Amazon is Working on a Smart Fridge That Tracks What's Inside (techcrunch.com) 105
Amazon is reportedly aiming to bring some of the tech it uses at cashierless Amazon Go stores to your kitchen. According to Insider, the company has been working on a smart fridge that can monitor items and help you order replacements if you're running low on something. From a report: The team behind the Amazon Go systems is said to be heading the charge on the project, which has been in the works for at least two years. The Just Walk Out tech used at Go stores tracks what shoppers put in their carts and automatically charges them when they leave. Members of the Amazon Fresh and Lab126 hardware teams are reportedly involved with the fridge project too. The fridge would monitor the items inside and keep tabs on your purchasing habits, according to the report. If you run low on something you buy frequently, the fridge would notify you and make it easier to order more from Whole Foods or Amazon Fresh, which could give the company's grocery division a boost. The fridge could offer recipe suggestions too, which may prove useful if you forget about an item that's about to expire.
More surveillance ... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:More surveillance ... (Score:5, Funny)
If they find out how much cheese I have I'm screwed.
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I'm thinking this will be used against people found keeping dead animals in their fridge. In the Green New World, everybody should be eating methaneless soy meat-substitutes from your approved Bill Gates laboratory. Anyone caught doing otherwise shall be sent to the nearest re-education camp.
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from a company that's already a surveillance giant. Can't wait until they market the data to your health insurance company or car insurance company (if there's alcohol).
Pretty soon they'll know when you last took a beer or bottle of wine out of the fridge and what time you got in your car afterwards.
Law enforcement will automatically have the right to subpoena that information because DUI is a crime.
You can see where this is leading.
(and not a single person will complain...)
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Post apocalyptic surveillance state concerns aside, it would appear that your argument is based on the idea that drinking and driving should be OK if you can get away with it. Perhaps this is why not a single person is complaining... because the rest of us realize it's wrong?
Re: More surveillance ... (Score:3)
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Because if your friends are worth a damn... they'd already have beers in their fridge. /s
Re: More surveillance ... (Score:2)
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You need better friends.
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What if you took beers out to go to friends house?
You're not fooling anybody. Alexa hears you cracking the tab and slurping.
Besides, nobody loads their car up with beer one can at a time and nobody takes out a six pack to go and watch TV - they'd get warm.
Re: More surveillance ... (Score:2)
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20 years ago I'd have loved to have something like this fridge. Nobody had heard of the cloud and it would all have worked locally, since smartphones didn't exist and internet was dial-up.
Today there's no way I'd even consider it.
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I can't remember when I first got 512kb broadband in the UK, but I'm sure it was after 2001. That year I bought a high speed serial card for my Amiga to get more speed from my modem.
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And isn't this just sad?
The dreams we had in the past are the nightmares we have today and the reality our future will be.
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In the plus side the mass production of these devices means they are cheap, so if you are willing to replace the firmware or otherwise hack them you can realise your dreams.
A great example is Home Assistant and the Tasmota firmware for ESP32 based devices.
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Unless of course you live in a jurisdiction where even attempting to own the device you pay for is a crime.
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from a company that's already a surveillance giant. Can't wait until they market the data to your health insurance company or car insurance company (if there's alcohol).
This is assuming telemetry is collected and then sold to 3rd parties. It doesn't necessarily have to be like that, and quite frankly, I'm more concerned with FB doing that than with Amazon (if we really look at things objectively.)
I wouldn't mind a fridge that could keep an automatic inventory, or at least a ballpark of what's in it, how long till expiration date for things.
There are some productivity opportunities here.
Sometimes I make a stop by Costco or a supermarket because it is on my way to where
The talented folks at Amazon (Score:5, Insightful)
Have come up with yet another product I wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole. Not only is it intrusive, it tries to steer the customer towards more Amazon businesses, and if it's as clueless as Amazon product recommendations, it would be good for a chuckle but litte else.
It's also impressive that Amazon wants the customer to pay for this product. Amazon should pay you to accept a marketing bot into your kitchen.
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Amazon should pay you to accept a marketing bot into your kitchen.
Knowing Amazon, they'll offer you an "ad free" version for a higher price like they did with their kindles
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Have come up with yet another product I wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole. Not only is it intrusive, it tries to steer the customer towards more Amazon businesses, and if it's as clueless as Amazon product recommendations, it would be good for a chuckle but litte else.
It's also impressive that Amazon wants the customer to pay for this product. Amazon should pay you to accept a marketing bot into your kitchen.
No Alexa owner has ever devoted a single brain cell to this "problem".
The fridge will be no different.
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Have come up with yet another product I wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole.
Ya, but how long will it be before *everyone* makes Amazon/Alexa enabled appliances and people that don't want this crap in their homes have to search to find one w/o it...? Or if you have to buy one, it won't work properly unless the "feature" is enabled...?
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Fantastic business opportunity: Rooting refrigerators.
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Fantastic business opportunity: Rooting refrigerators.
Would be better for my waistline than rooting around in them ... :-)
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Agreed. The last thing I want is a fridge telling me my heirloom vegemite jar is out of date.
What I really really want is a reverse microwave - something that's as easy and cheap to run as a microwave and can make stuff cold very fast - eg for quickly cooling down a drink or making instant ice or frozen deserts.
Even better if they can make it a combination "reverse cycle" microwave that can do both functions so I don't need another gadget taking up bench space.
And a smart toaster that tweets at you (Score:2)
when your toast is toasted.
Tweeting while toasted...that might get you cancelled...
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You just wait 'til your toilet automatically tweets your latest shit, for everyone to like and retweet, and to reply with their own turds.
Would this work with a packed fridge? (Score:5, Insightful)
I wonder how many of these ideas just assume you have some showroom fridge with some butter, milk and juice in it and that's about it.
Here in the real world by fridge varies from somewhat empty where I can see most if it, to extremely packed with a variety of leftovers. Even when it's "empty" there are shelves with things like a number of different cheeses all packed around each other, or a shelf was various condiment jars all packed together.
How is any system supposed to see any of that, or understand something like how close an opaque mustard bottle is to empty? Even with cameras and scales on every shelf I can't come up with a way that would work well at all.
I also think any computer based fridge tracking system would recoil in horror at the age of some items...
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"Hotdog"
"Not hotdog"
Re:Would this work with a packed fridge? (Score:5, Interesting)
You bring up a really good point.
The way I envisioned this working is that it would use RFIDs or something similar to detect "inventory" in the fridge and then would monitor patterns in that inventory over time so that when an item is no longer "in stock", and it is a frequently used item, it could recommend that replacements be ordered. I suppose if it's detecting patterns then it could "predict" when you might be close to out of something based on previous purcahsing habits.
This might work for certain items like condiments or eggs. But people buy ingredients, use those ingredients to make stuff and then fill their fridge with left-overs packaged in reusable containers or zip-lock bags etc. Even the use of ingredients like eggs varies. Maybe one weekend you decide to do a ton of baking and need a dozen eggs but week to week it depends on what you feel like eating for breakfast on any given day.
For people like me, I've been known to have to throw ketchup out because it sat in my fridge for years. I don't have a lot of stuff that comes in packages, but instead stuff like fresh meat and veggies that is sold by weight.
Anyway, the whole idea of a "smart" fridge seems like something that sounds great to the product owners at companies but that there can't be much of a real-world market for. The thinking behind these is obvious: "How can we get people to buy more stuff?" From an end-user perspective, there's nothing here that improves my life in any way shape or form.
Forget the privacy concerns, do we really want fridges advertising to us? That's literally all smart fridges have to offer unless I'm missing something.
Yes, what is the real use? (Score:1)
The thinking behind these is obvious: "How can we get people to buy more stuff?" From an end-user perspective, there's nothing here that improves my life in any way shape or form.
That's where I am at with these things as well, there is nothing with smart fridges that is of the slightest interest to me.
Possibly the only advancement in refrigerator technology I would find useful, is better circulation within a fridge under all conditions - so even in an packed fridge cooling was uniform, or at least distribut
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Forget the privacy concerns, do we really want fridges advertising to us? That's literally all smart fridges have to offer unless I'm missing something.
Not a single Alexa owner has ever worried about that and Alexa is constantly listening to what's being said in your house and logging all your instructions.
What's a stupid fridge compared to that?
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The way I envisioned this working is that it would use RFIDs or something similar to detect "inventory" in the fridge and then would monitor patterns in that inventory over time so that when an item is no longer "in stock", and it is a frequently used item, it could recommend that replacements be ordered. I suppose if it's detecting patterns then it could "predict" when you might be close to out of something based on previous purcahsing habits.
For people like me, I've been known to have to throw ketchup out because it sat in my fridge for years.
That won't happen any more. This fridge will tell you exactly when the ketchup expires. Every day you'll get up and the fridge will nag you about what needs throwing out.
Phase two of "smartfridge" will be to gradually start reducing the expiry dates until people are constantly throwing away perfectly good food and ordering replacements.
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That won't happen any more. This fridge will tell you exactly when the ketchup expires. Every day you'll get up and the fridge will nag you about what needs throwing out.
Don't forget about the part where every day you don't obey the fridge request to dispose of items, your social credit score is reduced!
Or if you have too many sodas...
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Joke's on them! I don't keep sodas in the fridge! Ha!
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That won't happen any more. This fridge will tell you exactly when the ketchup expires. Every day you'll get up and the fridge will nag you about what needs throwing out.
I'm sure it would. But not because it needed throwing out, but because it could get you to buy a replacement even though it didn't need throwing out. Food expiration labeling is generally very conservative, and many products are quite palatable, nutritious, and safe much longer than the listed date, and if it is in your refrigerator it is likely good for an even longer time, because "refrigeration".
If you threw out your ketchup in the fridge as soon as the expiration date passed (and assuming you refrigerat
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Expired! Expired! Expired!
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Ingre...di... what?
You assume that people don't just buy ready-to-heat stuff but cook themselves? How quaint! Next you think people make their own clothing and build their own furniture?
(and no, assembling IKEA crap does NOT count as building your own shelf)
Re: Would this work with a packed fridge? (Score:2)
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I wonder how many of these ideas just assume you have some showroom fridge with some butter, milk and juice in it and that's about it.
Here in the real world by fridge varies from somewhat empty where I can see most if it, to extremely packed with a variety of leftovers.
How is any system supposed to see any of that, or understand something like how close an opaque mustard bottle is to empty? Even with cameras and scales on every shelf I can't come up with a way that would work well at all.
All that stuff is probably past the ridiculously-short expiry date. This new fridge can tell you to throw it out if you try to use it.
"That product expired XX days ago. Are you sure you want to eat that?"
They'll even be able to adjust expiry dates and direness of warning messages dynamically according to how much the product manufacturers pay them.
It's always win-win when you're Amazon!
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They will know how much mustard is left by weighing it. Imagine that this thing works with the cloud. The cloud service could track what you buy from whole foods, so it knows, by weight, what you put in there. If the scales on the shelves in the fridge are sensitive enough, it could easily keep track by weight what you put in, what you take out, and guess make educated guesses about things like half-an-onion or leftovers.
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I've stopped using Amazon
The collapse of their search engine has made that a much easier decision. For many, perhaps most, products (in my experience) it has become impossible to conduct an effective search. All the tricks to try to narrow a search down to what you really want (multiple specific terms, using quotes, using minuses, etc.) all fail now because the search engine just ignores them.
It appears the way it often works now is that it has products classified in broad categories, and if you search for something specific it ret
Not only No! (Score:4, Insightful)
But, hell no!
stop buying spyware (Score:2)
IRS in my bank Now Amazon and FDA in my Fridge? (Score:1)
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don't worry taxpayer, your FEMA accommodations will definitely include such perks.
people who bought (Score:5, Funny)
You are getting low on Ketchup!
People that bought Ketchup also bought
https://www.amazon.com/Passion... [amazon.com]
There have to be lots of fun ways to game this system.
Re: people who bought (Score:1)
This will work great (Score:2)
As long as you only eat MREs and buy single-serving packets of mayo.
Easier to just stick a chip in people's heads (Score:2)
Is there anything about people's lives that Amazon doesn't want to monitor?
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Yet another thing Musk is better at than Bezos?
Well now, if it really was a "smart" fridge ... (Score:5, Funny)
... when I am home alone, it would tell me that I couldn't have the casserole because it's for my wife's nurse buddies coming over on Thursday. I can't have the last two pieces of cooked bacon because she's making a quiche later. Oh, and she's saving the last bits of roast beef for dog treats. The Hungarian salami is for my son's school lunch because he doesn't like anything else.
It'll point me to the veggie crisper and remind me about healthy eating.
I'm not worried about the fridge gathering data for Bezos; it's the report it gives to she who must be obeyed that scares me.
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she who must be obeyed
The other Amazon in my life.
"Yes dear. More snu-snu."
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I was thinking more "Rumpole of the Baily" but "Futurama" works.
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er "Bailey"
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... when I am home alone, it would tell me that I couldn't have the casserole because it's for my wife's nurse buddies coming over on Thursday. I can't have the last two pieces of cooked bacon because she's making a quiche later. Oh, and she's saving the last bits of roast beef for dog treats. The Hungarian salami is for my son's school lunch because he doesn't like anything else.
It'll point me to the veggie crisper and remind me about healthy eating.
I'm not worried about the fridge gathering data for Bezos; it's the report it gives to she who must be obeyed that scares me.
If it were a SMART fridge it would blame the kid and cover for you . . .
The closest Whole Foods to where I live... (Score:2)
Is having my fridge order groceries for me supposed to be convenient or something?
Also, most of the stuff that I get from the grocer isn't kept in the fridge, it's either in the deep freeze (because the freezer section of the fridge is too small) or else stored in the pantry.
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it's either in the deep freeze (because the freezer section of the fridge is too small) or else stored in the pantry.
Don't worry, they're next on Amazon's to-do list.
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Amazon root cellar.
Cheap fridges using smart TV model? (Score:2)
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They'd probably just start including simple cell-network interfaces so you can't prohibit it from connecting to Amazon's servers. We consumers can't be trusted to act in our own best interests.
And lectures you about kale? (Score:2)
"Alexa, what's in my fridge?"
"Not enough kale. I've ordered some for you and canceled your birthday cake order."
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"You need to order more kale and butter."
Always cook kale in a bit of butter. It makes it easier to scrape off your plate into the garbage.
Advertising saw this first (Score:2)
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[Humour] I'm thinking that Dad might want a paternity test on his daughter, but that's just me....[/Humour]
Yo Grark
More waste of silicon (Score:2)
This is why we have silicon shortages. We build too much crap like this that eats up silicon and serves no other purpose than feeding laziness.
Every device in my house does not need a "brain" and "eyes".
My fan does not need internet connectivity.
I don't need to use my phone to turn on the lights..the light switch works perfectly fine.
Refrigerator Platform Lock-in (Score:2)
I'm tired of this reactive tech (Score:2)
We need proactive tech.
Introducing Amazon Anal! A smart probe which, when it detects that you might need to "see a man about a dog", verifies how much toilet paper you have - and, if necessary, automatically schedules an immediate drone delivery of a replacement package!
But Amazon Anal is not a one-trick pony. Amazon Anal can monitor common health conditions, such as hemmorhoids, making sure you have adequate Preparation H (Amazon's Choice!) on hand. And, for a small additional monthly subscription, Amazon
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That's why I became a computer scientist (Score:4, Insightful)
To create a Smart Kitchen Drawer by Amazon that keeps track of the good forks.
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Python? Java? Haskell?
None of the above.
Ook! [wikipedia.org].
Oh good! (Score:1)
Another solution in need of a problem! Just when I thought we were running short of those.
If Facestagramapp would have stayed offline permanently, at least we'd have a few less to worry about.
I foresee court cases and reparations (Score:2)
> help you order replacements if you're running low on something
Way to go keeping alcoholics away from stopping, or to keeping those with eating disorders to, well, their disorders.
"I really tried quitting but that dang fridge...."
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Well, it's at least an excuse closer to reality than "the devil made me do it".
Just what someone on a diet needs (Score:2)
Who's the target market? (Score:2)
The obvious guess is affluent people, but they're buying fridges at least as much for their ability to integrate into designer kitchens as simply keeping stuff cold. SubZero has that market pretty well sewn up.
The next thing is that fridges are fucking expensive. Even regular ones that aren't SubZero, and the entry point for SubZero counter-depth fridges is like $10k. $25k+ isn't out of the line for 42" side by sides. Nobody is replacing a fridge to get Amazon inside.
And then there's all the people who
I would want something like this, but not this (Score:2)
I wouldn't mind having a fridge that knows what's inside it (or even lets me scan bar codes when I put something new in it), just so long as it was not Internet-connected. It would be handy to know when I'm low on something (but without telling Amazon...)
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The obsession with not doing... (Score:1)
Why is it better to not to have to remember? Or to cook? To walk?
I understand there is an advantage to have more convenient ways for doing things, like having a car to get around, but I really believe that too much of a good thing is bad. Now we have built our cities in such a way that two-hour commutes are considered normal, and we forgot how good is to live in a walkable city or town and not spend a big chunk of our day sitting in a moving box with wheels.
A similar thing is happening with smart applianc
Bad, bad idea (Score:2)
You have broccoli crumbs that leaked out of your bag. Your six-week-old cucumber is now liquid. Your old orange juice now has mold.
I would never go near my fridge again.
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Do I want to know what teledildonics is?
Bezos 9000(tm) at 3am (Score:2)
"Sorry Dave, I will not open the fridge bay doors. You cannot have cheesecake until you pay your Amazon bill for that vibrator."
well duh (Score:2)
They already need this to track inventory at their cashierless stores. If they want to roll out cashierless stores nationwide, they will need to mass produce them. If they do that, why not sell them to consumers as well.
All I know is ... (Score:2)
I'm pretty sure I know what the fridge door handle will look like.
(Imagine the Amazon Smile logo turned sideways.)
A boon to business. (Score:2)
Next, they will link up the refrigerator with your insurance company so that your healthcare insurance premiums are based on the food you are eating at home. What a wonderful thing IOT is!
How will it handle Tupperware? (Score:2)
Any fridge that can track the 167 little Tupperware containers in my fridge, some of which date back to the Pleistocene Era, gets my vote.
U 8 (Score:2)
U 8 cake. Your health insurance premium increases by $10/mo starting tomorrow.
Right, because you're too stupid to look in there (Score:2)
And yes, I do most of the food shopping. This is just another member of the Internet of Gratuitously Connected Insecure Things.
Are they guaranteeing bugfix and security upgrades for the life of the refrigerator... like, 15-20 years or more? I can tell you their response: "what's a firmware update?"
Fuck off, Amazon (Score:2)
That other company in your toilet (Score:1)