CES 2018: Apple Watch Users Can Control Select Whirlpool Washers, Dryers, and Ovens Early This Year

First I am CRAZY into tech, but am I the only person on the planet that has no desire to control every little thing in their house with a phone/watch?

This is marketing and not functional.....thermostats are nice and security systems are nice but why do I want to remote start my washer?

Manually carries wet clothes from washer into dryer like some sort of monolithic heathen.

Begrudingly lifts shiny Apple Watch to lips.

"Hey Siri, blow my load."

Like a Christmas miracle, the dryer starts and technology, once again, reigns supreme.

I think the monitoring and notifications features could be useful to a busy or forgetful user, but utility appliances are compromised when electronics are added to them. Ask any appliance repairman, the chief cause of appliance failures today is the electronics. Our dryer quit heating because of a defective relay switch on the circuitboard. The repair protocol requires the entire board to be replaced, a $400 part—almost half the cost of a new dryer! Most owners would have discarded the machine altogether and purchased a new one. Instead, I found a $11 relay switch online and paid an audio electronics technician $25 to solder it to the board. Three years later, still going strong.

First I am CRAZY into tech, but am I the only person on the planet that has no desire to control every little thing in their house with a phone/watch?

This is marketing and not functional.....thermostats are nice and security systems are nice but why do I want to remote start my washer?

I know! You still have to put the clothes, detergent, softener, whatever in the machine...why would you not just start it right then? Also, if you want to delay it until electric rates are cheaper, are you going to dry them the next night? Just not something I would be willing to pay extra for. But, that's just me.

People have cooked food and washed their clothes for decades using ''simple'' home appliances and these appliances have been doing a fine job. Until now apparently. Quite often, I think these companies are trying to come up with solutions to problems that don't really exist.

I already control my sous vide machine via app so I guess this isn't really any different.

Though sous vide is different. There's no danger of overcooking. So I throw a steak in and head to the bar. 60-90 minutes later (depending on how thick the steak is), I get a notification that it's done and can be left for another 90 minutes without issue (you can lower the water temp remotely and hold it there indefinitely if you need longer). It's awesome. No need to rush home when dinner is done. Instead you can take your time and head home to sear it and eat when it's convenient for you. Can't do that with an oven.

For a busy family, this is a great idea.

It would be great to get an alert when a load of laundry is done, so I can go down and remove it, and put a new load in. Many times, I'll put a load in and forget about it until later in the day. This would let me get the clothes washing on the weekend done quicker.

Of course, this is not something I would ditch my current washer/dryers for. But this is a great selling point when I'm looking for new washer/dryers when the current ones break.

Also, the stove thing would be great for my wife. When we leave the house she always worries - 'Did I leave the stove on?' . She could easily check with the app.
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This is marketing and not functional.....thermostats are nice and security systems are nice but why do I want to remote start my washer?

Remote starting a washer is not something someone would really need (or does it look like it can do this), but checking to see when a load is done, or getting an alert that it's done are great ideas.

Actually, a combo washing machine-dryer where after the clothes are washed, they are automatically pushed to the dryer where it dries the clothes. Why hasn't this type of machine ever been invented?

For a busy family, this is a great idea.

It would be great to get an alert when a load of laundry is done, so I can go down and remove it, and put a new load in. Many times, I'll put a load in and forget about it until later in the day. This would let me get the clothes washing on the weekend done quicker.

Of course, this is not something I would ditch my current washer/dryers for. But this is a great selling point when I'm looking for new washer/dryers when the current ones break.

Also, the stove thing would be great for my wife. When we leave the house she always worries - 'Did I leave the stove on?' . She could easily check with the app.
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Remote starting a washer is not something someone would really need (or does it look like it can do this), but checking to see when a load is done, or getting an alert that it's done are great ideas.

Actually, a combo washing machine-dryer where after the clothes are washed, they are automatically pushed to the dryer where it dries the clothes. Why hasn't this type of machine ever been invented?

2 in one machines that wash and dry clothes do exist. They just don’t do a very good job and have a very small wash capacity.

Ah, you answered my question before I needed to post it. I desperately want to replace my “high efficiency washer” because it only works when I run it on the mode meant to consume the most water. Shocker, a washing machine actually needs more than one cup of water to wash a load of clothes. Whodathunkit? :rolleyes:

Oh actually that’s not the only reason. It’s a front loader that has a tendency to shove our socks up under the large rubber gasket that always smells of mold and forces us to leave the washer door open all the time.

Drawing from purely personal experiences... might I suggest that the problem isn't high efficiency, but rather it being a front loader that happens to be high efficiency?

Top-loading high-efficiency works incredibly well, from my own experiences and those close to me that have been through the same crap with front loaders as I... my problem is with the fact I shouldn't have gotten a Whirlpool (the same issue as who you are replying to), as even the Maytag -- the Buick or GMC to my Chevy, not even the Cadillac -- is better made with fewer "cracks" in the dryer for things to snag on and then twist that article into oblivion.

I know it's anecdotal for me to say this... but I merely aim to broaden the approach you're taking in narrowing down the issue.
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I know! You still have to put the clothes, detergent, softener, whatever in the machine...why would you not just start it right then?

There's certainly value in "smart" electronics with such a high draw on the grid. To put the air conditioner example out there, if everyone's AC turned on at the exact same time in the summer, you'd have a massive power surge all at once, and only for the initial startup as the running draw is much lower, like the guy in Christmas Vacation that turns on the backup nuclear generator when Clark turns on his Christmas lights. Making it "smart" allows for a load balance to happen, to avoid that surge and, at the extreme end, brownouts from that draw being so large.

As for the other features... I guess it'd be cool to get a notification that the thing is done, rather than rely on listening for the beeps.