News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on My dishwasher won’t start until I let it update its firmware over the WiFi. Parent comment

Re:My dishwasher won’t start until I let it update its firmw... by dylan604 on Monday January 31, 2022 @10:33AM (#30149051)
I'm not sure. Look at "smart" TVs. Their prices continue to go down. Why? They are heavily subsidized by all of the analytics they earn from the data you provide them. By lowering the price, it makes it easier to sell to more and more people. Raising the prices does not.

Not sure of the number of units sold comparing dishwashers vs TVs, so maybe there's not enough volume in dishwasher? Also, I can only imagine the analytics data from TV viewing is much more informative/beneficial than how many times someone washes dishes.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:My dishwasher won’t start until I let it update its firmw... by cproctor on Monday January 31, 2022 @11:16AM (#30149642)
That's a good counter-example, and I agree with your suggestion that the value of the analytics probably explains the difference. (The value of smoke detector analytics is probably even lower than that of dishwashers!) So maybe we could agree that adding "smart" results in a more profitable product, whether that's because of a higher sale price, higher ongoing revenues, or both.
[ Parent | on HN ]