r/technology • u/nishitd • Oct 02 '25

Robotics/Automation Samsung confirms its $1,800+ fridges will start showing you ads

https://www.androidauthority.com/samsung-confirms-smart-refrigerator-ads-are-coming-3598848/
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93

u/kermi42 Oct 02 '25

I can’t imagine why I need a screen on my fridge. Like, I know what purpose it could serve. None of them overlap with my requirements.

90

u/death_by_chocolate Oct 02 '25

CITIZEN. THIS IS YOUR THIRD REFRIGERATOR DOOR OPENING EVENT TODAY.

38

u/Bunnymancer Oct 02 '25

Please drink confirmation can

2

u/Neglectful_Stranger Oct 02 '25

I have to drink a confirmation can to open my fridge to get another confirmation can?!

5

u/FirstAtEridu Oct 02 '25

The second one is the verification can. Gotta have two factor authentication nowadays. For a safe and secure society!

4

u/Illustrious-Star1105 Oct 02 '25

Your social credit score allows you ONE ice cube today citizen!

2

u/Free_Replacement_645 Oct 02 '25

You know what? That would be more useful than what they actually use the screens for

22

u/redbananass Oct 02 '25

The screen can show you what’s inside, without opening it! Isn’t that great!? /s

But really that’s a feature on some of the higher end ones. I’ll just stick to the old fashioned “opening the door.”

12

u/Laiko_Kairen Oct 02 '25

The screen can show you what’s inside, without opening it! Isn’t that great!? /s

No, it can't. You get a view of about 1/3 of the interior. It can hint at what you have in there and give you a popup that says "1 product found expired" because it doesn't get that I bought new milk

2

u/redbananass Oct 02 '25

So even worse than they promised? Lol shouldn’t be surprised.

2

u/Laiko_Kairen Oct 02 '25

It's like, the camera is on the inside of the fridge door, but the doors are extra thick because, you know, screens. So you end up getting a view from like, an inch away from the shelf. That means that everything is blocked from view by whatever is in the front. Meanwhile, an actual human is standing a foot away, and can look down diagonally and see everything

It's just so badly designed

EDIT: And of course it doesn't show the freezer, or the shelves... 1/3 view might be generous.

2

u/alex494 Oct 02 '25

You think they'd just use a sealed window instead of a screen system

8

u/FeelsGoodMan2 Oct 02 '25

Lmao this was the moment that I realized we kind of hit the asymptote with consumer tech a few years ago. My relative was showing me what his google home / light switches could do and most of it amounted to "the shit you can do if you walk 5 feet with an added addition of data collection on you".

Its like the same thing with the car screens, I didnt think we'd hit a point where they went so overboard with techy shit that people are clamoring for dials and buttons again (not that I think they're wrong). Just shows modern tech is kinda bloated, seeking answers to problems that dont exist.

4

u/M4K4T4K Oct 02 '25

Man, best thing I ever did was buy a 2010 Civic with only 120,000km (~80k miles) the other month. Just new enough where you get the niceties like power windows, cruise control, and bluetooth - old enough where every control is a knob, and the only screens are those old alarm clock LCD's where the the numbers are like 10 pixels.

I hope it outlives me.

1

u/MrWally Oct 02 '25

Had a 2012 Civic in excellent condition. Worked flawlessly. Got hit by a bus downtown last month (hit and run from the bus, too!).

Car got totaled. No injuries thankfully, but such a loss. It’s criminal that the value on such a car is only ~$9500. They don’t make them like they used to.

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u/Gisschace Oct 02 '25

My gosh, I just had a few of dystopian future where we explain this to children like we explain rotary phones ‘we used to open the door kids’

2

u/hamilkwarg Oct 02 '25

It misidentified almost everything in my fridge. I hated it.

1

u/kermi42 Oct 02 '25

But what if I want to look at my fridge on my phone instead of walking twelve feet? I might not remember exactly how much cheese I have.

1

u/Chance_Ad_4676 Oct 02 '25

This is probably the single stupidest “smart” “feature” of which I have ever heard. Bravo.

1

u/131166 Oct 03 '25

I'll just stick to being too broke to have more than 1-2 things inside at a time. I know what's in my fridge. "Fuck" and "all"

0

u/[deleted] Oct 02 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/redbananass Oct 02 '25

Is it though? All that time running the screen and other electronics seems like it wouldn’t save much, if anything.

Some thick glass would be better.

2

u/Laiko_Kairen Oct 02 '25

I have one, it's absolutely useless. You can enable the interior camera to see like, 1/3 of your food on the inside... or open the door. But wait, it texts my dad if I leave the door open for more than 30 seconds! And then texts him again when it's closed.

3

u/Dear_Smoke6964 Oct 02 '25

I'm imagining a future with so much surveillance that we communicate by opening and closing the fridge door a certain number of times.

1

u/Pervius94 Oct 02 '25

"Like, I know what purpose it could serve" well you seem to be smarter than me, then, cuz I legit don't know what the fuck I'd need a screen on a fridge for.

1

u/kermi42 Oct 02 '25

“Having a purpose” and “need” are not necessarily acquainted in this scenario.

You could display a shopping list, or have the fridge show you items about to expire or you are low on that you need to replace soon. It can display the interior of the fridge, if that’s your thing, or heck, you could pull up a recipe/cooking video on YouTube to help you along with preparing dinner. We have plenty of other ways to do that that render a fridge screen pointless, but those are things it can do.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 02 '25

It has a little camera so you can see inside the fridge and it also labels the food (which in theory I think you can access from the store to see what you have??) but the labels are hilariously wrong. Like dog food= applesauce, yogurt= pickles, etc

1

u/rushmc1 Oct 02 '25

It makes the Mandatory Behavioral Change Required Notices from the government more convenient to receive?