Internet refrigerator
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This article does not cite any references or sources. (June 2011) |
Internet refrigerator (also known as Smart refrigerator) is a refrigerator which has been programmed to sense what kinds of products are being stored inside it and keeps a track of the stock through barcode or RFID scanning. This kind of refrigerator is often equipped to determine itself whenever a food item needs to be replenished.
History
By the late 1990s and the early 2000s, the idea of connecting home appliances to the internet (Internet of Things) had been popularized and was seen as the next big thing. In 2000, LG launched the world's first internet refrigerator. This refrigerator was an unsuccessful product because the consumers had seen it as an unnecessary product and due to the high cost (more than $20,000) and that the problems solved were obscure. For example, many juice bottles are transparent, providing a visual reminder that a purchase is needed eventually; vegetable drawers are similarly transparent and often removed from packages, thus eliminating bar codes for inventory which meant manually keying in descriptions and dates. Moreover, the ability of the device to remind users of upcoming purchases when there are often multiple buyers in a household who communicate informally is not typically addressable as a use case.
Besides, operators who need as many reminders for purchases as the device is capable of generating are likely facing more serious issues.
Nowadays, the internet refrigerator has became a symbol of the dot-com bubble.
Examples of Internet refrigerators
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Popular culture
The 2000 film The 6th Day, features an internet refrigerator which informs Arnold Schwarzenegger that the milk is over and asks him to confirm a new order.
External links
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