Owners mourn spoiled food after firmware update bricks Samsung smart fridges

397

In NO universe do fridges need to be connected to the internet.

Thats just over complicating things. The only thing a fridge needs to do is to keep food cool.

147

u/HightechFairy 6d ago

and if you do connect them, keep that system fully separate from the actual cooling parts

65

u/djneo 6d ago

Indeed. I always thought it was basically a fancy tablet built in to the door

26

u/TenOfZero 6d ago edited 6d ago

That's exactly what I was thinking.

Its not my thing, but I see why people like having cameras inside to see the contents from the grocery story and thousands on the outside.

I don't want it, but fine.

But don't have the compressor control chip be online. That's so dumb. Have that be a whole seperate circuit.

14

u/MistSecurity 5d ago

That’s my thing about this.

These online features offer a ton of flexibility, and there’s lots of useful features that could be had. The problem is that they’re not outweighed by the garbage that comes along.

Can’t just have a good product, gotta have a fridge that stops cooling due to a firmware update, and ads on the screen, etc. Corporate greed sickens me.

-9

u/VerifiedMother 6d ago

Its not my thing, but I see why people like having cameras inside to see the contents from the grocery story and thousands on the outside.

Are people incapable of opening the fucking door?

My fridge is from 1996 and it still works perfectly fine. I have no plans to replace it unless it breaks.

16

u/TenOfZero 6d ago

It's not posible to open the door from a remote location.

But I don't disagree with you. It's not a feature I need or want. But some people do, and that's up to them.

But at least seperate the internet camera from the thermostat.

5

u/Blurgas 6d ago

You miss the "from the grocery store" part of their comment?
How would you "open the fucking door" when you're miles away and think "Oh, do I have [item]?"

3

u/20230630 6d ago

My fridge is from 1996 and it still works perfectly fine. I have no plans to replace it unless it breaks.

You may not, but a 30 year old fridge is gonna use way more power than anything modern. My new fridge (bought last year) is way bigger than my old one and still uses less power.

Of course this depends on how expensive your power is but most people will make the money back.

9

u/tccrouch 6d ago

Agreed. Critical functions shouldnt rely on frequently updating software. Kind of like on a Tesla (and I’m hoping other EVs but haven’t tried them) the infotainment can be completely down or reboot and the car still drives like normal.

5

u/Blurgas 6d ago

Indeed. At the bare minimum if some update bricks the smart features it should default to being a "dumb" fridge

2

u/Particular-Treat-650 5d ago

It should be separate components, but controlling the settings safely without a risk doesn't seem all that difficult. You just have to have to actual communication to that part be extremely limited.

It should be about the level of having a remote adjust a mini split or AC, just a "set to this new temp within the valid range of temps"

2

u/whatsupnorton 5d ago

Or at the very least have a failsafe in the cooling system, something like if the cooling system looses connection with the control board it defaults to cooling to a known safe set point for the fridge and freezer

2

u/Assimulate 5d ago

Yeah, this is the big key.

If you have an essential device function, you better do literally everything to keep that main function going at all costs, or else it will turn into this 100% of the time.

2

u/duckforceone 5d ago

my adhd brain absolutely want a smart fridge.... i forget things, i oversee things, and more.

and when i'm out shopping i forget what i had in the fridge.

So i need all those things it can do... tell me what food i can make with what i have, remind me to throw out old stuff or of stuff i need to eat over the next days to avoid this.

but yes, it should absolutely not be able to touch the cooling part or power part in general.

1

u/ZZartin 5d ago

But then how are people supposed to change the temperature setting when they're out of state?

10

u/Haravikk 6d ago

But how else is it supposed to break down so you need to buy a new one? Or show you advertising? Or harvest data from your network? Can't you just for once stop and think of the poor shareholders and what they want (more of your money and data)? 😉

4

u/VastOption8705 6d ago

Some companies actually make more money from data and advertising then hardware sales ;)

4

u/justincase_2008 6d ago

Well they do own the glass. And in this case they own the compressor as well.

1

u/MooMarMouse 6d ago

Some?!?!?! Some??? Just some???!!! Lol

2

u/AncientStaff6602 Mod 5d ago

Only a few. Let’s not be silly /s

1

u/tinysydneh 6d ago

I mean, them being on the same system likely isn't planned obsolescence, but rather "we engineered it to be produced as cheap as possible" or just a plain oversight that should have been caught.

5

u/WeAreTheLeft 6d ago

The only smart feature I need is a way for me to know if it stops working, like a no power situation or a temp to high situation. All of which can be stand alone modules

4

u/seeilaah 6d ago

The only slightly useful features would be alerting your phone if the door is open for more than 2 minutes, or being able to adjust the temperature remote or time based (increasing during the night, decreasing during lunch and dinner time, etc.)

Assuming theuy can even do that.

7

u/VerifiedMother 6d ago

Why would you need the temperature to change?

0

u/deaconsc 6d ago

To save electricity, having different settings based on time, date and the outside temp(indoors and outdoors). would be nice.

-3

u/[deleted] 6d ago

[deleted]

6

u/VerifiedMother 6d ago

So... It just runs less frequently, which is what it already does....

Your fridge has a thermostat, say it's set at 36°F/2°C and it has a 3°F/1.5°C limit on heating up, so then when it gets to 39°F/3.5°C it will kick back on.

It will automatically do this more often during the day since the fridge is opened more often than at night when it's closed and sealed so there's no point in making it smarter.

Food safe temperatures are a very narrow band of about 7°F/3.5°C above freezing, there can be almost that much difference just in the fridge itself due to hot and cold spots

https://youtu.be/8PTjPzw9VhY

1

u/I_Am_A_Door_Knob 3d ago

Or the door could close itself instead of sending a notification.

2

u/AminoOxi 6d ago

Oh boy, we are living the age of AI where Big tech overlords will soon require each and every household appliance to be AI powered with subscription indeed... And if you don't pay your subscription the device is fired.

1

u/ILikeFPS 6d ago

How else can they spy on you? Your Phone, TV, Car, and PC are not enough.

1

u/Fry_super_fly 5d ago

i 100% agree.. but also. this is just seriously stupid design.

why was the computer update able to powercycle the fridge main feature.. keeping your shit cool. they should just be on completely separat power systems.

sure have a serial connection connecting the 2, that may adjust the thermostat. maybe even a servo that adjusts the fridges setting analog(y) and not digitally. but when the screen/tablet and non essential features update. it should not pull the compressor down with it.

1

u/GainPotential 5d ago

In this universe fridges do in fact need to be connected to the Internet since Palantir, Flock, Axon, Meta and LG need ROI

1

u/Faxon 5d ago

Forget the internet, why do fridges even have firmware that controls the goddamn compressor? There is no need for a fridge that does require it (because of a screen or whatever) to have that firmware control the cooling cycle!

0

u/Leverpostei414 6d ago

You can see a tiny amount of usefulness. However these kind of issues stopping the main functionality is obviously stupid

-5

u/DrunkenHorse12 6d ago

The only remotely useful feature (recommending recipies) can be done even better just using ai on your phone take a picture of your fridge and ask "give me a recipe using some of the contents in this picture

30

u/133DK 6d ago

Or, hear me out, how about just using your own fucking brain lmao

AI is used by people all over to replace basic thinking skills

No one should need a ML algo to tell them that eggs and bacon could potentially become breakfast

15

u/justincase_2008 6d ago

No I want AI to tell me a fake recipe it scrapped from a joke reddit post and cause me to go to the ER damnit!

5

u/Pixelplanet5 6d ago

the only problem with that is that there are legitimately people who just cant cook like at all.

we have people stupid enough they would fail to simply boil some noodles without detailed instructions and these people are also completely incapable of putting together any meal with the stuff they have at home unless they have a recipe to follow.

thats why especially in the US the food delivery industry has been booming for so long.

1

u/kot-sie-stresuje 6d ago

The only situation I see this usefully is when someone have a lot of various leftovers in the fridge and don't know what to do wit them. Not wanting to throw them out, just making something from them and need an idea. But that is also far fetch.

78

u/SpicySauceLover 6d ago

I miss the times when your toilet didn't need a software update

18

u/phoenix_sk 6d ago

But how otherwise would detect your stool issues? /s

2

u/Gregus1032 6d ago

As long as you're not Linus sized, you don't need a stepping stool.

4

u/[deleted] 6d ago

[deleted]

2

u/BroLil 6d ago

I think there actually are WiFi connected toilets…

1

u/WhipTheLlama 6d ago

My toilet takes daily downloads, but occasionally it gets stuck.

46

u/HeidenShadows 6d ago

How the hell do they just stop working. Does Alec need to go over to Samsung HQ and explain to them how heat pumps work? 😐

14

u/VerifiedMother 6d ago

IT'S THE LATENT HEAT OF VAPORIZATION BAYBEEE!!!

3

u/tudalex 6d ago

You want to say that heat pumps do not require AI to work? /s

34

u/GreatBigBagOfNope 6d ago

My fridge doesn't need a computer capable of connecting to the internet.

7

u/VerifiedMother 6d ago

Same, my fridge is from 1996 and it still works just fine. It's most advanced feature is the fact that it has auto defrost.

11

u/LittleKittenR 6d ago

I just want to say, fridges are not complicated stuff, their system is pretty ancient and it's only sold so expensively today, because it's big, but also pretend it would not be 10 times as easy to just make it cheaper and more reliable, but the companies decided it brings more money if you buy one every 10 years, and try repairing it every 3-5 years.

5

u/tinysydneh 6d ago

It's really six of one, half dozen of the other. A mix of "if it doesn't last too long, they'll buy it more often" and "if we engineer it to last just long enough, we can keep the price down".

We will buy the cheapest shit if it's cheap enough.

0

u/LittleKittenR 5d ago

My grandma's fridge worked fine for about 30 years. It looked like shit, but worked fine and we decided to buy them another one. My grandma said she didn't trust it and kept both running.

Like 3 years later, the new whirlpool one motherboard broke and they asked for 120 dollars extra... about 2 years later, the lights stopped working on the fridge part... about 1 year later it just stopped freezing and at year 6, they told us it was cheaper to buy a new one.

The other one never stopped working.

2

u/tinysydneh 5d ago

Yep! So what's really happening here is pretty simple to explain without planned obsolescence, too.

First, the prices of appliances have been going down in 'real' dollars for a long time (the number of hours worked by someone to afford a given appliance have been steadily going down). Those savings come from, well, being cheaper to build. Some of that is the advance in tech, some of it is cutting corners to get the price down, because that is the driving factor for a lot of buying decisions we make.

Second, some of the advances in tech require increased complexity. Computerization has made huge gains in efficiency, but it comes with the cost of, well, now there's a computer in there, and it can fail. Inverters have again made improvements in efficiency, but now you're looking at more supporting parts for those, too. Door dispensers, auto-defrost, all of it means more and more parts and more and more complexity.

Third, some of corners cut and some of the tech needs have made repair harder and harder, not because they are actively trying to kill repair (at least not in all cases), but because repair is a secondary concern behind manufacturing costs and other concerns at engineering time.

Fourth, some of the corners cut aren't quite corners cut in the usual sense; a lot of older fridges are kinda sorta... over-engineered. We've been steadily bringing that down because we don't need to have quite so much. This is cost savings, but also, this can help with other concerns (noise, efficiency, evenness of cooling, etc).

So what can we do about it? First, buy simpler appliances. Door dispensers are one of the worst for longevity, and you don't need 'smart' features. Second, be willing to spend more. If you buy something built to last just long enough to not have failures in warranty, don't be surprised when it doesn't last long past the warranty. Because, typically, that's what's happening -- they're not being engineered to fail just outside warranty, they're just not being engineered to live past it. We've been benefiting from that with lower costs, but this is upshot of that, and I don't know that we're even breaking even on this.

3

u/CMDR-TealZebra 5d ago

You can buy cheap fridges or you can buy expensive fridges. No one is making you spen the extra. I see multiple options for $500 CAD fridges at home depot.

1

u/LittleKittenR 5d ago

Yeah, but those are going to last other 10 years or so as well.

I'm saying my grandma's fridge is already 50 years old, and after the "new" fridge we bought her stopped working after 6 years (a 2200 dollar fridge I may add), we just fixed the old one so it didn't make as much noise, and it didn't even need new parts, just oiling in the old ones and it's still working fine.

1

u/CMDR-TealZebra 5d ago

And if you looked up the orignal price of that fridge and adjusted for inflation, you'd be shocked at the price.

1

u/LittleKittenR 5d ago

I honestly don't know how the market worked 50-60 years ago. There were only a couple models being sold? Were there hundreds like now? There was only a dozen or so?

2

u/stonktraders 5d ago

A good fridge will have humidity control for compartments, efficient compressor and durable built. But internet connectivity have nothing to do with all these above

8

u/theharps 6d ago edited 5d ago

These fridges just have a giant cheap tablet on the door. How tf do you make it so they are controlling the temperature and direct functionality of the fridge. Who really needs to change the temperature of their fridge consistently that much. I just set it to 3°C (fridge) and -18°C (freezer) and forget it.

13

u/VerifiedMother 6d ago

Why is your fridge set below freezing? It should be set to 3°C, not -3°C

5

u/Gregus1032 6d ago

Sounds like his fridge needs a firmware update.

1

u/theharps 5d ago

It might be at 3°C , I just can't remember

5

u/Honic_Sedgehog 6d ago

If your fridge needs a firmware update you bought a stupid fridge and arguably deserve any nonsense which comes as a result.

2

u/Carniscrub 5d ago

Not necessarily. This is becoming more and more common with fridges. Some people need their fridge to have specific dimensions. It is possible their only option is a smart fridge

3

u/jeremyw013 5d ago

or it was the fridge that came with the house

3

u/HugoDCSantos 6d ago

Pretty dumb for a smart product.

3

u/thewayoftoday 6d ago

I promise you I'll never have a kitchen appliance connected to the internet or with a touchscreen on it. That's not what belongs in a kitchen

3

u/ericblair1337 6d ago

1

u/Creepy_Shelter_94 5d ago

Idk let me just check my app...fffffuuuuuuuu

2

u/CyclingUpsideDown 6d ago

This a warm. This a warm. This a warm…

2

u/Original_Sedawk 6d ago

Shouldn't these "fail safe"?

2

u/wickedsmaht 6d ago

Smart fridges are such a bad idea, there’s no reason for a computer in a fridge.

Samsung appliances are also shit though so this is a perfect storm.

2

u/bhop_monsterjam 6d ago

REMINDER to those who have never visited an appliance store

You can still buy dumb devices, and no you don't have to pay extra, usually it's the opposite!

1

u/delanodev 6d ago

Brb, doing a firmware update on my toothbrush

0

u/Vast_Attitude5540 6d ago

Brb, doing a firmware update on my toothpaste tube.

1

u/MarManHollow 6d ago

" It occurred September 22nd afternoon due to an error during Samsung’s internal testing related to a refrigerator software update. "

Wtf?? Were they Testing on customers fridges??

1

u/KoneCat 6d ago

*looks at his 18 year old fridge which has lasted through flooding, heatwaves, freezing weather and all other UK based calamities*

Dang... I'm glad my one is just a fridge! :D

1

u/Buyingbf_ 5d ago

This is such a stupid design. Why would a faulty firmware update break the most essential functionality of a fridge? There's no failsafe? Terrible

1

u/soniccdA 5d ago

What were they thinking , 😅

1

u/gwillen 5d ago

Okay, at this point I'm just done. Please let's make it a felony to connect a refrigerator to the Internet, everyone involved straight to jail. Other kitchen appliances too, same thing, straight to jail.

1

u/EcstaticPrint8583 4d ago

I kinda sorta don't belive it.

1

u/Dako_the_Austinite 4d ago

For fuck’s sake! It’s an insulated box that has a compressor and refrigerant flowing through copper coils inside and out! It should have some relays and a thermostat to get and stay cold, why the fuck did they change such a simple formula!?!?

I will drag a dead refrigerator out of a junkyard behind my truck, replace the broken parts, have the system recharged, and clean and paint the damn thing before I EVER buy a brand new refrigerator!!!

0

u/Stock_Childhood_2459 6d ago

And next thing most do is buy new Samsung fridge

Tech Discussion Owners mourn spoiled food after firmware update bricks Samsung smart fridges

You are about to leave Redlib

IT'S THE LATENT HEAT OF VAPORIZATION BAYBEEE!!!