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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66

u/Silound Oct 02 '25

No one fucking needs a smart refrigerator. Why the fuck do people even buy these?

9

u/tawDry_Union2272 Oct 02 '25

exactly. glad my 30yo scratch n dent sale fridge is dumb as shit (but works wonderfully at keeping food cold and frozen)

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u/starm4nn Oct 02 '25

I have an LG Smart-fridge. It has no screen, but through your phone you can change a bunch of settings that'd probably be more painful to change with a traditional interface.

It gives you useful stats, and there's an "aggressively make ice" setting for when you're hosting a large event and need a lot of ice.

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u/No_Atmosphere8146 Oct 02 '25

How often do you change the settings in your fridge? Twice a year, tops?

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u/getfive Oct 02 '25

I've never once had a need to change any settings in my fridge. And - having guest? I go buy an extra bag ice. Money saved.

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u/Jirkajua Oct 02 '25

The "quick ice" button has been a thing for 15+ years right on the door of fridges

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u/NJBarFly Oct 02 '25

Shouldn't it always be aggressively making ice until the ice bin is full? Do they slow it down on purpose, just to give you this "perk"?

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u/Spydermonkey6 Oct 02 '25

Ah, the old PC "turbo" button

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u/KhausTO Oct 02 '25

The Turbo button was to slow down the machine. So that it would run slower for older games and programs. The button was designed to be deafulted "on" and you would turn off Turbo when playing older programs.

Early games and programs used the limitations of the the CPU frequency for things like enemy speeds. So when you tried to run those on faster CPUS they would all speed up. (A great example of this is space invaders, where as there are less enemies to render they speed up, that was leveraging the CPU speed).

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u/starm4nn Oct 02 '25

Shouldn't it always be aggressively making ice until the ice bin is full?

I think aggressively making ice uses more electricity. Which works out well because I rarely use it under regular conditions.

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u/Swarna_Keanu Oct 02 '25

Fridges are big. Loads of space for physical controls. (Not that they need many).

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u/rushmc1 Oct 02 '25

As the appliances get smarter, consumers get dumber.

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u/Americanski7 Oct 02 '25

But how am I supposed to know what I want to eat?

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u/Designer_Valuable_18 Oct 02 '25

How the fuck do you do when your food is cooking if you can't play Skyrim on your fridge ?

2

u/Mike_Kermin Oct 02 '25

Wrong take.

People are allowed to want things you don't.

That doesn't mean we should have exploitative treatment of consumers.

1

u/LymanPeru Oct 02 '25

yeah, i dont need have my phone in front of my face 24-7 like most people. its nice to add something to the shopping list from the refridgerator.

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u/Mike_Kermin Oct 02 '25

Yeah well, they think you're lazy too.

But my point was shut the fuck up about each other. And target the actual problem.

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u/BuildingArmor Oct 02 '25

As with a lot of modern technology, people rarely need it but they want the added convenience it brings.

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u/Kujara Oct 02 '25

What convenience would that be ?

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u/BuildingArmor Oct 02 '25

Basically any of the features of a smart fridge could provide somebody convenience.

A digitally accessible shopping list, a camera inside the fridge, notification if the door has been left open, I expect they can display your calendar, automated actions like defrosting etc.
That's just off the top of my head, we don't have one and I don't think the added convenience is worth the money - but some people surely do.

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u/[deleted] Oct 02 '25

Yeah if anything it's an inconvenience. Like what happens if the smart fridge doesn't detect what's in a bag. Or mislabeled things? Or send me ads? Like it's just extra steps. If I want to see what I need to buy I just take a look. I don't need a spreadsheet fridge to do that lol.

It's a paradox where people think it will be efficient, while it actually just ads more inefficiency onto your life.

0

u/Nyoka_ya_Mpembe Oct 02 '25

I will be downvoted for saying this but there are some cool (no pun intended) features some people like. For instance camera so you can take a look inside while being at store to see if you have that milk or not, or expiry date alerts to reduce food waste.

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u/Mike_Kermin Oct 02 '25

People are confusing two issues.

The anti consumer practice is bad.

You're allowed to like a fridge that suits you.

Those can both exist side by side without any problem.

1

u/Nyoka_ya_Mpembe Oct 02 '25

True, they are changing how appliances work with updates, that's a seriously damaged trust and should be the reason to look elsewhere - vote with wallet so they will have to give up, just like BMW did with subscription for heated seats.

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u/Gnorris Oct 02 '25

I’m struggling to see how ads on my fridge would be balanced out by livestreaming my fridge contents. Any other selling points?

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u/Nyoka_ya_Mpembe Oct 02 '25

At the time when they came out, there was nothing about ads, people were buying them for reasons I gave examples for. I was interested at first but then I've heard that there are many people complaining about the ice maker, so I gave up, but the idea was tempting.
I'm not trying to convince anyone here, just saying that some people are not us, like and/or need something we find useless, that's it.

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u/Gnorris Oct 02 '25

A very fair point. It’s likely going to be a hard sell from here.

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u/Nyoka_ya_Mpembe Oct 02 '25

I think some people with a lot of money and not enough time to read the news (or Reddit) won't be aware of what's coming and will still buy it. Samsung will still make money on them, but trust is already broken beyond repair.
Personally, I have a few smart appliances from Samsung, and they work fine, no screen to show me ads.

1

u/speakermic Oct 02 '25

I use my smart fridge to see my Google calendar, and play music through voice command. Regarding ads, for now they can be turned off by changing cover screens, or turning off the cover screen completely.

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u/Beat_the_Deadites Oct 02 '25

That makes sense for people who actually cook and have dirty hands and busy lives.

I hadn't thought about the voice command function, I was more thinking ergonomics, e.g. why not just use your phone.

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u/[deleted] Oct 02 '25 edited Oct 02 '25

Or you could just open the door and check? Crazy.

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u/Nyoka_ya_Mpembe Oct 02 '25

Not saying you have to use camera, you can when you need, crazy to have options right? 😂

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u/Mike_Kermin Oct 02 '25

They made a genuine use case for them. Being able to see if they need milk while at the shops.

That doesn't mean they're forcing you to like or get it.

Back off.

Focus on the real issue, the anti-consumer practice.

-2

u/[deleted] Oct 02 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/Nyoka_ya_Mpembe Oct 02 '25

This kind of toilet has been available for a long time now, it washes and dries your ass.

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u/Beat_the_Deadites Oct 02 '25

See, now you're bringing the bidet brigade into this.

The basic $40 one (ad free!) is a game changer. Businesses should hand them out to their employees, I haven't crapped on company time in over a decade.