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They also struggle with the culture of software. From what I've heard from employees, software is looked down on by management and is not really something they

by adwww 6y ago

They also struggle with the culture of software. From what I've heard from employees, software is looked down on by management and is not really something they 'get'. Things like app connectivity are after thoughts and not core to their products. A good chunk of what makes a Tesla unique is the radically different software and digital user experience. Dyson (the company) are not ready to embrace the fast moving culture that enables that.

ForHackernews 6y ago
> Things like app connectivity are after thoughts and not core to their products. Good! God help us the day something like a fan or a vacuum cleaner needs "app connectivity".
- adwww 6y ago
  True. Although, I have a secondhand fan / air purifier of theirs, and in theory the smart features of that are ideal - setting timers, voice control, etc. But it's crippled by poor UI, only supporting Alexa, and an arbitrary limit of how many schedules you can set, etc.
- fastball 6y ago
  A "connected" fan definitely has its uses, especially if it can sense if I'm in the room or not. "Connected" vacuums are already here, but they're called Roomba, not Dyson.
  - kelnage 6y ago
    Dyson Eye 360: https://www.dyson.co.uk/robot-vacuums/dyson-360-heurist-overview.html https://www.dyson.co.uk/robot-vacuums/dyson-360-heurist-over... Although the connectivity with their app is a bit rubbish half the time!
- sumedh 6y ago
  We already have app connectivity for the robot vacuum cleaners.
- acallaghan 6y ago
  A good example of intelligent appliances would be like my Samsung washing machine... It had an error, so I called their support line. They asked me to hold down two buttons simultaneously, then put my phone near the door. It let out a 10s or so digital song, the kind that modems did in the 90s - that gave them an entire diagnostic, age, model etc, and they sent someone around as they knew I couldn't fix it. Pretty amazing stuff.
  - creeble 6y ago
    A counter example of an unintelligent washing machine: My Whirlpool emitted a diagnostic puddle of water underneath it. I Googled the seal, ordered it from an independent supplier, and installed it myself. It is now on its 25th year of use with us, and cost less than $400 when new.
    - MengerSponge 6y ago
      I'm imagining your Whirlpool singing a happy diagnostic song while it wees on your floor
    - teachrdan 6y ago
      While I, too, am using an ancient washing machine in my home, it's not exactly an apples to apples comparison. New washing machines use far less water and electricity than their older counterparts. They also remove more water during their spin cycle, reducing the amount of drying necessary. And if your dryer uses natural gas (as mine does), a newer washing machine will reduce your use of natural gas as well.
      - troyvit 6y ago
        What kills me is that every feature you mention can be done without needing an app, an lcd, or the cloud, and the same thing applies to electric cars. How much cheaper would an electric car like a tesla be if it didn't have autopilot, electronic keys, and LCDs everywhere? How much more secure would it be without an e-key to unlock it? I hope when I'm ready to buy an electric car I can find something like that.
- ryder9 6y ago
  sounds like you're experiencing technophobia
leonroy 6y ago
> From what I've heard from employees, software is looked down on by management and is not really something they 'get'. Things like app connectivity are after thoughts and not core to their products. That is a surprise - of all the IoT devices I've owned Dyson's products have been the most rock solid and polished. Their mobile apps (on iOS at least) have been absolutely flawless, never requiring me to sign in again and again or having connectivity issues with WiFi. Their appliances also don't seem to do any funny stuff over DNS unlike some of the flakier stuff I've owned (one of which was making 20k DNS requests a day to a non-existent diagnostic server address on the local subnet).

by adwww 6y ago

ForHackernews 6y ago

> Things like app connectivity are after thoughts and not core to their products. Good! God help us the day something like a fan or a vacuum cleaner needs "app connectivity".

adwww 6y ago
True. Although, I have a secondhand fan / air purifier of theirs, and in theory the smart features of that are ideal - setting timers, voice control, etc. But it's crippled by poor UI, only supporting Alexa, and an arbitrary limit of how many schedules you can set, etc.
fastball 6y ago
A "connected" fan definitely has its uses, especially if it can sense if I'm in the room or not. "Connected" vacuums are already here, but they're called Roomba, not Dyson.
- kelnage 6y ago
  Dyson Eye 360: https://www.dyson.co.uk/robot-vacuums/dyson-360-heurist-overview.html https://www.dyson.co.uk/robot-vacuums/dyson-360-heurist-over... Although the connectivity with their app is a bit rubbish half the time!
sumedh 6y ago
We already have app connectivity for the robot vacuum cleaners.
acallaghan 6y ago
A good example of intelligent appliances would be like my Samsung washing machine... It had an error, so I called their support line. They asked me to hold down two buttons simultaneously, then put my phone near the door. It let out a 10s or so digital song, the kind that modems did in the 90s - that gave them an entire diagnostic, age, model etc, and they sent someone around as they knew I couldn't fix it. Pretty amazing stuff.
- creeble 6y ago
  A counter example of an unintelligent washing machine: My Whirlpool emitted a diagnostic puddle of water underneath it. I Googled the seal, ordered it from an independent supplier, and installed it myself. It is now on its 25th year of use with us, and cost less than $400 when new.
  - MengerSponge 6y ago
    I'm imagining your Whirlpool singing a happy diagnostic song while it wees on your floor
  - teachrdan 6y ago
    While I, too, am using an ancient washing machine in my home, it's not exactly an apples to apples comparison. New washing machines use far less water and electricity than their older counterparts. They also remove more water during their spin cycle, reducing the amount of drying necessary. And if your dryer uses natural gas (as mine does), a newer washing machine will reduce your use of natural gas as well.
    - troyvit 6y ago
      What kills me is that every feature you mention can be done without needing an app, an lcd, or the cloud, and the same thing applies to electric cars. How much cheaper would an electric car like a tesla be if it didn't have autopilot, electronic keys, and LCDs everywhere? How much more secure would it be without an e-key to unlock it? I hope when I'm ready to buy an electric car I can find something like that.
ryder9 6y ago
sounds like you're experiencing technophobia

leonroy 6y ago

> From what I've heard from employees, software is looked down on by management and is not really something they 'get'. Things like app connectivity are after thoughts and not core to their products. That is a surprise - of all the IoT devices I've owned Dyson's products have been the most rock solid and polished. Their mobile apps (on iOS at least) have been absolutely flawless, never requiring me to sign in again and again or having connectivity issues with WiFi. Their appliances also don't seem to do any funny stuff over DNS unlike some of the flakier stuff I've owned (one of which was making 20k DNS requests a day to a non-existent diagnostic server address on the local subnet).