Posted on 09/29/2026 10:56:48 AM PDT by george76
If anyone needs another reason not to buy a smart appliance, Samsung just pushed a toxic update to their smart fridge systems and bricked them all.
...
Affected fridges ‘suddenly lost power and stopped functioning immediately after' trying to issue a firmware update through SmartThings, Samsung's smart home platform. The SmartThings app then showed the devices as offline. Some users said that their fridge's internal display was stuck showing the message ‘Checking SmartThings app during update.'
Without refrigeration, the customers' food spoiled.
As a silver lining, the problem seems to be limited to South Korea.
...
The problem was exacerbated by the fact that the fridges all went down in the middle of Chuseok, the Korean harvest holiday.
Many customers are getting notices that Samsung won't be able to fix their fridges until mid-October, which should be ample time to find a dumb, mechanical refrigerator to replace those over-priced, big-brotheresque surveillance boxes.
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Didn’t know they made such a thing & now I’m wondering why.
Just because we can shove AI or other complex electronics into a gadget doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. I am amazed at how many people buy complicated stuff and then spend hours reading or watching instructions and tinkering with it to save 5 minutes of their time down the road.
I know a guy who ran the local Home Depot appliance department. He is now retired.
He said Samsung were by far the worst appliances.
They had by far the most amount of repairs. Second was LG.
He recommended that I never buy those brands.
Collecting consumer information and then selling it.
Never understood why you need a “smart” frig that takes pictures of your contents and tells you what to buy. I just keep thinking of the humans in the kids’ movie WALL-E. Ignorant lazy slobs that did whatever the color of the day told them to do.
We had to replace our Samsung washing machine after 5 years. Had our old Kenmore washing machine for 25 years.
Aren’t these homeowners satisfied with their phones, security systems, TV and WiFI systems spying on them? Do they need their appliances to do it too?
LG sold a bunch with a bad compressor design.
Also, LG has programmed their smart TVs to not only spy on you, but to use the smart TVs to use other wifi devices in the house as agents to spy on you in other rooms.
At this point, LG is on my ‘no buy’ list.
WALL-E was introducing us to the world of AI.
LoL
Modern doesn’t always mean better.
Sometimes it’s just plain disastrous.
Honestly Why TF would anyone even want a “smart” fridge or other appliance.
For folks who buy these things, when they break down, I am left with only the scene from airplane as my response...
“Shana, they bought their tickets, they knew what they were getting into. I say, let ‘em crash!”
Korean appliances are notoriously glitch prone. Korean stove and dishwasher survivor. Perhaps their phones are ok idk
Of cooking with spoiled food?
A preview of what an AI attack can do.
I buy the lowest level of appliances on the market, they last longer, they are a mostly a diy repair and when they wear out, they are cheaper to replace.
This is what happens when you think that your new technology is flawless. It’s a program, and programs are not always written perfectly.
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