Why are fridges still so dumb?

[Caiti19]

Why are they still cupboards when we know drawers you can pull out are so much better? Why can't they suggest recipes based on contents, and issue alerts about expiring food. Food is essential to life. Why has how we store it not caught up technically?

I hope my fridge doesnt start telling me what to cook - that would drive me insane!!

i find it difficult enough when it beeps very loudly and flashes lights on and off if im looking in there for more than a nano-second!

Eh

Because what we have is functional, reliable and cheap. Not everything has to be optimised.

And good luck accessing the top two drawers.

I'm pretty sure you can buy smart fridges.

Why do you even want your fridge to chip in on food choice, my brain effectively does it with technology

Wasn't there a scandal about smart fridges and the screens starting to force advertising on the unwitting owners?

The fewer digital screens in my life the better these days.

Pictures shouting at my judgmental fridge to fuck off with its meal advice! Why would you want that? Just google recipes or use chat gpt.

Agreed. Adverts are forced on us every screen these days. At least I can log off somewhere like Mumsnet when it gets too irritating. You couldn't log out of a bit lump sitting in the kitchen.

You could buy yourself a smart fridge. Ours is great for the things you suggest and more.

To have drawers each drawer would need a separate control system -eg you put a bowl of warm soup in one drawer you need it to heat up quick so that drawer would need to switch on, then off when at right temp / you leave one drawer open it would need to switch on. If every individual drawer switched on because one was too hot some would start to freeze
Other option have a door and one set of controls for the drawers-same as you have now a door so not much improvement but air would not circulate well to cool them all to correct temp
you would need a scanner that recognised all the barcodes for every supermarket to record product and date

Your fridge just sounds bossy! mine is years old it doesn't care what I do😀

Drugs

I want a fridge to be a fridge not a member of the family

why would I want even more tech - more carbon emission, more things to go wrong , when I have eyes and a brain ?

Christ, it's bad enough that mine sings a happy little tune every time I open the door. Last thing I need it to do is start lecturing me about all the leftovers I've forgotten about that are lurking in the depths.

Mine tells me to closed the bloody door.

Oh 😀

@whirlyhead which brand do you have?

So I can avoid it.

That would drive me mad!

Most devices are far too loquacious.

Some fridges beep and buzz if you leave them open for too long. Washing machines beep insistently when they have finished. Mobile phones buzz loudly with nanny-state messages saying "don't have barbecues". And don't get me started on Alexa: I think it's only a matter of time before she starts broadcasting government propaganda into our homes, whether we want it or not.

A dumb fridge is a good fridge. Let it sit under the worktop and keep its gob shut.

I would absolutely love this!

I want my fridge to remain dumb. The more complicated something is, the more likely it is to break.

I have a fridge. It keeps stuff cold. That is its one purpose in life. I neither need it or want it to do more.

When I was growing up we had a TV. It's one purpose in life was to show pretty pictures and make nice sounds. It did that well for 18 years. (Well, sometimes you had to thump it on the side when the colours went funny. But aside from that...)

I've gone through 3 TVs in the last few years. Apparently the pretty pictures and sounds are no longer it's primary purpose in life. Now it needs to whinge at me about internet connections and show me ads, and make me tick consent forms for god knows what. And then break. Always with the fucking breaking.

I don't need my fridge, or washing machine, or TV to be a computer. I have a computer for that. A big one and a tiny one that lives in my pocket and pretends that its a phone.

Mine has an app that I can add the food and expiry and the app tells me when something is due to expire. As for what you can make, use the supercool.app, add all your food and you'll be given a list of recipes

After I posted, I realised it's already a thing. Do you have the Samsung Family Hub? I'd be happy with a change of format. I get drawers can't go all the way up, but shelves that pull out would be good. So does yours tell you "if you don't make something with that bag of spinach soon, it's going to be too late"? That's what I want. 😀

Is yours Bosch Home Connect by any chance? I think it's the only one that will fit in space I have.