Yeah, it was kind of like "Eh, I'm bored, I think I'll connect my fridge to the Internet. Oh, the software is shitty? Eh, don't think I'll bother."

If someone as geeky about this stuff as me thinks like this, there's no hope for connected appliances actually catching on anywhere.

I have a "smart" washer and dryer. I booted the companion app up, briefly considered what I was actually trying to do, and abandoned the whole thing. At least the things work just fine in an unconnected state.

Not to be all "get off my lawn", but some things don't need to be smart.

This is why I go out of my way to be appliances that have no "smart" capability whatsoever. They're useless and I'll probably never use it. I got my 55" TV for hundreds of dollars cheaper than the comparable "smart" varieties, simply because it only did the one thing it was any good at anyway: displaying video output.

The problem is, you'll likely get "smart" features thrown in "for free" (read priced into model) if you want a decent screen in the future.

In the future, yeah, that seems it will become unavoidable. Luckily for now I was totally able to avoid it, even though I did have to actively seek a new, dumb TV.

Yep, the best thing is when you can compose things.

Like stream Netflix with your laptop, or play games with your Xbox.

Rather than have the thing that does everything poorly.

Actually a "smart" washer and dryer would be nice -- I wouldn't mind getting notifications that my laundry is done (because it's on a different floor and I don't always hear the little song it plays). But really that's all I would want - basic alerting.

The problem starts with "companion app". If your IoT device has its own apps, it's most likely something you want to avoid like fire. IoT won't take off until people stop being greedy about it and try to lock everyone in, forcing them to use their (usually completely shitty) apps.

You can find out how long it takes and set a timer on your phone, since it probably takes the same amount of time every time.