Lost Thunkbremner@mathstodon.xyz
Oct 12, 2026, 7:19 PM@GossiTheDog I mean, also some "credit" to people who thought connecting fridges to the internet was a good idea.
Replies
Oct 12, 2026, 11:07 PM
The FrogLily_and_frog@mastodon.artOct 12, 2026, 11:53 PMBut... but... there's always someone in a supermarket! It's not like having a manager, who's already there, doing temperature checks a few times a day will cost much.
Sigh.
And if it's for monitoring when the shop is closed, it could be read only!
When it's set for the required temperature, no one needs to change it, unless you change the stuff inside it, which is a big operation in itself and doesn't happen often.
Even the productivity reason doesn't hold.
MariusZamfr@mstdn.socialOct 13, 2026, 6:48 AM@Lily_and_frog @Aedius @bremner @GossiTheDog
Its mostly for maintenance people to do remote troubleshooting and optimisation. Thats hours of driving at least, and more if specialized service technicians are at supplier headquarters abroad.
A lot of equipment nowadays has such functions, quite often with a phone modem directly in the machine. Yes its a security risk, but also extremely useful
- The FrogLily_and_frog@mastodon.artOct 13, 2026, 10:21 AM
@Zamfr @Aedius @bremner @GossiTheDog
It's a fridge. It doesn't need optimisation. It can run for 20 years before the hardware breaks.
The Lack Thereof :v_bi:lackthereof@beige.partyOct 13, 2026, 10:43 AM@Lily_and_frog
As someone who spent half his adult life working in the service industry... No one is manually checking those fridge temperatures, ever. Doesn't matter if it's the soda cooler in a shop's impulse buy gauntlet, or a meat storage walk-in.The only person who looks at the thermometers is the health inspector, right before they hand you a violation notice because your prep fridge's condenser has had it's airflow so choked with dust buildup that it's been unable to get the temperature below 55° F despite the compressor running non-stop for months.
- MariusZamfr@mstdn.socialOct 13, 2026, 12:33 PM
@Lily_and_frog @Aedius @bremner @GossiTheDog
Its typically a few chillers on the roof (with their conpressors), some distribution pipes and valves, a series of cold units with their individual temp control units, some logging and alarms, a little network between them.
Its not crazy difficult and usually keeps working but there is enough that sometimes something breaks, or a setting goes wrong, etc.
- MariusZamfr@mstdn.socialOct 13, 2026, 12:36 PM
@Lily_and_frog @Aedius @bremner @GossiTheDog its then very useful if a manager can pick up the phone, and someone looks at it remotely, identify the problem, perhaps fix it, or directly send maintenance with the right replacement components.
Quite often, that works even without the manager having to pick up the phone.
It means stuff gets fixed quicker, than if you first have to wait for someone to do diagnosis
kcpkcpoole@mastodon.auOct 13, 2026, 12:53 AM@Aedius @bremner @GossiTheDog until it goes wrong and spoils millions of $ in food that is
WellsiteGeoWellsiteGeo@masto.aiOct 13, 2026, 9:31 AM@kcpoole @Aedius @bremner @GossiTheDog
It didn't go wrong.
It worked as designed.
The design was insane, but worked perfectly.
Stumpy The MuttStumpyTheMutt@social.linux.pizzaOct 13, 2026, 2:15 PM@bremner From my days working with SCADA, many of the operators assume nobody would be interested in their pump station/substation/HVAC/etc. @GossiTheDog