LG to offer subscriptions for appliances and televisions
www.theregister.com
Subscription fatigue is a thing and regulators are circling, but Korean giant reckons you're ready to cough up after buying hardware

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/1539142

LG to offer subscriptions for already purchased appliances and televisions, evolving into a provider for “Home as a Service”::Subscription fatigue is a thing and regulators are circling, but Korean giant reckons you’re ready to cough up after buying hardware

  • @jpeps@lemmy.worldEnglish
    7•1 year ago

    LG has already offered a taste of its intentions: in 2022 it revealed a scheme called “Evolving Appliances For You" that promised software upgrades to home appliances. The company offered the example of a family that moves to a different home, and different climate, and upgrades its clothes drier with routines suited to local conditions.

    The entrance to subscription media comprises part of what CEO William Cho described on Wednesday as a transformation for LG to a “smart life solutions company,” a goal he’s hoping to hit by 2030.

    Unsurprisingly sounding useless. Don’t most people leave their white goods when they move house anyway? Seems like a huge pain to have to transfer all these accounts around for my appliances.

    7 years to drop anything LG from your house.

    • @Fluffy_Ruffs@lemmy.worldEnglish
      4•1 year ago

      The company offered the example of a family that moves to a different home, and different climate, and upgrades its clothes drier with routines suited to local conditions.

      A problem absolutely no one is trying to solve or needs solved. What a reach.

    • @WhoRoger@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      2•1 year ago

      Plus if the device can work with different climate programs, it could just be a simple download of an update… Or it could just have them built in. Companies sell the same hardware with different firmware for languag etc., so this is nothing new. It doesn’t need a constant internet connection, and definitely doesn’t need subscription.

    • @captainlezbian@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2•1 year ago

      Also this sounds like a great way to make me see if I can make my dryer run FOSS controllers. Like I’d fuck with that shit as long as my wife lets me and publish the results for free. Why the fuck wouldn’t I? It’s heat, time, and rotational velocity. Sure it might have some weird shit, but honestly this sounds kinda fun, especially if I can get some cracked versions of what they do to deal with a handful of conditions already.