EDIT: A rough timeline of events here:
- In 2024, a user noticed this odd traffic on their local network, took a screenshot of the graph, and posted it to Twitter
- After discussing the issue with other Twitter users, the original poster realized that this graph was actually a mistake with their router or something. This reporting software was reporting some other device's network traffic as being the washing machine's traffic. The washing machine was actually only using a reasonable amount of data.
- Despite this past revelation, in 2026, someone put together a "meme" of sorts comparing past predictions of the future to that 2024 graph
- For whatever reason, that "meme" was put through AI post-processing of some sort. Was the attempt to "upscale" this image after it had been passed around and been automatically compressed down by various platforms? Was it someone using some newfangled AI-assisted compression technique in an attempt to create a smaller file size than any of the more traditional compression techniques? No idea. For whatever reason, it seems someone put it through some sort of AI post-processing that left the image with some nonsense text on the graph portion.
- I saw this "meme" and decided to share it here without scrutinizing the text on the graph. As mentioned in my first point, this graph was originally posted years ago, so I was already familiar with it and did not feel the need to read into it in the image I was sharing. I felt safe assuming it was just the same graph that I remember seeing years back.
- After users here called out the nonsense text, I just recreated the "meme" from scratch. I grabbed the original screenshot of the graph from Twitter and a stock photo of clouds, and just placed some text on the image so that this is more-or-less the same exact "meme", but without the AI gibberish
It's not the same (I have that setup for the washing machine which doesn't have wifi). You just get on/off status and power usage, enough for notifications alone. You don't get other info, or control. Like start the dishwasher remotely on a fast cycle because unexpected guests. Or on the eco cycle when solar power is available. Or pre-heat the oven when leaving the store with frozen pizzas.
It's not a must have thing, but a nice comfort feature.
Yeah all this sounds really nice for with a home assistant setup. I'd love to be able to start my washing machine to start while I'm at work so it's done when I get home and can throw it in to the dryer real quick even though I'm busy that day.
Yeah nah they're not big enough carrots for the concerns introduced
What exactly are the concerns?
Privacy concerns, unecessary technical faultpoints, ownership and control concerns, security vulnerabilities (that then offer a jump point to compromise the rest of the network), bullshit repair hampering....
I volunteer my private information. Here it is for you too: I run the dishwasher at 55C in eco mode which takes 4h and 5 minutes. There, now the whole internet knows about it. It doesn't have a camera pointed at my bed, it's a dishwasher.
The wifi is not needed for it to work, it's an addictional interface. If anything it provides redundancy, in case some of the buttons (which are exposed to water and chemicals) fail.
All my IoT devices are in a separate vlan and ssid, so security doesn't worry me much
And regarding repair, I chose this brand because they offer replacement parts even for 20 year old appliances, with manuals how to repair it yourself. And again, if the wifi fails I will still have the buttons.
Bud.
I told you i don't want to connect my dishwasher to the internet. In fact i was fairly emphatic about how much that was Not Going To Happen
Me giving you reasosn was a courteous reaponse to an inquiry, not an invitation to proselytise.
You're getting weirdly insistent at this point. You do you, i'm not doing it. Respect that.
I never said that you should, THAT is a super weird take. I'm explaining MY reasoning to do it, the carrots are more than enough for me.
Do you always think that people talk about you in particular when discussing technology online?
any kind of unified interface for all those smart gadgets?
Home assistant