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Reviews of Android TV launcher after Google added ads to the homescreen

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Re: Reviews of Android TV launcher after Google added ads to the homescreen

#441
post #302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Except no ad-free service remains ad-free forever. None of the examples you gave (toasters, windows, paint, and shower-heads) are services. I used YouTube (a service) as an example, because we're not in a world where products are overrun with ads the way services are, but my point was that even the service market has started to offer alternatives to ads. The idea that the market will bear every product getting serv…

YouTube has tons of product placement withim videos themself so ad-free service you pais dor barely remove half od the ads.

Aside from not being true in general (none of the videos I watch have product placement/sponsorships), this is completely irrelevant. We're discussing the YouTube content delivery service, not the manner in which the content is funded, in exactly the same way that "the movies you're watching already have product placement" would be completely irrelevant to the discussion on this thread about ads in the interface through which you watch the movie.

Tangential, but you reminded me of it: it's truly fascinating how incredibly brain-damaging discussion of ads seem to be. Every single thread I've ever read on the topic is full of non sequiturs, nonsensical analogues, glaring logical inconsistencies, etc. The only other topic I can think of that makes people similarly insane is airlines (cf my "why should I pay taxes" uncle complaining about airlines no longer requiring other passengers to pay for transporting his suitcases).

Re: Reviews of Android TV launcher after Google added ads to the homescreen

#442
post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was one startup that I met a few years ago that focused on enabling IoT on 'dumb' devices. Their first product some sort of plug for ceiling fans that allowed people to turn on & off / control the ceiling fan with their smartphone. The product also required a $5/month subscription service. I remember asking the CEO why would someone pay $5/month just to control their fan and he basically responded that the idea…

I think you're overestimating the degree to which useless subscriptions are sustainable. I just moved and am about to purchase something identical to what you're describing[1], and it's a one-time purchase, as expected. [1] https://sensibo.com/?device=m&campaignID=12697870451

Are you sure it will stay a one-time purchase? Given the post topic, your confidence seems ironic. In a few years' time, you might start seeing ads in the associated app...

Re: Reviews of Android TV launcher after Google added ads to the homescreen

#443

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting, I did some quick Googling and was able to find a good handful of 2020 models with no ads, but none for 2021. I'll take your word for it that they don't exist, but the fact that this is the first year where that appears to be the case is not strong evidence to me that this is the steady-state of the TV market.

You make a good point that it might not be the steady state of the display market, but I think it is for the majority of TVs today. As alternatives, you can buy commercial displays that are effectively TVs (with HDMI in), however they lag in specs and lack some features. You can also buy hospitality versions of TVs as 'dumb' TVs for a similar price, but these also tend to have lower specs. You can buy large format co…

Good to know, thanks. I was actually going to buy a TV a couple of weeks ago, but ended up deciding to make my large monitor do double-duty instead of stuffing another screen into my "cozy" new place in Manhattan. It's good to know that I dodged a bullet: it's easy enough for me to avoid ads that when I do come across them, I find them pretty jarring.

Re: Reviews of Android TV launcher after Google added ads to the homescreen

#445
post #345

I recently bought a 2000€ Sony Bravia which I love, but the update adding ads is atrocious. I paid premium and still get fucking ads, it’s a nightmare! The weirdest thing is that these ads have a political agenda, every day it’s for a new LGBT program. Every. Single. Day. Right now the three ads on the carousel are Pride on Disney+, Turn it Around on myCanal (French cable which I don’t use, I have no idea why I have…

>these ads have a political agenda, every day it’s for a new LGBT program

>I don't emit a judgment of value here

It's Pride month, and today is literally the anniversary of Stonewall. Explicitly calling saying that any content even featuring LGBT people "has a political agenda" is a value judgement, implying you think the mere existence of a minority sexual identity in content is a political statement.

You wouldn't call the service advertising heterosexual romance before Valentine's day a "political statement" (and probably wouldn't think twice about it), so it's prejudicial to claim the different for LGBT content during pride.

Re: Reviews of Android TV launcher after Google added ads to the homescreen

#446

So I have a shield and have yet to check, but with the new Chromecast with Google TV there is an option in the settings to switch to Apps Mode(I'm pretty sure that's what it's called). This gives you the shield look with only your apps and zero "suggestions" (which are somehow always for shows and movies on services you don't have). I hope the shield has something similar.

This mode deactivates voice control which is useful for input rather than manual on screen typing.

Re: Reviews of Android TV launcher after Google added ads to the homescreen

#447

Google, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook - we power their abuses with our money. Just stop buying their trash. Support open hardware, free and open source software.

Kodi+Jellyfin is amazing, I'll never use closed source stuff on my TV again.

Re: Reviews of Android TV launcher after Google added ads to the homescreen

#449
post #429

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course. But companies change all the time - today Apple is very privacy focused and we can reasonably say they wouldn't do such a thing. Can you absolutely guarantee that they won't in 2 years? In 5? in 10? What if the CEO changes and they think that ad-derived value is the best thing ever? Like, this isn't meant to be a post against Apple btw. Just that I don't see a point in saying "company X did a bad thing, th…

We have to make reasonable assumptions when making purchasing decisions. Just because something could happen does not make it a likely thing to happen and assuming that any company is equally likely to start serving advertisements on their devices is unreasonable and foolish. While people may not have had the foresight to know that Google would be adding advertisements to their tv box, the behavior itself isn't unexp…

Apple subjects its users to entirely different type of abuse: purposeful incompatibility and vendor lock-in on every imaginable level from cable connectors to keyboard layouts. You always have to go all in to their ecosystem and pay a 50% premium on everything just for the Apple logo.

I guess it's a choice of if you want to bend over at the checkout or at home when you have started using the product.

Re: Reviews of Android TV launcher after Google added ads to the homescreen

#450
post #45

The new launcher got force push on my Nvidia Shield (app store update is to manual).

I saw Reddit comments saying the ad feature has been in the launcher for quite a few versions and was just turned on from their servers.
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