Technology

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I went myself about ten years back when I worked for a small electronics store. It was literally 70% slop and 20% cell phone cases. There was only one company there that we actually got excited about and looked at bringing in their products. Their products were much better than what we currently carried and our current supplier was a pain in the ass to deal with.

They were imeadiatly bought out and closed by the company we already dealt with before we could even place an order. We only ever received a demo unit.

This is the same Samsung that sold fridges with giant LCD screens on them, ostensibly to help the buyer, but then later turned that expensive screen into a billboard showing ads to the fridge buyer in their kitchen (source). Samsung has shown who they are. Anyone that buys an AI fridge from them will have no one to blame but themselves.

using AI and privacy in the same sentence should be a crime. almost everything AI does is datamining people.

“security and privacy are foundational” to the AI experiences in the fridge

My AI-less, internet-less fridge is quite private and secure. Furthermore, it keeps food perfectly cold!

It isn't sexy, but products that just work are 100x better than products with 40 features that can all brick it for no reason or annoy you to death.

But not for eating. Don't trust AI for food or other safety.

I'm astounded there hasn't been a legal case already where some AI customer service bot hallucinated and promised a customer a million dollars or something and they're trying to claim it. Set that precedent and companies would be dropping those AI clankers right quick.

So basically another Carrington Event. Which is actually not impossible, and nobody knows what would happen if a geomagnetic storm of that size would occur today.

It was a lollipop you bit down on and you could hear music played through your teeth.

When I was about 12 I started a short lived fad in my extended friend group of wearing headphones in your nostrils instead of your ears. If you turned them up high it sorta worked.

We're not too far off given how many apps on my phone by default send notifications like "do you want to do this thing now?"

And so many interfaces that have been enshittified with pop ups wanting me to check out their new AI features.

A toaster constantly asking if I want toast is probably less annoying than a lot of technology now.

I remember a story my Dad told me. His boss comes in and goes "we need a computer" (this was the 80s). He asked "why". He couldn't answer.

AI now is like that, except when someone asks "why", they get fired and the boss slams it in anyway. It doesn't make the product better or even more attractive. Dell has admitted that and is the only company to admit that. At best it's a shite search engine that's being forced on everyone against their will.

AI chat bots should be OPTIONAL, not forced onto people against their will. At best it's a shitty search engine, at worse it is a slop machine.

Only practical solution I can think of for an AI chatbot is an optional voice mode where you can go to, say, a ticket machine and be all "hey, cheapest fare to Dundee" or something and it gives you it, but that can be done without fucking the environment and eating all the ram by just having better UI design.

An air fryer is literally a convection oven, so that part was accomplished. But a wifi stove is just bizarre.

Food for thought: Replace Your Range With a Modular Kitchen