Notifications, control remotely, diagnostics etc
All that, plus info on usage patterns which the manufacturers will use for design and marketing purposes.
Plus the enviros will eventually want to control your power and water usage and hours of operation. Califirnia will probably require every lighting fixture, faucet, and appliance from an electric toothbrush on up to be grid connected. And it will tax usage.
spying, use patterns, data collection..
once it’s got access to your network it can be very nosy.
I live in an apartment complex, unfortunately, with no in-unit washers and dryers but the laundry room is on the same floor and one apartment door away. The laundry room and the machines are kept clean and in good condition.
I used to live in this very same building some 10 years ago but up on the 3rd floor and schlepping my laundry and laundry supplies down 2 flights of stairs only to find all the machines in use was the pits. Then there was trying get enough quarters together (no change machine), paying with cash - trying figure out how to get the max number of quarters back in change or going to the bank to get rolls of quarters.
Sometimes I used to pack my laundry and supplies into my car when I left for work in the AM and then hit a laundromat on the way home and I hated it.
Now the laundry rooms in my apartment complex uses CSC Service Works and it’s great!
https://www.cscsw.com/welcome/
OK. The machines are not using my personal WiFi (unless you consider that my phone is using my WiFi as it usually is when I’m home) but I did have to download their app to my phone.
But using the app, I can see if washers and dryers are available or in use. I can pay by scanning a QC code on the machine (no more hoarding quarters) and I can easily replenish my account, and I get notifications when the washing machine or dryer is done or see how many minutes are left. I can even add more time to the dryers in 5-minute increments.
I still hate doing laundry but not nearly as much.
The one thing about the app is I do get push notifications from CSC on cross promotions and contests for laundry credits, but they also sometimes send me a notification - “Looks like it’s been a while since you’ve done laundry” and I feel very seen. LOL!