New appliances still don’t need to have ‘smart’ technology to work, but where the hell do you purchase a new air conditioner these days that doesn’t require an app to operate?
Seriously, you can’t even find a dumb air conditioner anymore, at least not in my area.
That was just the first step in enshittification, when they broke from available manuals and standardized parts. Now you gotta have a WiFi connection and online account to even access a new air conditioner, washing machine, etc.
The stores don’t even offer dumb appliances anymore. There’s no reason that a microwave should even exist online, especially after the borked update that bricked many of them with a bad firmware update that was meant for a food steamer.