Quote:
Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy
Wonderful!!! But I'll ask you again - why not make an appliance that is reliable?
The answer that you aren't willing to state is, of course, that repair is a major revenue stream. In many industries the parts/repair aspect of the business is actually more profitable than the OEM side. This feature doesn't help the consumer, it makes the repair process easier and reduces comebacks for the repairman. So you are essentially trying to shove a BS marketing message down the throats of some fairly intelligent people. Not a very good approach here.
So to restate my case (and the case of many on here) - I won't give you another dime for these features. In fact, I will actively avoid them because they add complexity and represent another feature to break. If I happen to have this functionality in my next appliance (like my washer and dryer do) I will not bother to connect them, because it is worthless to me and I don't want to give my appliance the ability to gather my data.
I wish every manufacturer of consumer goods would take a page from Apple. Simple, intuitive design, quality construction, attractive industrial design. Quality still sells, though gimmicks are easy.
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hah, this cracks me up. I can just picture you back at the turn of the century . . "Gosh durn, those horseless carriages . . screw 'em. Ford and those other bastards are just trying to take my hard earned money."
Despite the fact you don't get it, in a few years you'll look back and realize you were in a minority.
Over 60% of the people that buy high end appliances also have a vacation home that are equip with similar appliances. As an example, in those homes having the ability for their fridge to send an alert when the freezer is about to fail and spoil hundreds of dollars of food would be immensely helpful, as well as having a dish washer that can send an alert when it develops a leak and poses the danger of destroying a homeowner's floor.
And to correct your misunderstanding, very few high end appliance manufactures own the service companies that service their appliances. There is a very large industry of independent companies that do that. The manufacturers have to cover the warranty work so instead of it being a revenue source, it represents the single biggest cost item to a manufacturer. Effectively using technology to reduce service calls benefits both the manufacturer as well as the appliance owner.
And lastly, I find it amusing that you think appliances should be so bulletproof that they should be immune from failure. I think it's impossible to come up with even a single example of a product that doesn't face that risk. Even iphones break from time to time. Just pop into a Genius Bar to see how many fail.