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Toys

Geeks and Chefs, Unite 217

Posted by timothy from the i'd-prefer-separates-thanks dept.
ooglek writes: "You thought you had every gadget made, until this came along. The new Internet Fridge from LG Appliances. Not only does it keep your food from perishing, but it plays MP3s, TV, a list of the food actually in your fridge, a calendar, and, of course, recipes! Finished in Titanium. Wicked."
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Geeks and Chefs, Unite More

Geeks and Chefs, Unite

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  • I have a computer, and a Tv, why the hell would I want a fridge that does a poor job at what the separate machines do well.

    And I'm sure I haven't paid as much for them either...

  • Ludacrisp... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by torgosan ( 141603 ) on Saturday June 22, 2002 @01:11PM (#3749358) Homepage
    ...the LAST thing I want to do is stand infront of the fridge reading emails, /. or any of my other fave sites. Much rather be relaxing in my chair, RedBull close at hand...
    • I dunno, I've yet to see a house fridge that isn't plastered with notes, a calender, lists, and pictures. Why not go digital? I, for one, love the idea that I can think of something to add to the grocery list while at work, email it to the fridge and not have to worry about remembering it later.

      The real shortcoming of the device is lack of a printer/ir port. What's the point in having a digital grocery list if you still have to copy it to paper when you go shopping?

  • Then one day... (Score:5, Funny)

    by John Paul Jones ( 151355 ) on Saturday June 22, 2002 @01:12PM (#3749360)
    You are out of mayonnaise, Dave. Why don't you buy more, Dave.

    -JPJ

    • Thnk that's funny? (Score:5, Funny)

      by JaredOfEuropa ( 526365 ) on Saturday June 22, 2002 @01:33PM (#3749430) Journal
      I'll be waiting for the software upgrade with dietary and hygienic advice.

      - "That chicken is really going bad... remove it, now, please."

      - "Chicken wings again Dave? I am afraid I can't let you have those. How about a healthy salad?"

      Sad thing is, I fully expect fridges of the future telling me off for having unhealthy eating habits.
      • I can just picture it:

        - Dave, you know I can't allow you to eat that.
        - Oh yeah, fridge? Well... up yours!
        - That was not very nice, Dave. You make me feel unwanted. Self-destruct sequence activating...
      • So it'll be a love hate relationship?

        You love when the fridge gives you a treat, you hate when it calls you names for taking the treat.

      • Re:Thnk that's funny? (Score:2, Insightful)

        by iceburn ( 137875 )
        Actually, its possible that supermarkets, food companies, etc. will eventually be able to buy advertisements on these fridges.

        "I see you're out of tater tots. There is a sale at King Soopers(TM) on Ore Ida(TM) Tater Tots. Would you like driving directions? (y/n)"
        y

        Later that day...

        "I see you've just purchased Ore Ida(TM) Tater Tots. You may also be interested in Ore Ida(TM) Curly Fries. Would you like to see more SmartFridge.com(TM) recomendations, Dave? (y/n)"
        y

        "King Soopers(TM) Specials Today:

        • Ore Ida(TM) Curly Fries are only $5.49
        • Greasy(TM) Chicken Wings $8.99/lb
        • Hot Hot Hot(TM) BBQ Sauce $6.87/16oz Bottle
        • Stinking Fatty(TM) Cheddar Bratwurst $5.99/6
        • Sweet Sweet Coronary(TM) Lard Nuggets $9.99/doz
        • Little Powdery(TM) Donuts $7.49/doz.
        next page ->"
  • That is very heavy for a fridge isnt it?

    • Re:176 kg ? (Score:3, Informative)

      by Rob.Mathers ( 527086 )
      Heading to General Electric Appliances Canada (http://geappliances.ca), I compared 10 random side-by-side fridges. The average weight was 322.2 pounds, or 150.68 kg. So maybe this is slightly heavier. I would guess it's simply made of heavier materials, maybe a few kilo difference due to electronics.
    • It's about 390 pounds, weight of two people.

      It's a perfectly reasonable weight for a full sized fridge (25.5 cubic feet is standard for both GE and whirlpool - I just bought one); there are fridges which are lighter, and I think it's a bit odd that this fridge-computer wouldn't be top-of-the-line, as a fridge.

      There's a real downside to this, follow my reasoning:
      1) No one will buy these things.
      2) Business will conclude that people don't want stuff with computers built into them.
      3) The stuff that people would actually like to have a built in computer won't be brought to market because of lack of venture capital.

      Sigh. Of all the ridiculous things to equip with a computer. A fridge/television makes sense as a space-savings device; if you have one of those open kitchens with table-space facing into the kitchen area, you can watch TV while eating. A fridge-computer? Please.
      • It might seem silly, but there is method to their madness. The basic idea is that you're going to have a home network. One part of this home network needs to maintain the link to the net, act as server for the rest of the net, etc. So it needs to be a device which is continually switched on - no use using the TV, for example. Obvious solution: use the fridge.

        This implementation seems like they've gone overboard on the features, but the basic idea of integrating a computer into the fridge isn't as insane as it seems at first sight.
    • > That is very heavy for a fridge isnt it?
      That depends largely on which side of the Atlantic you live.
      • Im in the UK. Having a fridge weigh three times my weight is strange.
        • I'm in the UK too. American fridges tend to be a lot bigger (and hence heavier) than ours - although I've noticed the size of fridges over here increasing recently. (Which is good, since it means I can shop less often).
    • it weighs that much due to its fat pipe to the internet. fat meat pipe.

  • perfect for kitchen devices... think about it, you could poll the temperature of your fridge/oven, see how long's left on the washing cycle, and have a dodgy sample played when your roast dinner is cooked!

    if only it were so simple *sigh*

  • Overclockers (Score:5, Funny)

    by boa13 ( 548222 ) on Saturday June 22, 2002 @01:13PM (#3749368) Homepage Journal
    ...have done that for a long time. I mean, putting a CPU inside a fridge... nothing new.

    Oh, and can you imagine a beowulf cluster of those?
    • Bah, beat me to it!
    • You have to wonder what a beowulf cluster of these would accomplish. More processing power or getting that little bit closer to absolute zero? Maybe that's the idea? A beowulf cluster of these would get so cold that we get superconductive multiprocessing!

      Admit it. It's not like you overclockers out there haven't considered it...
      • > You have to wonder what a beowulf cluster of these would accomplish

        MORE beer. (I'd have thought that was obvious...)
      • Actually if each machine is capable of maintaining 40 degrees fahrenheit or whatever, there's no multiplicative beowulf-like effect to the cooling process. 10 air conditioning units cooling at the same temp will always yield the same temp.
    • Oh, and can you imagine a beowulf cluster of those?

      No, but I can imagine keeping peanut brittle clusters cold with these.

  • It rises up against it's human masters and bars Man access to beer and twinkies?
    • You refigerate twinkies?

      What kind of weird sicko are you?

      If it keeps me from the red meat portion, there will be compressors rolling!

  • it scans bar codes (Score:2, Interesting)

    by dcstimm ( 556797 )
    it has a built in barcode scanner that scans your food and will give you a list of what you have in your fridge, there is even a option to order the food if you run out. now that is cool!

    • Re:it scans bar codes (Score:5, Funny)

      by R2.0 ( 532027 ) on Saturday June 22, 2002 @01:25PM (#3749400)
      Screw that - I want one that scans bar codes when people pull something out...

      Time: 10 years from now

      Place: my house

      Setting: my daughter's first night w/o adult supervision.

      Rriing, rriing. "Hello?"

      "This is Dad, how are you doing."

      "Fine Dad - Just me and some girlfriends."

      "Good. Well have fun, and don't stay up too late. Oh, and by the way, the fridge phoned me and said a few beers had been removed. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you."

      "Errrr..."

      Rest of the night spent looking for the phone cord/WiFi connection on the fridge. It doesn't exist - Dad was bluffing.

      Now if I can only stay ahead of my kids on the geek curve.

    • Re:it scans bar codes (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Medevo ( 526922 )
      What scares me about these barcodes is that say LG decides it wants more ca$h and sells a list of the stuff that you keep in the fridge to others. This is similar to what supermarkets do in tracking purchases.

      The next time you open your fridge you see a Ad for Jolt Cola because you haven't bought any for a week. Now THAT would be technology gone too far

      Medevo
      • If AOL has anything to do with this, you'll have to wait at least 30 seconds before opening your fridge. When you grab what you want, you have to wait an additional 20 seconds before you close the door to ensure that their 'ad impression' isn't missed. It'll let you close the door halfway so you have to stare at the LCD beaming you an ad for some crap you don't want. Once the ad impression is complete, it'll shut the door all the way.

      • Re:it scans bar codes (Score:3, Interesting)

        by spudnic ( 32107 )
        How about a lifelike 3d holographic image of delicious looking food sitting in the fridge. You reach for it and, of course, your hand passes right through it. Then the fridge cheerfully informs you that he can arrange to have the real thing delivered in a couple of hours.

    • Bleah.... We came up with this exact same idea several years ago when we were sitting around, talking about future technologies we'd probably see for sale.

      In fact, I also pointed out (to the software developer I was discussing this with) that although they'll probably sell the bar code scanning thing - users won't find it very friendly to work with, and it will eventually fail.

      (For the fridge to keep up-to-date on what it's stocked with, you have to manually scan in each and every item you add to it. I don't know about you, but that's the last thing I feel like doing after I just got home from the store, with bags full of groceries to put away. Have you ever seen one of those bar code wands read your UPC codes perfectly on the first try, every time? I haven't. People will get pissed when that odd-shaped package requires 7 attempts to get it to register.)

      You know what I do think would sell though? A soda dispensing option on the front, where they put the ice-maker and water dispenser. They should let home users purchase the large bags of syrup and rechargeable CO2 cylinders that the stores use for fountain beverages, and attach them to the fridge. In the long run, it would save a *lot* of money on soda, eliminate the need to throw away or recycle a bunch of cans or bottles, save space in the fridge for other things, and never have to worry about your open 2 litre bottle losing its fizz.
      • You know what I do think would sell though? A soda dispensing option on the front, where they put the ice-maker and water dispenser. They should let home users purchase the large bags of syrup and rechargeable CO2 cylinders that the stores use for fountain beverages, and attach them to the fridge. In the long run, it would save a *lot* of money on soda, eliminate the need to throw away or recycle a bunch of cans or bottles, save space in the fridge for other things, and never have to worry about your open 2 litre bottle losing its fizz.

        Cool thing too is that Cola companies will save a fortune because all they sell is the syrup.

        See for example Coke just sells the syrup (siz-urp) to the bottlers and they mix it and use the Coke trademark (which they bought also). If you mixed it yourself hopefully you would be getting more for less and you would likely not need to pay a trademark licensing fee.

        {as far as bar codes, I think everyone on /. has come up with this idea on their own at one time - I can show you notes from '98 where I sketched such an idea down.}
        • I have a friend with a soda fountain at home. All he ever has to buy is syrup and CO2: it costs him about 5 cents for an 8oz Coke®.

          He bought the whole 4 flavour setup (refurbished) for about CA$600.

      • A soda dispensing option on the front, where they put the ice-maker and water dispenser. They should let home users purchase the large bags of syrup and rechargeable CO2 cylinders that the stores use for fountain beverages, and attach them to the fridge

        They've had those for years in the UK, not integrated into the fridge but as a standalone machine, the biggest brand is Sodastream. [sodastream.co.uk] However in my experience, people eventually give up on the concept and go back to buying premade drinks. It ends up having to be a lot of effort, through cleaning the machine, and remembering to buy both the CO2 and the syrup.

  • Does it have a SPAM filter? (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 22, 2002 @01:14PM (#3749372)
    And, I don't mean junk email, I mean actual spam. I sure don't want that stuff showing up in my fridge! Ewww!
  • This fridge is cool.

    And getting cooler.

  • Emails in your trash box will be automatically deleted. However, you are responsible for the rotten food.

  • Not to sound sexist, but there are millions of soccer moms out there for whom this would be a valuable and useful tool. IM'ing with the husband at work, displaying calendar of practice times and PTA meetings, reading discussion groups for the next trip to the Magic Kingdom.... With the kids running around all day it is impossible to take time out sitting in the study in front of the desktop PC.
    This isn't for /.'ers on average, it's for when we grow up, have kids, and of course, get rich.
    • ... but there's time to do the same thing standing in front of a refrigerator?
      • Well, yeah, yeah there is.

        Consider the layout of the modern upscale suburban household. There are large, open kitchens with islands or "breakfast nooks" in which most of the food preparation and eating is done. The "galley" style kitchen isn't in new home designs and the multi-use kitchen is extremely common these days. Mom is spending a lot of time there and is her terminal is just a glance away with this appliance.

        People that can afford to spend several hundred more $ for a fridge will value this kind of convenience. The value I see in this is the functionality that will provided in the future wireless tablet PC. It's a terminall with a lightweight set of functions, but it located where you need it.
    • I gather you've never tried to prepare a meal for a reasonably large bunch, have you? If you're reasonably efficient, and you're making a meal that requires you to be in the kitchen, you don't spend a lot of time standing around in the kitchen doing nothing.

      First, you figure out what's going to take longest to cook--rice, potatoes, maybe a cake that needs to bake--and throw it in the oven. You start the soup base boiling with whatever's there. Then you chop vegetables, and start putting other stuff together. Remember to stir the soup. Make sure what's in the oven is doing okay. Now clean off the counters. Make dressing for salad. Get the pasta off the stove, and drain it.... If you're really spending time in the kitchen, it's doing something.

      If you had that extra five minutes, trust me, you'd rather go sit down at a desk somewhere and read e-mails than stand on your feet for another second in the goddamn kitchen, because being a soccer mom is your second shift [amazon.com], and you've already put in more than eight hours.

      This is the stupidest appliance I've ever heard of, and most of the mothers I know would roll their eyes at the thought of spending a couple extra hundred dollars for something this ridiculous. And say, "Good god, if you think saving me the three seconds to walk to the computer is worth it, then let's eat out and save me a couple hours."

  • What'll they think of next? (Score:5, Funny)

    by JordanH ( 75307 ) on Saturday June 22, 2002 @01:20PM (#3749385) Homepage Journal
    Wow. A fridge that plays MP3s.

    Next thing you know, they'll have a CPU that can cook a roast. Oh wait, Intel did that already - the Pentium 4 @ 2.53 GHz.

  • I wonder if (Score:4, Funny)

    by SLot ( 82781 ) on Saturday June 22, 2002 @01:20PM (#3749386) Homepage Journal
    you can set up a cron job to order beer.

    This is seriously cool. And I want one yesterday.

  • Wow! (Score:3, Funny)

    by Pathetic Coward ( 33033 ) on Saturday June 22, 2002 @01:21PM (#3749389)
    This will be bigger than pets.com ...
  • Why is it that companies want to put computers into everything nowadays? I mean, my brother has a washing machine from LG that is pretty cool, it doesn't play Mp3's but it does add functionality (i.e. it determines the size of load etc). But when you start talking about fridges that can play mp3's/display calender's etc... that is getting a bit overboard. Personally I'd rather listen to mp3's on a proper stereo with nice speakers that can reproduce sound well. Sure it can do other things, but we can do them already albeit with much older technology in use, for example: leaving messages for other family members can be done with a pen and paper. I shudder to think at the cost of this monstrosity.
    • Luddite. You need computers in everything - it's the 21st centruy for {insert-relevant-deity}'s sake. Besides, it's a gadget, and I like gadgets, since I'm both a geek AND a guy. Since it's clearly a gadget, it doesn't need to have its existence justified - it is its own raison d'etre.
      > leaving messages for other family members can be done with a pen and paper
      So can writing letters, but I guess you've never used e-mail?
  • So where is the handy dandy dorm room size version?

    Hell, you sit your PC on top of it and have a hell of a cooling system.

  • ahem (Score:4, Funny)

    by Verizon Guy ( 585358 ) on Saturday June 22, 2002 @01:24PM (#3749396) Homepage

    #/sbin/unlockdoor

    unlockdoor: Sorry, I think you've had enough to eat today.
  • somewhere to put those Athalon XP's!

  • reciphp (Score:4, Interesting)

    by TheLocustNMI ( 159898 ) on Saturday June 22, 2002 @01:28PM (#3749412) Homepage
    wouldn't it be great if there was an online, GPL'ed repository for recipes too? oh wait, there is -- ReciPHP [vader82.net] -- it's still in beta, but it is already a great categorization and search tool for recipes! like Freshmeat, except with more meat :)
  • Gives new meaning to hacing the (ice)box. Some script kiddie gets changes the date on all the barcoded food, you get food poisoining... The fridge gets a virus and thinks all the food is brussel sprouts.

    Then your wife won't let anyone open the fridge cuz her favorite show is on and you can't get a beer until its over....

    You come home and find out that your kid has hacked up apache to run in the freezer and then posted his M0d on Slashdot with the url www.icebboxen.com and your new 5 grand appliance gets the /. effect and shuts down while voiding your warranty.

    Christ save me from the internet....

    Puto
    • Given that manufacturers without Internet experience generally don't think of security when Net-enabling their appliances, you are probably fairly close to the literal truth in your description.

      The password, if there is one, is probably password and can't be changed by the user.

  • I've been looking at LG refrigerators, since I'll need to replace my aging Liebherr sometime, but it seems they haven't caught on to the most important innovation of the last century: "Null-Grad Technik" as they call it in Germany, which provides a compartment that stays at 0.5 degrees C (without freezing), instead of the usual 4 C. This keeps many foods fresh two to five times as long, and I don't understand why the other manufacturers don't catch on.
  • I did not see any mention of OS in this fridge. I wonder if the dreaded day has finally come when Microsoft trys to get its .Net fingers into household appliances?

    Should be interesting. I won't even bother mentioning some of the obvious places something like this could go.

  • in the kitchen

    so now on Southpark it will be, "get your bitch-ass out of the kitchen and bring me some pie!"
  • "Sorry, folks, it looks like we're ordering pizza. I had been marinating some fantastic szechuan beef, but the fridge crashed and has been alternately freezing and cooking it for the past 12 hours."

    Cheers
    -b

  • Wait until the advertisers get a hold of this one (Score:4, Funny)

    by Craig Maloney ( 1104 ) on Saturday June 22, 2002 @01:40PM (#3749454) Homepage
    I can see it now. "I see you're pulling out Velveeta. Soft, creamy Velveeta is great for macaroni and cheese as well as a nice pasta salad on a warm summer day. wow, isn't that refreshing. Try our other great Kraft products today, like Miracle Whip and... (*shut*)"

    Or...

    "I see you're running low on Miracle Whip so I've taken the liberty of ordering you a crate. You wouldn't want to run out, now would you?"

    And what about people who re-use containers? Would my three bean salad and baked beans be counted has having two Country Crock margarines?

    No thanks... I prefer the old fashioned exploration of todays modern refrigerators. "Hmmm... Country Crock... Whoops... that's the three bean salad from... ugh... last fourth of July. Better call Hazmat."

  • "Let's see here. You have 1 carton of milk, a block of cheese, a six-pack of corona in the back (minus one, sorry!), a bowl of... hmmm, what is that stuff? Looks disgusting. Did you make that yourself? Get it outta here! And yes, here we are, a bottle of... mmmm, not sure... a bottle of brown stuff, let's just say. You can figure it out later... 12 pack of Mountain Dew, missing a few since last night. Leftover pizza (2 weeks leftover, I might add. Disgusting!) Ughh, what are you, a nerd or something? Perhaps you should find a girl to keep me clean and well stocked. I especially like fruits and vegetables. Such a nice aroma!"

    "Would you like me to play you some songs now?"

    And thus technology advances...
  • Can anyone recommend good sites listing recipes ?
    • http://www.foodtv.com [foodtv.com]

      I usually hit it after seeing Emeril or Alton Brown do something. I'll mostly remember it but want the exact ingredients. Speaking of which, I need to order Alton's show on DVD there. That's some good stuff, he actually goes into the science behind the cooking, so you can apply it to other things that work in the same way. You can also get your truffles and other goodies on the site :-)

    • http://recipes.alastra.com/default.html
      http://ww w.recipesource.com/
      http://www.finecooking.com/
      http://www.cookinglight.com/
      http://www.epicuriou s.com/

      and of course...

      http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&o e= UTF8&newwindow=1&q=recipes&as_q=cooking

      sig free.

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • I really don't appreciate being compared to a kitchen appliance.

  • Other than the severe geek factor that fridge provides, there is no way I'd own one unless I won it, or won the lottery. For as so many have said why do we need those features when we have better for ourselves?

    Simple...there are those of us who aren't geeks.

    In a day and age where both parents are usually out working, who really has the time to go shopping when you are out of eggs? Heck there may be times where you simply don't know that you are out. Solution? A fridge that can geep track, automatically charge your card at a market that delivers and boom...there's a guy at your door when you get home from work handing you your food and a recipt.

    With the fact that the average american family is doing different things at different times, the messaging system comes in handy as well. Also works for the Latchkey children. Push a button and there's Mom explaining what's for dinner, and if they are old enough to cook on thier own...the recipe.

    TV, well that's optional, the FM Radio...not a bad idea, the MP3 player...maybe that's a bit much, but don't dis this machine because we geeks think we can build something similar.

    Come to think about it, it was probally a geek who was able to sell LG on the idea...and he's living rich now...lucky bastard, lets hunt him down and beat him up for being a smart arse

    Phoenix
  • It's a FRIDGE! It's supposed to keep food cool. Who really wants to browse the Web, or read email, while standing in front of the fridge? That's what a computer is for. Just because you can put a computer in everything, doesn't mean you should.
  • We all complain and moan and whine that Slashdot are a bunch of sell outs. That they post stories and opinions that are sponsored by corporate interests [microsoft.com] and not in the interests of the readers.

    Well, today I stumbled upon Slashdot, only to have this ad [duq.edu] thrust in my face. (It linked to this location [microsoft.com].)

    You'd think that /. would be the last place you'd see all this bullshit MS propaganda, but alas, we can't get away from it. Slashdot (and qutie possibly OSDN) are a Microsoft funded operation, which means its stories and opinions are those of Microsoft.

    Be even more careful about what you read here.

    • Here's another story [theonion.com] I'm sure you'll believe.

      To assert that because Microsoft advertises on slashdot they control it is assanine at best. Anyone who reads this site on a regular basis will consistantly see stories biased against Microsoft. If Microsoft wants to waste their money funding a site that spreads negative information about them, more power to them. I'm confident that Microsoft has no control over slashdot or we wouldn't see so many negative stories [slashdot.org] about them.

  • Wow, a cool fridge !! (I'll just get my coat...)

  • I can see the BUGTRAQ advisory now... (Score:5, Funny)

    by defile ( 1059 ) on Saturday June 22, 2002 @02:05PM (#3749538) Homepage Journal
    Homely SecuriCrack Teamz in coordination with the Culinary Institute of America Security Research Group has discovered a serious vulnerability in the LG Internet Refrigerator.

    An unchecked buffer in FridgeScape 3.12, the web browser built into the user interface panel will, if exploited, allow malicious users to gain full superuser control of the refrigerator. From here, it's trivial to set the temperature of the fridge to spoil the food, shoot ice cubes out at high velocity, or set invalid parameters in the cooling unit causing the freon tank to rupture, turning your refrigerator into a 250lbs titanium shrapnel grenade.

    The vendor was notified 6 months ago and again 3 months later but has not responded.

    We recommend that all users run their home appliances behind a firewall and that extraneous features on other household appliances, such as Auto-Ironing and Mow-On-Demand be disabled
    The unabomber was right. We're doomed.
  • Oh right, it was a prank:

    http://www.somethingawful.com/article.php?id=308
  • We could integrate these fridges with the supermarket web services and have them deliver the beer et al whenever we run low. I hear the thnuders for more XML standards coming...
  • The submission comments on this article make it sound like someone is still dazzled by the concept of hooking a refrigerator to the Internet. Ever since Electrolux introduced its Internet refrigerator [allnetdevices.com] in 1999, there have been several stories about the concept:

    "Consider a future where all appliances with power cords can be networked using universal plug and play including:

    computers
    telephones
    stereos
    even refrigerators"

    http://www.powerlinecommunications.net/smarthomes. htm [powerlinec...ations.net]

    Nice diagram of the LG I-fridge as a "Residential Gateway":
    http://www.slfp.com/011302BIZp.htm [slfp.com]

    "Internet Refrigerator"
    http://www.xent.com/FoRK-archive/may98/0121.html [xent.com]

    "Can Your Refrigerator Surf?"
    http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,14675,00 . sp [pcworld.com]

    But, most of all, I want to point out the comments that my own company makes about *its* I-fridge:

    "We created the first Internet refrigerator to show how the Internet will merge into our everyday lives"
    http://au.fujitsu.com/FAL/CDA/Articles/0,1029,546, 00.html [fujitsu.com]

  • The Internet-Enabled Fridge (Score:5, Funny)

    by rocjoe71 ( 545053 ) on Saturday June 22, 2002 @02:27PM (#3749623) Homepage
    "Sorry, this fridge does not accept cookies. If you want this fridge to accept cookies, please adjust your security settings, close the door and try again."

  • Just because you can do something, does not mean you have to.

    Sometimes we geeks end up doing things just because we can, often without giving a thought about what would such a device achieve.

    Time & money on technology that could be better spent otherwise.

    :-/
  • I don't spend any significant amount of time in front of the fridge. I other words - why should my fridge be smart?

    On the other hand, I have any amount of recipe books which get dirtier each time they are used. I want a webpad with my recipes (fetched from a cache on my stationary box), able to control the volume of MP3 playback on my stereo, which can take spashes of water, being dropped on the floor, with a barcode reader for handling those pesky EAN-128 codes which will probably be used for quality info fairly soon (see the EAN barcode FAQ [ean-int.org] for more info) and which doesn't have a clunky keyboard, thank you very much.

    Oh, and it should be dirt cheap.

  • boo to titanium on fridges (Score:3, Funny)

    by colmore ( 56499 ) on Saturday June 22, 2002 @02:54PM (#3749692) Journal
    Ok, it can keep a calendar, it can leave messages, it can play MP3s, etc. etc

    but thanks to the titanium finish:

    YOU CAN'T PUT MAGNETS ON IT!!!!

    what kind of world is this?

  • I fridge is a storage device, not a communications device. Any internet appliances built into it should build on the storage aspect of the fridge. There is nothing mentioned about a barcode scanner that would make it conveinent for making an inventory. There are very few markets that have grocery delivery of ordering via the internet and we don't know if the exsisting services will work with this system.

    The ability to leave notes for the kids is novel but the display is too low for most adults and unless that screen tilts outword, it would be difficult to write on.

    People don't normally read recipes off the fridge. The store them on the fridge under a magnet but take it off to actually cook so they don't have to walk back and forth to the fridge. Again the screen height doesn't help here.

    Many of the food storage features for freshness are already available on many existing refridgerators like GE and Maytag.

    It's a big toy for the wealthy that have money to burn on such things. The Titanium finish problably wont match most kitchen styles either IMO. Internet Appliances haven't historically done well. I don't believe this one will either in the mass market.
  • Isn't that the only way to run AMD's latest offerings?
  • I wouldn't mind having a fridge that does this. it would be cool if you could get a recipe a day sent to you fridge and then when you come home the fridge has already ordered the ingredients to make that meal. and it counts calories for you.
  • There is a lot of information that is mandatory to put on food today. In EU, this includes an expiration date and list of ingredients (and batch number in some countries), but none of this information can be scanned automatically by the barcode reader in these new fridges.

    What we need is a new legislation that makes all food carry this kind of information in machine-readable forms, so that these possibilities become reality:

    - When you open the fridge in the morning, the fridge tells you that the milk is too old.
    - Visually impaired users can scan the food they take out and get the list of ingredients displayed with large fonts.
    - The batch number of the products can be checked via the internet, so that if a company needs to withdraw some food from the market, all fridges that contain that food will issue a warning to the user.
    - Users with food allergies can make the fridge warn if the product they scan contains ingredients that the user cannot eat.

    The ingredients list can be retrieved via the internet, but that would make correct fridge operation dependent on a stable internet connection.
  • What was the name of that site, the one where you plugged in your favorite music and it made recommendations? The one bought out by napster before they flushed themselves down the loo? Oh yes, giga-beat.com

    I'd like to see something like that, where it works out what your culinary/alimentary preferences are, and when.

    Heck, it'd even be fun to tweak...

    Couple that to the ability to order the requisite items, and you're actually self-sufficient; no more wife needed! Amazing!

    Hey, waitasecond. You can't have sex with a fridge...

    Bummer.

  • This is dumb, why not just make an attachable flat/touch screen system that you can put where ever and have sensors or whatever that communicate with it....

    Lets' face it, the computer industry is running out of steam and I bet the idea is to force it on people by removing the options to get otherwise.

    not to mention the monthly internet connect charges

  • Whenever a company comes up with something like this, I have to wonder if somebody really is putting LSD in our water supply.
    • Whenever a company comes up with something like this, I have to wonder if somebody really is putting LSD in our water supply.

      Whenever a company comes up with something like this, it's another sign that nobody needs to... people are nuts enough already.

      :)

      (BTW, I was surpised to see this on /. -- it's been plugged quite a lot in TV commercials here in Australia over the last six months or more, I would have thought that this would have already been posted if it interested people...)

  • Yet another way to pee away hours and hours of your life accomplishing nothing useful. Then your kid uses a magnet to put up his latest drawing and scrambles the whole system.

    Really, was this designed by Microsoft? Why must every appliance do everything. Can't we have simple devices that do one job well?

  • Just think of the possibilities for this, especially if there's also a webcam on the thing. You can use the TV functions to watch Iron Chef [ironchef.com] while you're cooking, or have the refrigerator tell you what the Mystery Ingredient you'll be using for dinner tonight will be, or if you've got a high-speed net connection (which anybody spending money on this overpriced toy probably does ;-), you can run your own Iron Chef game with your friends....
  • This is one casemod story that I don't mind reading :-)
  • This fridge is amazing, I'll give it that, but if you really want to have a f'in fridge then this [gaggenau.com], by Gaggenau is the god of fridges. I can't even explain, just go look.

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