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In Defense of Dumb TVs

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Re: In Defense of Dumb TVs

#181

Post by bigtiger »

yellowapple wrote: post #168

I definitely second the Sceptre recommendation. Yeah, there are probably higher-quality displays out there, but my TV's been more than good enough for me, and the price point is pretty hard to beat. In terms of bang for the buck, a Sceptre TV and a box/stick of one's choosing is about as close to ideal as I've seen these days. Hopefully they realize that the lack of smarts in their TVs is indeed a differentiator in a…

I have the 65" 4k model and I couldn't be happier. I bought it for 350 dollars from Wal-Mart's website. I even use it as my all-day monitor for work.

Re: In Defense of Dumb TVs

#182

Post by mschuetz »

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.

It's being done all the time, and it's exactly what legislation is for. Workers rights, consumer protection, EPA, outlawing child labor and slaves, etc.

Re: In Defense of Dumb TVs

#183

Post by TylerE »

myrandomcomment wrote: post #158

I just bought the TV I wanted and never connected it to the internet, never ran the "setup". I use an AppleTV 4K which has all the streaming apps you want (Netflix, Amazon, BBC, Pluto, etc.). For local media I use an application called MrMC ($6.99) which is a Kodi port to the AppleTV that allows you to mount Samba/NFS ( https://mrmc.tv ). MrMC even supports using a SQL backend for keeping track of your media (like Ko…

FWIW, one of the majors complaints is that many of these devices will actively, without prompting search for and connect to open wifi.

Re: In Defense of Dumb TVs

#184

Post by neolog »

imglorp wrote: post #125
neolog wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Source?

https://www.cnet.com/news/samsungs-warning-our-smart-tvs-rec...

> If a consumer consents and uses the voice recognition feature, voice data is provided to a third party during a requested voice command search. At that time, the voice data is sent to a server, which searches for the requested content then returns the desired content to the TV.

That seems normal, not like persistent background recording.

Re: In Defense of Dumb TVs

#185

Post by TylerE »

ksec wrote: post #167
gonehome wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes - I wish Apple would just make a TV. Call it a living room screen or a living room monitor or something. Make it OLED, dumb TV, instant on, Apple TV box plugs in. Separate box with front facing ports that connects to screen with one cable. A remote designed by someone who thought about it for ten seconds (why do modern TVs have dozens of buttons no one ever uses?). This entire market is in desperate need of someo…

As much as I want this to happen. And I have been advocating for it [1] for many years. The more I read into the whole TV, display panel and electronic industry the grimmer it is for such Apple TV set to exist. An Apple branded TV, even if it is without the TV part or just a monitor would have to be at least 2-3x the price of today's similar TV sets. And if anything OP were only willing to paid an extra $100 is proba…

The thing is, Apple could charge 2-3x, because the prices have gotten so cheap.

People would absolutely pay $1000-1200 for a 55" Apple TV with nice software, and maybe a nice brushed aluminum frame that looks nice on the wall.

(For comparison, the cheapest 55" I could quickly find from a major retail is around $300, with a "name brand" starting around $400).

Re: In Defense of Dumb TVs

#186

Post by rishav_sharan »

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…

Are ads on firestick a US only thing or have I been blind to not notice any ads in my firestick?

Re: In Defense of Dumb TVs

#187

Post by tombert »

TylerE wrote: post #183
myrandomcomment wrote: post #158

I just bought the TV I wanted and never connected it to the internet, never ran the "setup". I use an AppleTV 4K which has all the streaming apps you want (Netflix, Amazon, BBC, Pluto, etc.). For local media I use an application called MrMC ($6.99) which is a Kodi port to the AppleTV that allows you to mount Samba/NFS ( https://mrmc.tv ). MrMC even supports using a SQL backend for keeping track of your media (like Ko…

FWIW, one of the majors complaints is that many of these devices will actively, without prompting search for and connect to open wifi.

I’ve heard this mentioned on HN a few times; is there any documented case of this actually happening?

Re: In Defense of Dumb TVs

#188

Post by 411111111111111 »

TylerE wrote: post #185
ksec wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As much as I want this to happen. And I have been advocating for it [1] for many years. The more I read into the whole TV, display panel and electronic industry the grimmer it is for such Apple TV set to exist. An Apple branded TV, even if it is without the TV part or just a monitor would have to be at least 2-3x the price of today's similar TV sets. And if anything OP were only willing to paid an extra $100 is proba…

The thing is, Apple could charge 2-3x, because the prices have gotten so cheap. People would absolutely pay $1000-1200 for a 55" Apple TV with nice software, and maybe a nice brushed aluminum frame that looks nice on the wall. (For comparison, the cheapest 55" I could quickly find from a major retail is around $300, with a "name brand" starting around $400).

they were talking about OLEDs, so 3000-5000 would be a more realistic estimate with that markup.

Re: In Defense of Dumb TVs

#189

Post by barrkel »

rishav_sharan wrote: post #186
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…

Are ads on firestick a US only thing or have I been blind to not notice any ads in my firestick?

The only ads I see are the banners, but I don't pay any attention to those. There aren't any video ads, which is all I really care about.

(My dumb TV is a projector, one of the best decisions we've made in the past 5 years.)

Re: In Defense of Dumb TVs

#190

Post by cm2187 »

TylerE wrote: post #185
ksec wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As much as I want this to happen. And I have been advocating for it [1] for many years. The more I read into the whole TV, display panel and electronic industry the grimmer it is for such Apple TV set to exist. An Apple branded TV, even if it is without the TV part or just a monitor would have to be at least 2-3x the price of today's similar TV sets. And if anything OP were only willing to paid an extra $100 is proba…

The thing is, Apple could charge 2-3x, because the prices have gotten so cheap. People would absolutely pay $1000-1200 for a 55" Apple TV with nice software, and maybe a nice brushed aluminum frame that looks nice on the wall. (For comparison, the cheapest 55" I could quickly find from a major retail is around $300, with a "name brand" starting around $400).

...and that would only play Apple content.
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