>Maybe I need to see how many eggs I have left, or what temperature a corner of the fridge is, or have a way to tell when my milk is going bad?
And for the ability to do that without just... you know... opening the damned fridge you're willing to buy into the IoT. That's an insane tradeoff, for benefits the typical consumer would laugh at you for buying into.
Surely it would be useful to check fridge contents remotely while at the supermarket. Is it worth the (present) sacrifice of privacy and security? Imagine a fridge that is both secure and private... would you dismiss the feature then?
No, in that case it would be a fun, and potentially useful feature. That said, the use is extremely minimal, since it's really only a backup for poor planning. If you check the fridge before you shop (when making a list for example) you avoid all of this.
The truth is though, if you want a really secure fridge, it either needs to be much more expensive or... you know... just a fridge.
I haven't used a road atlas in 15 years and I stopped printing directions out 10 years ago, even for cross-country trips, because my phone is so reliable. Heck, I rarely even look up the address of where I'm going until I'm walking out the door. Is that a "backup for poor planning" or a paradigm shift?
"Extremely minimal" is debatable. You could make the same argument for GPS / phone map apps. Yes, of course you could have consulted a map before you left the house. The fact that we no longer have to is the benefit that technology has afforded us. Remote fridge viewing is in the same category.
Lets be real... GPS is a highly versatile tech that can keep time, coordinate global markets, makes Uber possible, enables GPS directions and let us not forget... also fairly useful in military applications.
A camera in your fridge, is a camera in your fridge. It serves one purpose, and it's the one you achieve by necessity every time you get anything from the fridge.
I think there's no way a camera in the fridge could do the job it needs to do (seeing through several shelves and inside drawers; not getting frosted over). I think we'd have to move to rfids on food packaging; akin to bar codes. This could help with the pantry as well.
Not sure it can help with food from your butcher or {cheese, fish}monger.
For unlabeled foods one can imagine "smart" bins capable of weighing their contents and communicating that measurement via bluetooth to the "smart" refrigerator.
How about if I'm already at the store? I can't check then. Things happen, and I don't always plan ahead with groceries. I feel like this shouldn't be a difficult concept...
And no, I'm not willing to buy into the IoT. Your talking about two different things. I'd love that on my network. Where I can control everything and use APIs to check myself. I'd never install something that had to go to the public internet.
I appreciate your condescension, but just because you don't have a use for something, or can't see how it can be done safely and well, doesn't mean nobody does.
And for the ability to do that without just... you know... opening the damned fridge you're willing to buy into the IoT. That's an insane tradeoff, for benefits the typical consumer would laugh at you for buying into.