Long Live The White Box!
this post was submitted on 13 Nov 2025
646 points (99.4% liked)
A Boring Dystopia
14343 readers
969 users here now
Pictures, Videos, Articles showing just how boring it is to live in a dystopic society, or with signs of a dystopic society.
Rules (Subject to Change)
--Be a Decent Human Being
--Posting news articles: include the source name and exact title from article in your post title
--If a picture is just a screenshot of an article, link the article
--If a video's content isn't clear from title, write a short summary so people know what it's about.
--Posts must have something to do with the topic
--Zero tolerance for Racism/Sexism/Ableism/etc.
--No NSFW content
--Abide by the rules of lemmy.world
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
No thanks. I wonder if the damn thing will have a hidden barcode reader.
So, if I bought this at Costco, and the fridge was 10 years old, I'd use their guarantee to return the motherfucker and make a ~~huge~~ epic fucking scene if they tried to refuse.
edit: huge wasn't enough, it would be epic.
"Dumb" is the new "smart".
By 2030 everyone's kitchen will look like fucking Times Square
The stairs to your basement will look like the London Underground. We're going down the fucking tube... literally and metaphorically
Only the poors will have this. Your land Lord is going to go for the cheapest option which will probably have a screen you don't want with sound you can't mute.
People buying subzero or other luxury brands will be fine though.
Your entire home will. They're going to figure out how to pipe ads through every connection you have. When your smoke alarm batteries need changing, it will start blaring ads for Eveready.
I can feel it coming. I've started to devest myself anything that dares to show me an ad. It's liberating. You don't actually have to live in their algorithmic black box. RSS still exist, fediverse isn't going anywhere and the constellation of ad blockers are still doing the Lords work. Fuck the marketers.
Appliance repair man here. You can turn the screen off from a cover you remove from the top of the fridge door. Do so. You don't need a fucking android tablet on your fridge.
Also don't buy these kinds of appliances. They're terrible!
What the fuck do they even do? I thought they were supposed to scan the ingredients in your fridge, then tell you what's about to expire and what recipes you can make. But apparently they can't even do that, so what purpose do they serve that I can't already accomplish by bringing my phone into the kitchen?
Can they at least monitor the temperature across different areas of the fridge, or connect to my power meter like my thermostat can and optimize power usage to be lower when electricity is more expensive? Or are they literally just an Android tablet glued to a fridge?
Yeah man, I'll take my 1990's ass GE fridge I got for free over one of these any day.
Are there any brands that are total shite these days? We are gonna have to replace our crappy Samsung fridge from 2013 soon.
Bosch makes a few descent models.
Things to skip on all brands.
External water & ice dispensers,doesnt matter the brand. You're cutting a fucking hole in the thermal envelope to put a faulty device that's experince ing mechanic stress on parts every time you open/close the door. It's not a matter of if it will fail, but when. Also, increased operational cost. Internal water dispensers and automatic ice makers are always the better option if you want those features.
Smart features. Why the fuck do yiu need smart features on my fridge? Even if it's using AI vision to scan for recorders... Just no, fucking no. That's more personal data on you to be bought, sold, data breached, and utilized to fuck you somehow.
Fridges that split the freezer and fridge on a vertically.
I've heard that appliances in general and refrigerators specifically, from the last many years are crap. I don't know what the cut off date is, but I hear that they're generally made to break after a few years now and don't have replacement parts for very long. @mechoman444@lemmy.world may have a more informed answer, but it seems to me that people are better off buying old fridges used from friends or relatives.
I’m of the opinion that manufactures should be required to supply parts for appliances and equipment for a minimum of 10 years.
Completely agree. Not only for appliances but computers and smartphones too, including security updates.
I just bought this one a couple months ago. It goes on sale frequently for $2K from Lowe's: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Frigidaire-Gallery-21-5-cu-ft-4-Door-Counter-depth-French-Door-Refrigerator-with-Ice-Maker-Smudge-proof-Stainless-Steel-ENERGY-STAR/5013313509
Pretty sure we got an RMA for the first unit as the door had a scratch and the compressor fan sounded high pitched. Got a next day replacement and no complaints on the second one. Was concerned about sqft as we were coming from a 25sqft but am surprisingly happy with this one.
If you're in the states you've probably had the ice maker replaced in that fridge.
I wouldn't expect it to last much longer definitely count on it breaking down at some point in the very near future.
Oh no, who could have ever seen that coming?
Now wait for the subscription service to get rid of ads on the fridge you bought and "own". Oh, and that neat thing they do with cars now where you have to subscribe to get certain feature? That's also next. "Only ~~5$~~ ~~10$~~ 20$ per month to keep your fridge cool enough so the milk won't spoil! It's not a normal function of the fridge, it's our super special anti-bacterial option that costs extra.
Black Mirror season 7 (I think) has an episode about this. Surgery to fix a part of brain (not cheap) installing a chip. And after some time pay a subscription to get rid of ads. And subscription gets more expensive over time.
Buy my ad blocking tape. 0.5 meters only $19.99
Why on earth would anybody buy a fridge with a screen? Why does everything have to be screens? Why is it all one big mobile phone nowadays? Can't we just not be staring gormlessly into a flashing screen for two fucking seconds for a fucking change?????????? I just got back inside from a run and now I'm going outside again for a walk in the dark and the rain because there is an entire world out there that isn't an algorithmically driven advertising funnel trying to shove more bullshit down our eager eyes, ears, and throats.
Although, while I'm on the subject, the outside world is fucking chock full of ads. I've heard it's relatively trivial to open those advertising windows on bus stops - does anybody know if it would be illegal to open one up and simply place a large black sheet of paper or something in there to cover up the ads? Not damage the ads or remove (i.e. steal) them, but just cover them up to give ourselves and our communities a break from the relentless marketers in our midst?
We deserve not have to our senses monetised and weaponised by perverts who cum themselves dry over CTRs, CLVs, CPCs, SEO, Brand Loyalty, Funnels, and Strategies, Local SEO, whatever else. We deserve to be able to look in any direction when we're outside and for five minutes not have some massive gaudy advert designed by a bellend pushed into view.
And as for fucking User Personas? I've got a User Persona for you, you sick advertising creeps. It's my fucking ballsack.
if i could install and run Home Assistant on this, i could see having a use for it... but that requires me to have complete control, and not samsungs BS
Why on earth would anybody buy a fridge with a screen?
Because like "smart" TVs, it's getting more and more difficult to get good ones without the "smart" bits. It might've been on sale, and they didn't realize the avarice at play.
Bill Burr could have written this
I can see a screen though, if only the consumer had control over it and it were modifiable
Think about the traditional calendar on the fridge - why not update that to digital? It could be a visible central place for lists or white board or notes. Maybe home status notifications or personal locations like the Weasley clock in Harry Potter? But there are so many reasons for this to be a nonstarter from the manufacturer. Just no.
What they should be doing is a modular set of hooks or brackets so you can choose to securely mount items of your choice. Such as a screen you control and can replace when it breaks
Please stop buying these & they will stop making them.
This is capitalism, they will stop making the normal fridges and only make these fucking things. The only power customers truly have is through regulation(though we should still boycott things because it still helps).
In which case a new industry appears that makes smart appliances stupid.
Then people will claim no one was buying the normal ones. *looks at light trucks and smartphones with a headphone jack*
That's not really true, we're at the point where oligarchs basically have the unlimited money glitch, they don't give a fuck about what the consumers ask for and just demand that we want things that help them screw us over. That's why every job and every application process demands that prospective employees have their own car and their own smartphone.
view more: next ›