“The Sci-Fi comedy Red Dwarf has a toaster that does essentially this”
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It really does get as annoying as you'd expect. The Sci-Fi comedy Red Dwarf has a toaster that does essentially this, this video
Does Anyone Want Any Toast? | Red Dwarf | BBC
1.1M views · Jul 19, 2007 · 3:10 · 0 HN recommenders · 17 mentions · discussed 2013–2026
A Red Dwarf clip where Kryten fixes a toaster and finds it to be the most annoying machine in the universe, endlessly offering toast.
Why Hacker News points people here: HN uses it as a recurring joke reference whenever threads feature annoying, over-eager smart devices and AI products.
What Hacker News said 17
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Apologies, didn't notice when I got the link from YT's "Share" button. Won't make that mistake again. Comment is now to old to edit: for convenience, here's the link without the parameter -- this video
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A computerized Dualit [1] would be awesome especially if all it did was impersonate Talkie Toaster [2] [1] link [2] this video
“Does anyone want any toast?”
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It could have been even worse. At least it didn't have ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SYSTEM K177. Does anyone want any toast? - this video
“Bonus bready humour”
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Check out Paul Robinson's comment for a general refutation. Given the popularity of 'artisanal'-type portable food preparations in both the UK and the US I think it unlikely the market could get away with such standards even at the low-end. I find your comment valuable though for the insight that bread products may be cut by waterjets: link This is astonishing: surely sogginess ensues? Bonus bready humour: this video
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>> "we're going to have AI toasters by the end of the year." I hope not. It seems they can be a real pain in the ass: Red Dwarf toaster: this video
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We'll end up with toasters like this: this video "But i'm a toaster. It is my raison d'être. I toast, therefore I am!"
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I go the middle ground. I get a toaster that toasts with a dial that goes from 1 to 10, and set it to 4 for my toast. Result: toast goodness. I don't need a toaster like this one: this video
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As much as I love technology, I have my personal limits and can relate to your post. Whenever this subject comes up, I'm reminded of this (Red Dwarf); this video
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Be the change you want to see in the world, look for an LLM Asic and build your own talkie toaster. this video Of course, don't be surprised when we gather up the pitchforks and come for you
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Very few companies survive Robotics projects, as the public has decades of unrealistic expectations from entertainment media. If the plan is an unconstrained general purpose use-case design, than the reality of the processing power needed to do simple tasks will quickly hit the product. If the board is serious, than just purchase the universal-robots.com company. Then add whatever branding and software you thought was useful on top of the existing platform. Making a profitable Robotics company is hard, as they are not generally a consumer product. I'd try Apple branded appliances, and you know people would buy a talking toaster: this video Best of luck =)
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The toaster mention reminded me of this: this video This is how "talking to AI" feels like for anything mildly complex.
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> I don't expect a smart toaster to talk like a BBC host; Well sure, the BBC have already established that it's supposed to sound like a brit doing an impersonation of an American: this video
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The mistake is simple. It is like the difference between giving you many tools to use vs making you the tool. this video
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> a compelling story about a sentient toaster "Howdy-doodly-doo! Anybody like any toast?" this video
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> Writing a story in which a toaster in conscious is not even new Fixed the link for you: this video (Hah. It gets eerily relevant starting at 2:37)
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> "Would you like fries with that", having already said you do not want any fries Prescient in all the best ways - this video