Anders Hansen (4/10/2011)
I think there are many good reasons for connecting things to the internet, and to let them be computer controlled.Not to ruin your wind shield story - but I really like the wipers in our car. They are connected to a sensor, and start wiping if the windows get wet. This allows me to keep my limited focus on the road. And the wipers are just a small part. I believe that all these small things in cars can help us focus more on the road and drive safer.
But I totally agree, that when they mess up and need to recall cars because of what must be a critical error in the wiper software - then something might not be as decoupled as it should have been. And sooner or later we will all be driving autonomous cars - and then we can start worrying about software bugs... 🙂
For the other "connected" items, I would agree that maybe the washing machine isn't the most obvious. But still there could be some features which could come in handy. You could start the machine when you start driving home from work (even when you don't know when work is done), it could call on service if some small problem has occurred, instead of today where they just keeps going and then breaks completely (good for the environment I guess), receive updates to the built-in programs to be more efficient (in strong opposition to the "If it ain't broken, don't fix it" rule), etc.
But we need to remember that no matter how much we test our software, when we move from mechanical controlled to software controlled we will introduce some new risk, and some new bugs. And those can be hard to fix in e.g. a non-connected washing machine.
/Anders
Maybe I'm over-simplifying but you don't need a computer to interface the sensor to your windshield wipers to have it work. You also don't need a computer to turn the lights of your car on when you drive into a dark spot. A simple sensor will do that without the need for a computer.
I subscribe to a satellite TV company. One of the requirements to "get the discount" is to always have the receiver connected to the phone line. I had to run that phone line because one didn't exist where the TV was.
And what would they do to the software running a washing machine? Change the timers? That justifies a full time internet connection? And it won't fix the most common aliment of having the little cross of rubber between the motor and the clutch wearing out even on computer controlled washers.
I love technology. It's been used to do some pretty good things. I just think people are getting carried away with its implementation in a lot of areas.
--Jeff Moden
Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.