We service our cars (well some of us do) even when they are not broken, perhaps makers of kitchen appliances would like us to do the same. The other problem is that the more complex and gadgety an appliance is the less non manufacturer linked engineers will be able to repair them. The more complex, the more things there are to go wrong and the parts cost loads more too.

So what are smart appliances capable of, well, there are some which you can turn on and off by phone. Sounds cool, but in the case of a washing machine, after I put the clothes in why would I wait until I got to work to do it? A dishwasher or washing machine which could text and e-mail my children to advise them to get off their backsides and put on a load, now I would pay for that! And that if they failed to do it their clothes would be shrunk so they look like Oxfam rejects at the next school disco, that would be valuable.  Then there are fridges which let you watch tv and surf the net, why? Apparently you can obtain recipes or place an order for the shopping, well that could be handy I suppose but I can do that on my normal PC. And why would I want to watch TV on the fridge?

Don't get me wrong, there are advantages to networked kitchen appliances, but we should use them to sustain reliability and save energy first. Monitoring energy use on all household appliances may be very helpful in reducing the amount of power we use. There are other benefits like safety features specifically for the elderly or disabled. Manufacturers have been talking about smart kitchen appliances since 1980, so far they have been few and far between. Although, there is a fridge named Minerva that can tell what's sitting on the shelf with 80% accuracy. If you have a few tomatoes, an onion and some pasta, Minerva might suggest that you make spaghetti for dinner. But although such gadgets are cool, would anyone actually buy them? Companies should tread lightly.

There may be plenty of ways that companies like Merloni can give their products an edge by making them smarter but consumers will ignore them if they are more expensive than standard appliances

I think we should all be able to vote and tell makers what we really want from our appliances. After all being a man I love gadgets, but gadgets to me are gigantic plasma screen TVs with 5 mega watt dolby surround sound. Not some overblown washer that calls me up and hassles me at work (I already have someone who does that very well) No, kitchen appliances should be left dumb, the dumber the better. The dumber the less to go wrong. The dumber the less expensive. Washing machines which have just 3 or 4 programmes, no LCD fascia, no annoying bleep to tell you the washing is finished. And definitely no link to the Internet or my phone line. And imagine what could happen if they linked the appliances together? Slam the door too hard on the washing machine, word gets around to the other appliances and before long they all pack up! There would be no need for built in obsolescence. Any extra cash that the makers want to invest in the kitchen appliance market should be aimed at quietness and reliability.