Core77

We know it's shocking, but it turns out most consumers don't want refrigerators connected to the internet (or at least, they're not willing to shell out thousands to buy one). The ridiculous assumption that we want our Frigidaires to e-mail us when the milk's gone bad have hopefully spoiled on their own.

Which is not to say the 'fridgemakers are content to let it lie, but now they're finally taking a different tack: "creating what the techies call a platform and letting consumer electronics companies do the heavy lifting," as Technology Bits blogger Brad Stone puts it, reporting from CES.

After realizing they "control a lot of the key real estate in consumer’s homes," companies like Whirlpool are making the kitchen equivalent of a portal site, designing refrigerators with "docking stations" that aftermarket manufacturers can design plug-ins for, like digital photo frames or iPod stations. Is that any better than the previous generation's offerings? Not sure, but at least it lets the consumer decide, by hewing to that most American of product principles--Design 'em all, let the market sort 'em out.