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The downfall of smart TVs: From promises of seamless viewing to ad tool

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Re: The downfall of smart TVs: From promises of seamless viewing to ad tool

#41

Post by littlecranky67 »

a4isms wrote: post #24
dwighttk wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eh, I’d rather get that ad subsidy and never connect the tv to the internet

For now, this appears to be feasible. And it will probably stay feasible as long as the number of people who do it is relatively miniscule. But economics being economics, we’re freeloading off the customers who hook their smart TVs up to the internet and provide manufacturers with enough revenue that they don’t care about us. But should the practice become widespread and manufacturers notice a material impact on thei…

> they will start embedding SIM cards in TVs that can’t be disabled

Open up the TV and solder the antenna to ground. If the TVs refuse to work when there is no Signal, good luck with customer complaints - here in Germany, we have huge black-spots with no reception whatsoever (mostly rural areas, but people still live in those).

Re: The downfall of smart TVs: From promises of seamless viewing to ad tool

#43

Post by 2OEH8eoCRo0 »

ClumsyPilot wrote: post #12
candiddevmike wrote: post #7

Downfall implies a failure or ending, it seems like they're still selling like hotcakes. This is why we need regulation to save us from surveillance, most consumers want cheap and don't understand/care that they're selling their privacy instead.

some manufacturers are outright scamming people - philips has added advertisement to TVs after they were sold!

Same with my Nvidia Shield TV which is aggravating.

Re: The downfall of smart TVs: From promises of seamless viewing to ad tool

#44

Post by cassianoleal »

littlecranky67 wrote: post #23
candiddevmike wrote: post #7

Downfall implies a failure or ending, it seems like they're still selling like hotcakes. This is why we need regulation to save us from surveillance, most consumers want cheap and don't understand/care that they're selling their privacy instead.

Any TV sold in the EU must adhere to the GDPR, so there has to be some sort of opt-out for tracking (and yes, GDPR opt-out also applies for "anonymized" profiling)

My LG TV has opt-in for tracking. That said, a lot of stuff just refuses to work unless I accept it. I refuse to use those features. It's a lose-lose situation.

Re: The downfall of smart TVs: From promises of seamless viewing to ad tool

#45

Post by blueflow »

DethNinja wrote: post #6

There is a much better option for HN crowd: Buy a large/modern computer monitor and connect it to your homelab’s media server. Literally there is no need for a smart TV so long as you are capable of setting up a small homelab.

Not having an TV is also a viable option. Around 2016 my last TV broke down and i have adapted to live without it.

When i say 'TV' i also mean to include Netflix and Hulu and other services serving the same purpose.

Re: The downfall of smart TVs: From promises of seamless viewing to ad tool

#47

Post by cube00 »

The new Google TV launcher complete with ads on an expensive TV or a Shield is getting a hammering in the ratings, shows how little they care about customer feedback.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.and...

Bonus points for making the preview images in the store not show the ads you'll see. If any other app tried to mislead users like that they'd be banned from the store.

Although it's not like we have a choice, they've also disabled the option to change the launcher on the newest Android TV version as well to coincide with adding the ads on the home screen.

I get we need to have ads to pay for services but come on, the TVs they're doing this to are not your cheap Aldi ones, they're high end Sony Bravias. Most of the ads are even for other paid services like Disney+ and Netflix.

Re: The downfall of smart TVs: From promises of seamless viewing to ad tool

#48

Post by smileybarry »

dwighttk wrote: post #9
DethNinja wrote: post #6

There is a much better option for HN crowd: Buy a large/modern computer monitor and connect it to your homelab’s media server. Literally there is no need for a smart TV so long as you are capable of setting up a small homelab.

Eh, I’d rather get that ad subsidy and never connect the tv to the internet

Some vendors are also just less scummy in turning it off and the extent of ad services. Sony TVs are Google TV-based and explicitly ask for Samba (not SMB) TV analytics (and can be declined), and you can just outright disable the APK in settings. No ads in menus like Samsung (you do get the Google TV "recommendations" but that's a whole other problem).

Re: The downfall of smart TVs: From promises of seamless viewing to ad tool

#49

Post by kesslern »

ClumsyPilot wrote: post #12
candiddevmike wrote: post #7

Downfall implies a failure or ending, it seems like they're still selling like hotcakes. This is why we need regulation to save us from surveillance, most consumers want cheap and don't understand/care that they're selling their privacy instead.

some manufacturers are outright scamming people - philips has added advertisement to TVs after they were sold!

Sony did too. I tried to bypass it by getting a relatively expensive nVidia Shield. It got home screen ads about a year later.
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