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xkcd #3109: Dehumidifier (imgs.xkcd.com)

submitted 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) by xkcdbot@lemmy.world to c/xkcd@lemmy.world

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xkcd #3109: Dehumidifier

Title text:

It's important for devices to have internet connectivity so the manufacturer can patch remote exploits.

Transcript:

[A store salesman, Hairy, is showing Cueball a dehumidifier, with a "SALE" label on it. Several other unidentified devices, possibly other dehumidifier models, are shown in the store as well.]

Salesman: This dehumidifier model features built-in WiFi for remote updates.
Cueball: Great! That will be really useful if they discover a new kind of water.

Source: https://xkcd.com/3109/

explainxkcd for #3109

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[–] ArchmageAzor@lemmy.world 7 points 23 hours ago

There must be some way to remove the "smart" controller from a device and replace it with a dumb one, like an arduino or something. I want to lobotomize these devices.

[–] Simulation6@sopuli.xyz 6 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I bought a washer that has wifi connectivity. It want to texts me or something when the cycle is finished and doesn't even seem to have a 'play a loud beep when done' option. How does this make any sense at all?

[–] ArchmageAzor@lemmy.world 7 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

My brother in christ, you bought the machine

[–] Railcar8095@lemmy.world 6 points 23 hours ago

I think we aren't yet used to machines fucking us over in unexpected ways for that sweet sweet spying/ad revenue.

Like, who would have asked 10 years ago "will my TV show extra ads?". Now it's hard to get one that doesn't have them. And dishwashers are next

[–] jwmgregory@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

How does this make any sense at all?

I bought a washer that has wifi connectivity.

[–] Simulation6@sopuli.xyz 1 points 15 hours ago

Ok sure. What I really did was buy a new washer that was on sale and I got $100 off. Maybe I will have it connect to my neighbors WiFi, since they never secured it.

[–] MITM0@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I mean there's heavy water

[–] mEEGal@lemmy.world 1 points 20 hours ago

which we already know of, innit ?

[–] oyzmo@lemmy.world 20 points 2 days ago (1 children)

But does it have AI?

[–] tempest@lemmy.ca 6 points 1 day ago

You joke but my dehumidifier has an automatic comfort mode of some sort.

I guarantee that next run will have that button with screen print AI something something above it instead.

[–] PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I'm still trying to figure out my network settings so that I can have my IoT one one network while still being able to access my home assistant from the other network.

Unfortunately, my ISP is also my cable company, and I have to use their modem/router combo else the cable boxes won't accept the cable signal. I'm using my own wireless access point (which also doubles as a switch for the handful of Ethernet devices I have), and it can split off a separate SSID, but that's not really doing much.

[–] bulwark@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I have a separate IoT network. It's basically just a guest wifi for IoT. Anything coming in on that network gets a VLAN tag and only previous & established connections can get out. Honestly, it's kinda a pain in the ass with homeassistant because I keep HA on the other network so I have to manually find devices. It might be easier to just block it at the ip level or blacklist outgoing ip ranges to Tuya or whatever.

[–] c10l@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

I have HA on a separate VLAN from IoT devices and have set up mDNS reflection so it can find them.

[–] jballs@sh.itjust.works 42 points 2 days ago (8 children)

I got new appliances a couple weeks ago and they're all "smart". Turns out a smart microwave just sends you a phone notification when it's done. By default.

As someone with multiple people living in the house, I can confidently say this is the dumbest "smart" feature ever. Promptly disabled.

[–] ayyy@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

How long are people microwaving things to the point where that is useful??!

[–] WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works 2 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

if it don't complete under a Tiktok I ain't waiting!

[–] joenforcer@midwest.social 2 points 22 hours ago

You joke but attention spans are so pitifully short after the brain rot exacerbated by rapid-fire on-demand content that I'm sure plenty of people have started a microwave, wandered away, and completely forgot about it.

[–] space_iio@sopuli.xyz 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

As someone who hates appliances beeping, I love push notifications

I'm so tired at things beeping at me

[–] veni_vedi_veni@lemmy.world 19 points 2 days ago (7 children)

Any appliance with IoT is a value-subtract.

They do it so in the future they can monetize you in perpetuity in some way

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[–] JordanZ@lemmy.world 9 points 2 days ago (3 children)

My appliances are ‘smart’ but I didn’t bother actually connecting them to my WiFi. I guess preheating the oven remotely could be cool(?) but nah.

The stuff I do use…

The microwave above the stove can talk via Bluetooth(no app or phone involvement at all). Turn on a burner and you can set it to turn on the light and/or vent fan. Another nicety is being able to set the clock on the stove with the full keypad and it just syncs to the microwave.

[–] ayyy@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Remote preheating sounds like a terrible idea. What if you mistakenly left something in there?

[–] WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works 2 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago)

we need to add cloud connected cameras! oh and AI detection, that prevents you turning it on even if it's empty, but also if there's no network or if you need to do your yearly password update

[–] joenforcer@midwest.social 1 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

Who mistakenly leaves things in an oven?

[–] ayyy@sh.itjust.works 0 points 19 hours ago

Well, there was at least that one time

[–] ApatheticCactus@lemmy.world 8 points 2 days ago (1 children)

The only smart thing I'd want an oven to do would be to turn itself off. That's it, really. Did I leave the oven on after I left the house? Easy fix. Otherwise everything else is pretty much useless.

[–] Schadrach@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 1 day ago

I don't know, I wouldn't mind also being able to tell it to start to preheat while I'm on my way home. Would save a chunk of time if I could literally walk in the door and throw the food in the oven without the extra wait for it to preheat which is usually long enough to be annoying but not long enough to do anything else.

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[–] originalucifer@moist.catsweat.com 78 points 2 days ago (32 children)

welll........ devils advocate.. i could see the wifi being used so the device can be incorporated into the home automation system [climate control]. its not about dehumidifying, its solely about engaging the dehumidifying as needed.

[–] NocturnalMorning@lemmy.world 131 points 2 days ago (15 children)

Yeah, or the manufacturer bricks the device bcz they want to sell you a new one.

[–] Badabinski@kbin.earth 30 points 2 days ago (10 children)

That's why projects like this are great: https://github.com/Hypfer/esp8266-midea-dehumidifier

My Midea Cube dehumidifier can never be bricked and will never send data outside of my home. It talks to Home Assistant via MQTT and nothing else.

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[–] blackbelt352@lemmy.world 46 points 2 days ago (28 children)

Dehumidifiers already do that. They're equipped with hygrometers that kick the machine on or off depending on the relative humidity. It's old tech and it's pretty reliable, wifi isn't really necessary for it.

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[–] yucandu@lemmy.world 58 points 2 days ago (12 children)

Meanwhile here I am installing ESP32C3's into everything in my house to automate everything.

I can turn on my floor heat, hallway light, or even open a vent from an app on my phone. And bonus, no shady manufacturers to spy on me. Just China.

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[–] pedz@lemmy.ca 24 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Do they have a model with AI?

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[–] ClydapusGotwald@lemmy.world 42 points 2 days ago (11 children)

I’ve looked into many WiFi dehumidifier’s and the one thing I wanted from it was to notify my phone if it’s full. None of them do that. All they do is let you change speed and stuff. Nothing that is important to me. I just want to know if I need to go to the basement and empty it or not.

[–] joenforcer@midwest.social 1 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

Pet Wirecutter, Midea and Frigidaire both have smart options that have full bucket notifications. It's baffling that they don't advertise that feature in their product listings, though.

[–] ClydapusGotwald@lemmy.world 1 points 22 hours ago

Welp if they don’t advertise it I’m not going to buy it. I bought the “dumb” Frigidaire because the smart features they list are just turn on and off and fan speed. Why wouldn’t they list full bucket ffs. Oh well time to diy solution it.

[–] LilaOrchideen@feddit.org 22 points 2 days ago

I put mine on a zigbee plug into my home assistant (docker on nas), and created an automation to notify me when the power consumption drops below 1 W or so (lower than when it's only running the fan when the hunidity is near setpoint). All local, works so far.

[–] TeddE@lemmy.world 24 points 2 days ago

Right? Like half of what I want from these things is when is the battery low? When is the outbox full? When is the feeder empty? And metrics to verify the device is generally operating safely.

Controlling the device? We've known how to do that for 50+ years. Help me maintain the device.

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[–] PieMePlenty@lemmy.world 11 points 2 days ago (1 children)

If I can turn it on remotely, that's a good feature. I have solar, I want it to work when the sun is out and I'm producing excess energy.
Yes, I know I can use other peripherals to do this (sometimes) but its always nicer if its just built in so I don't need to waste carbon on other things.

The only thing I want when manufacturers add wifi to these things is to appeal to open source principles like allowing us to connect to it and communicate with it openly and not tie it down to some cloud service they run.

[–] nef@slrpnk.net 5 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Why not plug a dumb dehumidifier into a Home Assistant controlled outlet?

[–] PieMePlenty@lemmy.world 7 points 2 days ago

Yes, this is generally what can be done. Disadvantages include:

having to buy yet another device
knowing which dehumidifier will start working as soon as it gets electricity. The ones sold in my country are all no name brands with little information if they will work or not and few spec sheets.

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