We keep on seeing manufacturers mooting so-called AI features these days, and along with that, often the mention of future updates seems to be common. We thought we’d take a look at that for people so that they can understand that these are unlikely and, even if they do happen, are not liable to make much of a difference.
We are trying really hard to be positive on all this, and we are looking for real reasons why these updates could be a benefit. It’s not easy, though.
We will try to break these down into sections for each appliance so they’re easier to digest, but first, we need to look at things that would apply to all machines.
Do Not Buy Warning
There’s an old saying in the world of technology that runs something like, “do not buy on promises of future software updates delivering a feature; only buy based on what the product is today”
That applies to appliances also.
Promised updates may well happen, but for any number of reasons, they may not and often won’t.
Energy Use Improvements
It is conceivable, although we think unlikely, that a software update of some kind could improve energy consumption.
Any improvements, however, would likely be very minor as most machines will be made as efficient as they possibly can be before they are put on the market. It’s not as if makers would make them so they were inefficient from the off, would they?
Of course, there’s always the possibility of correcting some kind of an error but given the testing required prior to the machine going on sale, we’d think this is very unlikely.
Performance Improvements
Like energy use, this is theoretically possible but not really very likely. As we will get into in a bit, for most machines, the performance is set through production prior to the machines going on sale; there shouldn’t be any need to alter that unless someone has made a mistake.
Communication/Software Updates
This one is much more likely to happen if there’s a call for it.
We would point out, however, that the amount of software updates done in the field by techs is minimal. However, it should be noted that this would be expensive to do physically onsite so a remote update to things would be more practical, cheaper and less inconvenient for users.
But if there’s a recall, it’s usually (virtually always) involving some sort of physical modification.
But all of these things could, theoretically, be considered to be a “repair” as, something is being remedied or improved over what it was when you purchased the unit and when you look at it in that light, being asked to pay for that might annoy you.
Integrations
It’s possible the manufacturer might offer integrations with other devices or systems but, so far, we’ve not seen any real willingness to play nice with others.
For example, you won’t get Beko’s app/s talking to Samsung or Haier’s, as they are competitors and there are no “standards” here. Each maker does their own thing and want to have you locked into their ecosystem, not using another’s.
Often you might also find that they won’t talk to a third party or, if they do, the functionality may be limited in a bid to keep you in that same ecosystem.
We hope that this will change, either through choice or legal requirements but for now, it is what it is.
Remote Start
We largely ignored this as we see little point in it as you still have to load and unload the machines so it’s of limited use in our view.
Energy Monitoring
A valid reason to have some sort of connectivity for some people, although there are many ways to accomplish this, it is true that, doing it from the appliance itself, monitoring the power usage, is likely to be the best solution.
Washing Machines
There are a few things that we see mooted, and some are quite baffling, not only in terms of how these are to be delivered or why, but, why people would care.
New Programs
(1) Unless there’s new clothing, fabrics and wash cycles to justify a “new” program, why would you need such a thing?
And, that’s completely ignoring that most people don’t use anywhere even close to the programs that they already have already so you have to ask, would people use another, or even know it was there or care?
Updated Programs
Special ones that manufacturers make up, like quick washes, sport washes and that sort of thing, yeah, they might update those. Probably to try to make them worth using or, in some cases, actually work.
But your normal programs that are to wash normal laundry with normal temperatures, not so much as those are (or should be) more or less pre-defined and set. There should be no need to tamper with them unless they were wrong in the first place.
This is because they are set by the laundry requirements of ISO/GINETEX. Not washing machine makers. And so you go back to 1, above.
Tumble Dryers
We can’t see any requirements for a dryer to be updated in respect of software, other than something that was messed up before it was sold.
Back to 1 above again. What you dry in your dryer hasn’t changed so, why does anything n the dryer’s cycles have to?
Dishwashers
In many ways, the situation with dishwashers is largely the same as it is for washing machines; there’s really not any need to update things, that is, assuming that the manufacturer didn’t mess it up before the machines went on sale.
The same applies to programs and to special cycles, although there are far fewer of those for dishwashers in any event.
So long as the machine works, cleans and dries the dishes, most people won’t care.
Cooking Products
For those that have a built-in screen to offer recipes and so on, yes, there likely would be a need to update these with new, updated information. At least to some degree.
How much use these features are will be open to debate of course and the value lies in the eye of the buyer.
On any product that has that kind of capacity, however, it’s extremely unlikely that a manufacturer would be adding new features as these will be more upmarket machines and have all the bells and whistles; it’s unlikely there’s anything that could be added.
Refrigeration
We can’t see the need.
A fridge, freezer or fridge freezer sits there and churns away, getting the temperature inside the unit down to the desired level. If it has an ice maker, it makes ice. If it dispenses water, it does that.
All those features you paid for when you bought the unit, there shouldn’t be any need for anything else.
Except if there’s a digital display and the machine is connected to the internet, and then, like a lot of devices like phones and tablets, it will need updates for security etc. Why you’d want that on a fridge freezer, we don’t understand but some people clearly do.
Paying For Updates
To date, we’ve not seen many subscription models when it comes to getting updates, with the mooted inclusion of “AI” in some of these things that, need a connection to a remote server and those services cost money to provide, we expect to see this more and more.
A lot of the features may not really bother many people, and they might think that this won’t affect them but you don’t know what may or may not be affected.
Or, you might get bombarded with marketing materials, including on appliance displays with ads to support the costs of this. In short, you and your data become the product.
Security Concerns
One of the big things in all this, and connected appliances in general, is security risks.
Appliance makers are not “tech companies” as such; they are folks that make appliances that happen to get into adding bits and bobs onto those kitchen workhorses for various reasons, largely to sell stuff at higher prices in our opinion.
However, this means that they are not expected to have security that’s as robust as more tech-focused businesses will and they’re unlikely to have the top-tier staff on things like security. In turn, meaning, they could, perhaps, be vulnerable to attack.
That means, so are you.
This is a whole topic unto itself and one we may explore at some stage but it’s a very real concern, especially if a hacked appliance is used to get into your local network.
Conclusions
As we said right back at the start, we are trying to be positive on this, we were looking for reasons to say; “You know what, this makes that feature really useful and worth the cost”.
As you can tell, we really struggled to find any.
We also found so many rabbit holes to explore whilst researching this article, it’s given rise to the prospect of more on some areas that deserve much more attention, as we don’t think that a lot of people are aware of some things touched on here.
Hopefully this article does help some people on how to view these things when they are looking to buy a new appliance.