[rale00]

I can't imagine there's much value in LG knowing how often I wash my clothes.

On the other hand, it's nice to get a notification when the cycle is done if I'm on the other side of the house. Refrigerator sending a notification to my phone if the door isn't closed could come in handy some day too.

[justinl33]

Re: the refrigerator door. I’ve always wondered if just engineering a door that shuts itself is a better option here… like a servo that swings the door around enough to shut… what’s the overhead for either unnecessary piece of technology…

[joak]

Just incline your fridge a bit so the door closes on its own weight.

A no tech solution is better than a low tech solution.

[justinl33]

This doesn't work; the door needs to swing to 140 degrees, once it swings past this range, it would never be able to round the corner to close.

[askvictor]

What if there's an obstruction?

[xboxnolifes]

Then it won't be able to close.

[askvictor]

The main reason my fridge door doesn't close is if there's an obstruction. So a motor won't do much (unless its unreasonably strong). It's easy enough to adjust a fridge to tilt slightly backwards so gravity closes the door by itself.

[water-data-dude]

what if the cat’s inside?

[jcuenod]

Depends whether the cat is dead or alive

[GlibMonkeyDeath]

It's both

[Hamuko]

I've had an idea for the longest time to hook up a smart outlet to my washer and just monitor when it starts using a bunch of electricity and when it stops doing that. That way I could DIY myself washer notifications, since I never hear when the machine goes off and its time estimates are near useless.

[rale00]

If you decide to do that, make sure you use something rated to handle that kind of load. The cheaper ones really aren't meant for more than switching on and off some lights.

[Hamuko]

I actually have a Tapo P110 ready for it, just haven't gotten to the "doing" part of "do it yourself". It has "MAX 3680W - MAX 16A" printed below the socket, so I assume it's fine.

[LeafItAlone]

> I can't imagine there's much value in LG knowing how often I wash my clothes.

Depending on what their sensors can collect, usage data could certainly be helpful in building a more robust product.

[immibis]

LG doesn't care - the advertising industry does.

[bilsbie]

Both use cases could be done with simple speakers.

[adamrezich]

data is always valuable to someone. if you collect it, then you can sell it to someone who desires it.