RE: MCE Washing Machine?

[<kwatt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I'd agree with that to an extent Ian in respect to fridges, trouble is
that
the assumption is that the masses have intelligence enough to use such a
system, aren't too lazy to input that they don't want whatever and that
kids
don't get in there and screw the whole thing up.



As for washers, that is a whole debate within the industry being had in
separate camps, the appliance manufacturers and the detergent guys.



In short, reservoir dispensing is possible, but not in a standard box as
there simply isn't the space for the mechanics and storage of product so,
based on that alone, you are never liable to ever see it in a domestic
situation. Fine for commercial where the space isn't at so much of a
premium
and productivity is more important.



Even then, with RFID (which will of course hike the prices) people simply
don't do the washing correctly and would complain as the machine didn't do
what it told them, even if it were to their advantage. A classic example of
that is current issues with "out-of-balance" conditions where the
machines
won't spin as the electronics detects that the machine has an imbalanced
load. You face two stark choices, have the machine literally jumping around
the kitchen or it aborts, in either case the customer complains and yet
they
still want the large load capacities which are at the core of the problem.



As ever the problem is, not what can we engineer and do, more a case of,
what can we sell?



K.



From: ukha_d@xxxxxxx [mailto:ukha_d@xxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
Ian Lowe
Sent: 25 November 2006 16:22
To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
Subject: RE: [ukha_d] MCE Washing Machine?



I can easily see the point of a smart fridge, but not a washing machine or
drier (at least, not in that sense).

When we start seeing large scale rollout of RFID tags per product, rather
than per pallet, you could imagine having a smart washing machine that (for
instance) alerts you if you have a sensitive item in a hot wash, or that
automatically picks the right program for a given load of washing. you
could
see having the right amount of detergent or softener dispensed from a
reservoir, rather than having to put in the right amount for each wash.

For a fridge, the thought of the fridge knowing exactly what is inside it,
expiry dates (because it knows when the item first appeared) and so on,
smart re-ordering etc.

It's frustrating when there are so many ways in which this stuff *could*
work, and the manufacturers just don't seem to "get it".

Ian.

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