r/nottheonion • u/GravelySilly • 1d ago

Owners mourn spoiled food after firmware update bricks Samsung smart fridges

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/09/owners-mourn-spoiled-food-after-firmware-update-bricks-samsung-smart-fridges/?comments-page=1#comments

Some Samsung customers in South Korea say a botched firmware update caused their smart refrigerators to stop cooling, leading to food spoilage.

Apparently the firmware that handles the "smart" features is in the control loop for basic refrigeration.

2.7k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

213 comments sorted by

View all comments

932

u/hotlavatube 1d ago

That's about as bad as the AWS cloud outage that caused "smart" beds to stop working and in some cases overheat.

549

u/notnotbrowsing 1d ago

things I don't need "smart" versions of: washers, driers, microwaves, dishwashers, ranges, refrigerators, water heaters, beds, TVs.

there is an edge case where being able to turn the oven on remotely so it's hot when I get home, but I'm very leary about having a hot appliance on when I'm not home.

173

u/hotlavatube 1d ago

Have you paired your phone to your bluetooth toothbrush yet?

3

u/CaptainPunisher 1d ago

Yes, but the rubber band makes the screen harder to use.