In Defense of Dumb TVs • Hacker News Board

Re: In Defense of Dumb TVs

#111

Post by drevil-v2 » Sun, Feb 28, 2021, 4:35 AM UTC

alacombe wrote: post #98

sidpatil wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The device manufacturer will eat the cost of the 5G subscription, since it will likely be lower than the revenue generated from the harvested personal data.

How low can you get these ? Even at $5/month, that's $60... is a single user's data worth that much ?

It will be only tracking and surveillance data that the TV uploads to the mothership. It's not like they will let you stream YouTube, Netflix or Prime on their inbuilt 5G connection.

So the cost will be minimal and further reduced by the bulk volume that the manufacturer would purchase from the telco. Like how Amazon Kindle comes with a free 3G connection to download your books and upload your reading habits.

Re: In Defense of Dumb TVs

#112

Post by ProfessorLayton » Sun, Feb 28, 2021, 4:39 AM UTC

anuragsoni wrote: post #76

pridkett wrote: post #15

I’m really pleased the author called out the Apple TV as a device that lets you avoid ads. We tried to go cheap on another of our TVs and get an Amazon Fire Stick and in addition to it being not as smooth (combo of UX and speed) at the Apple TV, it had a good amount of ads all over the place. There’s lots of griping about the cost of an Apple TV 4k, but I’ll pay that extra $100 to avoid ads and not be tracked so exte…

I like the apple tv interface, but I really disliked the remote that ships with it. The touchpad like interface feels really awkward, i would lift it up the wrong way pretty much every time. I remember reading about an apple certified 3rd party remote that was more like a traditional tv remote but that was only sold in the european market for some reason. If they ever decide to switch back to a proper remote i'll tak…

Not a huge fan of the Apple TV remote either (But I also don't hate it). The good news is that the Apple TV plays nice with stock TV remotes + game console controllers — I use my 8bitdo Sn30 Pro, but PS/Xbox controllers should work fine too.

If you already own an extra gamepad, then it's worth a try and doesn't cost extra. There's a few gems in Apple Arcade, which was a surprise.

Re: In Defense of Dumb TVs

#113

Post by nichos » Sun, Feb 28, 2021, 4:41 AM UTC

Silhouette wrote: post #83

chrisrogers wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At that point it's time to open the thing up and rip out the antenna.

At some point, it becomes time to pass draconian laws against consumer-hostile practices like phoning home other than to perform the intended function of a product or forcing updates that change behaviour in adverse or unwanted ways. I am reasonably sure that point is already behind us, but politicians are not exactly known for their tech savvy and timely regulation of tech industry.

You can't legislate morals.

Re: In Defense of Dumb TVs

#114

Post by exsf0859 » Sun, Feb 28, 2021, 4:42 AM UTC

yaml-ops-guy wrote: post #57

deadmutex wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ehn, no vp9 though (last I checked)... so if you watch a lot of YT in 4K, it uses more bandwidth than say Google TV.

tvOS has supported vp9 since last year, the youtube app however has been slow getting that message... https://9to5mac.com/2020/09/18/4k-youtube-videos-still-not-c...

Looks like it's been supported since October 2020:

https://www.theverge.com/2020/10/3/21500399/apple-tv-youtube...

Re: In Defense of Dumb TVs

#115

Post by prepend » Sun, Feb 28, 2021, 4:43 AM UTC

anuragsoni wrote: post #76

pridkett wrote: post #15

I’m really pleased the author called out the Apple TV as a device that lets you avoid ads. We tried to go cheap on another of our TVs and get an Amazon Fire Stick and in addition to it being not as smooth (combo of UX and speed) at the Apple TV, it had a good amount of ads all over the place. There’s lots of griping about the cost of an Apple TV 4k, but I’ll pay that extra $100 to avoid ads and not be tracked so exte…

I like the apple tv interface, but I really disliked the remote that ships with it. The touchpad like interface feels really awkward, i would lift it up the wrong way pretty much every time. I remember reading about an apple certified 3rd party remote that was more like a traditional tv remote but that was only sold in the european market for some reason. If they ever decide to switch back to a proper remote i'll tak…

I didn’t like it at first, but now it’s my favorite tvbox remote ever.

Mainly because it doesn’t take batteries, is flat, works great with my phone, and I can use the touchpad without finding the specific button in the dark.

I do pick it up the wrong way a lot, but it’s better than all other devices I’ve tried- fire, roku, tv, wd.

Just not having to find doubleA batteries in the past few months has made me accept it.

Re: In Defense of Dumb TVs

#116

Post by prepend » Sun, Feb 28, 2021, 4:43 AM UTC

mkoubaa wrote: post #86

pridkett wrote: post #15

I’m really pleased the author called out the Apple TV as a device that lets you avoid ads. We tried to go cheap on another of our TVs and get an Amazon Fire Stick and in addition to it being not as smooth (combo of UX and speed) at the Apple TV, it had a good amount of ads all over the place. There’s lots of griping about the cost of an Apple TV 4k, but I’ll pay that extra $100 to avoid ads and not be tracked so exte…

To be fair tvs are a very low margin product and without the ads it would be profitless for anyone but apple (or another manufacturer that sold as a premium to avoid ads). I don't know how big the market for that is, personally I'm happy with a dumb tv connected to a video game console that has all my streaming services.

To be fair, TVs are a decades old market that have paid off great for many companies and they didn’t have ads until recently.

Re: In Defense of Dumb TVs

#117

Post by recursive » Sun, Feb 28, 2021, 4:44 AM UTC

tonyfader wrote: post #62

fine, you'll have dumb tvs (but smart phones and homes), but your kids won't.

Nope, my home is dumb too. I turn my lights on with physical switches.

Re: In Defense of Dumb TVs

#118

Post by prepend » Sun, Feb 28, 2021, 4:46 AM UTC

jeffgreco wrote: post #30

Vizio's CTO confirmed in 2019 that smart TV data harvesting subsidizes their prices: https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/7/18172397/airplay-2-homekit...

That’s weird how Vizio TVs haven’t dropped in price once ads started “subsidizing” their prices.

I think he means that without ads they wouldn’t make as much so they would have to charge more to make the same amount of money they would with ads (which is the same they used to make).

Re: In Defense of Dumb TVs

#119

Post by yjftsjthsd-h » Sun, Feb 28, 2021, 4:48 AM UTC

nichos wrote: post #113

Silhouette wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At some point, it becomes time to pass draconian laws against consumer-hostile practices like phoning home other than to perform the intended function of a product or forcing updates that change behaviour in adverse or unwanted ways. I am reasonably sure that point is already behind us, but politicians are not exactly known for their tech savvy and timely regulation of tech industry.

You can't legislate morals.

What else is worth legislating? If it was in the manufacturer's short-sighted selfish interest, they'd do it. For everything else, there's customer action and legal action.

Re: In Defense of Dumb TVs

#120

Post by colincooke » Sun, Feb 28, 2021, 4:50 AM UTC

This resonates with me. Recently my Samsung "smart" TV decided that after I turned off an input device, the appropriate behaviour was to immediately display some garbage "entertainment" channel called cheddar. I think it's what is played at gas station pumps?

The day that happened is the day my TV lost internet privilages (wifi is turned off) and we started just using a chromecast for all the "smart" functionalities.