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Why I will never buy another Samsung device

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Re: Why I will never buy another Samsung device

#411

Post by sgt »

viraptor wrote: post #123
StopHammoTime wrote: post #21

This is why I always go with Apple. I've always just walked in, yeeted my phone at them and gotten a new one. I've had four warranty issues since my original 3GS and every time the experience has been pleasant. I've also had an AirPod replaced when it no longer kept charge and was within the warranty period. The same has also applied to other family members who have had failing devices and Apple always replaces them…

Here's something I noticed: the fans of Apple hardware know they can do this, because they... have to do this. I've had 9 or so different laptops in my life over the last 2 decades, from bargain bin models to latest high-spec Lenovo. The only times I've had to fix a laptop was twice in the last 3 years on work-assigned MBP (once the motherboard failed, another time the keyboard fell apart), then had to replace a fail…

We have about 70 employees and giving them anything else than Apple laptops would probably be a disaster. Our support footprint is tiny in comparison with earlier years. The machines are built so well that we hardly have any failures.

I suppose some people have been unlucky with Apple hardware but it's maybe also due to the perceptions and that seemingly everyone (at least in IT and development) is using a Mac these days.

Re: Why I will never buy another Samsung device

#412

Post by maccard »

jmyeet wrote: post #405

So the author had a folding phone that failed and couldn't get it repaired/replaced. The narrow take is that you're kinda crazy to buy a folding phone but Samsung was selling them so is really on the hook for the inevitable issues. The story of getting it fixed is really why people love Apple and even Amazon. I've had the Wifi go unreliable on an iPad. I got a Genius appointment for later that day. They confirmed the…

> The narrow take is that you're kinda crazy to buy a folding phone but Samsung was selling them so is really on the hook for the inevitable issues.

It's not up to a customer to decide whether a product is "technically" feasible. Lots of things that "seem" impossible or unreasonable are usable and practical, e.g. compact high wattage laptop chargers compared to the absolute _units_ we used to get and still get on cheaper laptop models. The blame here is squarely on samsung; They decided that this product was fit for sale and as a result need to support it, whether or not people who buy it are "kinda crazy"

Re: Why I will never buy another Samsung device

#413

Post by southerntofu »

vianneychevalie wrote: post #408
southerntofu wrote: post #391

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These applications are viruses. They eat all your resources, make connections to the network, and you can't get rid of them. I don't understand how some (most?) of humanity has accepted that it's acceptable for Apple, Microsoft, Samsung and Huawei to make it mandatory to use their spyware. If i as an individual sold phones that are tied to crappy malware i would be in prison very quickly. They control your phone, you…

Can you give examples of the Apple spyware you're mentioning? I'm familiar with the on-device scanning for iCloud-backups-using phones, but for me that's it. How wrong am I?

I don't have examples on iOS because i've never used an iPhone, but on MacOS Apple was caught red-handed asking their central server authorization to run 3rd party programs whenever you start an application. It was only discovered because their server failed and programs failed to start:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25074959

I think we can agree this perfectly fits the definition of "spyware"? There's probably countless other examples i'm unaware of, and to be fair Apple is certainly not the only actor engaging in such outrageous behavior (Microsoft is another, perhaps more famous one).

EDIT: It appears there's studies of iOS data collection and it's really scary. Previous discussion here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28741262

Re: Why I will never buy another Samsung device

#414

Post by maccard »

throwanem wrote: post #2

> What they’re doing currently is forcing their early-adopter customers to bear the risks of the new technology. We generally call this "being an early adopter."

No, being an early adopter is dealing with issues like the seam being noticeable, or the lifetime of the hinge mechanism maybe being underspecified, not a manufacturer shirking a warranty repair 3 months after the device was purchased.

Re: Why I will never buy another Samsung device

#415

Post by maccard »

hammock wrote: post #101
corndoge wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What a ridiculous notion. The device costs over a thousand fucking euros! Samsung doesn't sell it with a warning that says "this device is for early adopters and won't be repaired should it fail due to a manufacturing defect." Any decent company would fix it, full stop.

What does costing over $1000 have to do with anything? No one owes you anything. Furthermore all applicable warranties are communicated at time of purchase. Bottom line, if the risk adjusted return is not worth it, then don't buy it. You may not be an early adopter

> Furthermore all applicable warranties are communicated at time of purchase.

This is in the EU, where manufacturers are required to provide a two year guarantee [0], which can't be voluntarily opted out of.

[0] https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/shopping/gua...

Re: Why I will never buy another Samsung device

#416

Post by aembleton »

5350-uiop-1130 wrote: post #398
jiggawatts wrote: post #160

I avoid all things Samsung for a much more important reason: They spy on you mercilessly, up to about the same level as Facebook. For example, they take screenshots of what you watch on your Samsung Televisions! Don't believe me? Take it from them: https://www.samsung.com/us/business/samsungads/resources/tv-... and https://www.samsung.com/us/business/samsungads/insights/ You're not their customer, you're the product.…

>There are many other companies with much better track records like which? you can either buy an over-priced apple iToy, inferior samsung clone, or some chinese android with buggy bloated software

Are Apple devices really over priced when they get support for much longer?

Re: Why I will never buy another Samsung device

#417

Post by [deleted] »

rjzzleep wrote: post #375
NoboruWataya wrote: post #346

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You're not their customer, you're the product. What is really annoying though is that you are their customer. It's sort of understandable when Google or Facebook spy on you and monetise your data to profit from the services that they provide you free of monetary charge to you. With Samsung, you've already handed over a few hundred dollars at least for the product. Spying on you as well is like having their customer…

I just saw the Samsung S22 and it looks kinda like an iPhone 13, very solid build, comparably compact, it would actually be a good device if it weren't for the fact that the moment you unlock it they trip an e-fuse to make sure you can't use certain things. Sony used to wipe the drm keys to brick the camera on their phones. I had a samsung active2 watch. It advertised ECG, which didn't materialize until almost 2 year…

[deleted]

Re: Why I will never buy another Samsung device

#418

Post by nikau »

dotancohen wrote: post #242
userbinator wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here’s a list of some of their model numbers Model numbers for white goods tend to be "encoded", almost like a VIN; this isn't a Samsung-specific thing.

Why?

Often big sales chains get their own specific model numbers to stop price comparisons or price matching.

Exact same thing, just a different model number.

Re: Why I will never buy another Samsung device

#419

Post by southerntofu »

Hnrobert42 wrote: post #407
southerntofu wrote: post #390

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's sort of understandable when Google or Facebook spy on you and monetise your data to profit from the services that they provide you free of monetary charge to you. I personally don't like that line of reasoning. If you start to justify abusive behavior in the name of making money you're not giving someone for a "service", it's a small leap to reach the conclusion that abusive behavior (and profiting from it) is…

Google and FB are unscrupulous and terrible. But it is absurd to insist the only two valid transaction models are offer paid service (which I assume means for money) or gift. Even in your hypothetical, it would not be unreasonable for them to give me a donut in exchange for taking notes on which donut I like and handing me a coupon for my next donut. To me, the issue is not the data collection. It is the lack of tran…

> To me, the issue is not the data collection. It is the lack of transparency.

I don't exactly disagree, but it's hardly comparable. As a human being, i can grasp the notion of giving you 30 minutes of my time to try different cookie flavors and tell you what i think.

I could likewise understand the notion/consequences of filling a one-page questionnaire for Facebook's advertisement engine in exchange for free service. But i don't think implicit background data collection on anything they can (my phonebook, really?!) is a reasonable contract, because it's hard to comprehend what are the limits and consequences of that.

So it's not just "lack of transparency". I would consider it abusive behavior even if the sign up form read "I WILL FOLLOW AND WATCH YOU EVERYWHERE YOU GO AND TELL ALL MY FRIENDS ABOUT YOUR GREAT ADVENTURES"... especially considering they would probably make it look like a cute pet saying that. I would not consider it abusive behavior if their ad business was *not* collecting any information from the users (except maybe like i said a sign-up questionnaire) and was just doing advertisement.

Re: Why I will never buy another Samsung device

#420

Post by vinay427 »

5350-uiop-1130 wrote: post #398
jiggawatts wrote: post #160

I avoid all things Samsung for a much more important reason: They spy on you mercilessly, up to about the same level as Facebook. For example, they take screenshots of what you watch on your Samsung Televisions! Don't believe me? Take it from them: https://www.samsung.com/us/business/samsungads/resources/tv-... and https://www.samsung.com/us/business/samsungads/insights/ You're not their customer, you're the product.…

>There are many other companies with much better track records like which? you can either buy an over-priced apple iToy, inferior samsung clone, or some chinese android with buggy bloated software

I definitely wouldn’t call Samsung phones inferior clones. They seem to drive most of the feature development in Android in recent years, with Google catching up by mainlining them a few years later. It seems like only Samsung and Apple are competing to innovate in the smartphone space these days by pushing each other (and copying each other).
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