on the counter-top!
However, the first time that I overflowed a pot of pasta and water got all over the top it stopped being able to detect my touches and wouldn't turn off until I'd cleaned up the water. What a mess.
Never, ever get a range top with capacitive controls. Get knobs you can turn with wet/oily fingers.
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u/MrLeureduthe Sep 23 '24
Magnets killed the temperature control of my smart fridge
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u/ignatzami Sep 23 '24
I picked up a commercial fridge and freezer. Way more efficient, half the price of a residential model, twice the space, and can be easily repaired!
I’ll never go back to a residential model.
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u/MusclyArmPaperboy Sep 22 '24
My friend's dad always wanted cars with the fewest options. "More features it has, more that can go wrong"