There's a good old-fashioned knob on the front of Whirlpool's new Duet washer and dryer pair. But there's also a little LCD screen right next to it. The screen helps you digitally dial in the settings, and it includes a "built-in suite of Laundry Apps."
Features like Stain Assist and Hints & Tips give practical advice on stains and other everyday laundry questions. The Before You Call section provides topical answers to all your technical questions about the washer.
This is a clever additional feature, but is it necessary? Should a dryer just be a dryer? Or, would you rather keep the apps, but design them to make the washer and dryer smart in other ways—like, say, downloading local utility rates to estimate a cost per load?