When refrigerators tweet and washing machines text

[The Straight Story]

When refrigerators tweet and washing machines text

Las Vegas (CNN) -- Phones are "smart." So are TVs.

Now, according to tech companies at the Consumer Electronics Show, it's time to equip pretty much everything else in the home with smart technology, too.

...

The list of internet-connected -- i.e. "smart" -- gadgets promoted at this massive technology trade show includes washing machines that send text messages and communicate with smartphones, refrigerators that play music from the internet, and kitchen ovens that download recipes and can essentially teach you to cook.

It seems no gadget is too small or insignificant for an internet hookup.

Even bathroom scales have Wi-Fi connections.

Cedric Hutchings, CEO of a French tech company called Withings, has been using his company's Wi-Fi-enabled scale to tweet his weight to friends.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/innovation/01/07/internet.connected.appliances/index.html

[Skidmore]

1. When Klaatu saves the earth, we will truly be doomed.

I literally loathe where technology is taking us.

[Strelnikov_]

2. How 'bout simple ones that can be repaired an last more than a few years n/t

[pinboy3niner]

3. You mean my scale could tweet my weight to the Kanamits?

:scared:



"Mr. Chambers, "don't get on that ship! The rest of the book To Serve Man, it's... it's a cookbook!"



"To Serve Man"
The Twilight Zone

[drm604]

4. And the next step

will be that they won't run without an internet connection and a monthly fee. You'll buy a refrigerator and then have to pay a monthly fee to keep it running. A fee for your frig, a fee for your microwave, a fee for your oven, etc. They'll say it's necessary for maintenance and updates.

An optional connection is fine for someone who wants it, but you know that's not where it's going.

[pinboy3niner]

5. "Pay-TV" was supposed to be optional, too

It's getting less and less "optional" all the time...

[Motown_Johnny]

18. Internet TV will replace cable

I have been living without a cable bill since April and it isn't an issue



Yes, I do pay for an internet connection so it isn't really free, but I was paying that bill in addition to my cable bill for years.

[flvegan]

22. Actually, I'm betting that the monthly fee will be picked up by corporations

mining data and sending "promotions" to your fridge, etc and trying to get you to buy whatever detergent or frozen veggies to put in them.

And God forbid some fella put a beer fridge in his man cave. It'll be Tweeting "Intervention!" before you know it.

[JVS]

6. I bet the insurance companies like to know your daily scale readings.

[FLPanhandle]

7. Cars are already there

There are already devices available that would allow my daughters car to text me if she exceeds the speed limit by more than a certain amount or notify me where the car is when I ask displayed onto a Google map.

Once after market options in specialized stores, they are now available by dealers, soon as options from the factory, then standard equipment on all cars.

[Jamastiene]

8. I'm afraid of my refrigerator getting the right to text or email me.

It'll probably tell me off.

[FLPanhandle]

9. LOL.

Defrost me dammit!

[Jamastiene]

12. I can just see my dryer too.

"Uhm, did you forget to clean my lint trap, Einstein?"

I know all my appliances would be smart asses. I just know it, lol.

[pinboy3niner]

10. I can see it now...

"No refrigerator for you!

--Love, The Refrigerator Nazi"



:rofl:

[Jamastiene]

13. Or the coffee maker saying,

"It looks like you would let me sleep in just once in a while, you lazy ass."

:rofl:

[cynatnite]

16. I'd have to camouflage the cake so it would look like a carrot. n/t

[KittyWampus]

11. this is actually not funny nor helpful. It's outright detrimental to health>

a constant bombardment of incoming messages does in fact raise stress levels. These signals alone wouldn't be so bad but add in phones, texts, emails etc and it becomes detrimental.

Not only does it raise stress levels, constant disruptions also prevent us from focusing on tasks at hand.

[drm604]

14. Exactly. n/t

[cynatnite]

15. I'm all for anything that distracts me from doing laundry or raiding the fridge. n/t

[Motown_Johnny]

17. a bathroom scale with a Wi-Fi connection makes sense

You can track your weight automatically (and presumably your body fat percentage) and have it on your computer at all times.

[Motown_Johnny]

19. I almost bought one of these today

and still may, a 42" for $499.99


http://www.vizio.com/via-hdtvs.html?cat=68

[Angry Dragon]

20. Let me know when dildoes become "smart"

[cynatnite]

21. LOL! n/t