Guy reviews his office's terrible new "smart" water cooler

The so-called “internet of things” is a hellscape of poorly manufactured, wifi-enabled gadgets, most of which contain subscription fees and dubious improvements over their less “smart” counterparts. Nobody ever wanted a tablet connected to a refrigerator, but now we have it, and it sucks. A lot of these devices, like the Juicero juicer, the Smalt salt shaker, and even the Bodega vending machine, have been paraded around in the past year or so as emblematic of Silicon Valley hubris, as if they can package any preexisting service or contraption in a chic new minimalist backdrop and subsequently “disrupt” an industry.

A redditor named kibitzor recently reviewed his company’s “smart” water cooler, which they fork out $1,000 per year for, and found it wanting, to say the least. Thrill as he reboots the system! Delight as he navigates several poorly designed, slow-to-operate touchscreen menus! Laugh as he uncovers several serious safety concerns due to basic design flaws! It’s almost like these people added a bunch of technology to a piece of equipment that fundamentally does not need them. When you’re done, go enjoy a much cheaper glass of water from a faucet.

[via Digg]