When a company says it has "no plans" to enshittify its product, you should take that to mean it will proceed fairly soon with enshittification.
Today's example is Samsung:
https://www.theverge.com/news/780757/samsung-brings-ads-to-us-fridges
Discussion
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@dangillmor I would hang something to cover the screen - bulletin board, calendar, picture of my dog, and turn the volume down or muffle the speaker if simply disconnecting from the internet wasn't a workable solution,
If there are adverts then you can bet there are cameras - I would make sure cameras were rendered useless without destroying them.
A better solution is to buy an older fridge without the intrusive add-ons.
@dangillmor Intrusive stuff has increased the value of used (non-intrusive) used cars. It may do the same for appliances.
There are those that are taken in by the bright shiny aspects of the industrial waste called AI enhanced. They will take longer to awaken to the new world order devastation
Other than that, how was the play?.
@dangillmor Who asked for this? Which customers really want to be bombarded with ads in their kitchen? What *I* want is peace and quiet in my living area, thank you very much.
@dangillmor @pluralistic talked about steps a founder or initial company board can take to prevent this sort of thing. You make it "rip the eyeballs and tongue" painful to do if it happens when the company is founded.
It won't stop future Boards or CEOs from trying such shit to "enhance shareholder value" (bullshit--they're often lining their pocket, plain and simple). There are lots of Reedit stories of benevolent HOAs or original company owners retiring only to have the organization enshitify, thereby moving the story forward.
All it takes is a sociopath taking over an organization to make it happen.
@dangillmor I can't wait for the cheaper but nearly identical fridge that won't let you open the door until you watch the whole ad.
@dangillmor I suspect that iceboxes will make a comeback
@dangillmor there's a simple solution for that: don't give Internet access to your appliances.
One thing I'm wondering though, and my experience on the topic may be obsolete... But IIRC ads are normally served directly from 3rd party ad platforms, that's how they can register impressions, but that's an attack vector as well. How are they implementing it exactly?
If they do it this way, how long until fridges become a massive botnet??
@dangillmor This is why I prefer dumb fridges. Indeed, all kinds of dumb appliances.
@dangillmor
Was the screen ever useful for anything other than ads?
My fridge has no screen, and it does everything I'd expect of a fridge.
I guess fridges are the second common consumer appliance to push ads into the household? TVs being the first.
@dangillmor they should focus on making a refrigerator that works . My ice machine is always broken.