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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

#141

This type of expectation is why I've always gravitated towards Roku sticks. They're cheap, really well designed, centrally controlled on your account and you avoid any need to over-invest in specific TV vendors to have the same experience across the board. And it can't do anything that the HDMI port can't do.

They can show you ads over anything they're displaying from an HDMI port.

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

#142
post #87

FWIW, it is still possible to get TVs without this stuff, albeit at a premium. TVs are still made for business usage in areas like conference rooms, wall displays etc. They're often found under labeling like "commercial digital signage" or "business display" or the like, they seem to often try to avoid using "TV" (if being cynical maybe to make them harder for normal people to discover and confuse them if they do). B…

You can still get cheap ones. And by cheap I mean TLC/Hisense level quality displays. Walmart sells Sceptre's for low prices and have no smart features, best purchase I've made in years.

We use a lot of Rokus here and my issue isn't the ads, its that every Roku built-in TV gets REALLY slow after a few updates, so now it's just easier to chuck a $20-30 device instead of having to buy an entire $300+TV.

Sure I don't get 120Hz fancyness but at least it's 4k and the picture is good enough for my consoles.

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

#143
post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or just get any smart tv and add a android tv dongle . They don't cost much

That's what I thought we well, but TFA seems to suggest that some TVs may overlay ads on top of any video source: "Vizio collected a selection of pixels on the screen and matched them to an existing database of content to find out what a user was watching and when" "pop-ups would reportedly appear halfway through the show and be injected into the users' own content, such as home videos"

Yes, but the moment you plug in an Android dongle, Apple TV or similar, you can just disconnect the TV from the internet, which should solve this.

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

#144
post #76

I feel like these anti-consumer practices by BigCorp can open the door for new companies to emerge on the market: build an ad-free tv, ad-free smartphones etc. Or is it just the effect of me living in a bubble while 99.9% of the customers don't care about this?

Yes because consumers have history of paying more for quality in aggregate…

There is a reason that two of the five most valuable companies in the US are adTech - Google and Facebook.

How many consumers are going to choose to pay $300 more for an ad free privacy first TV?

How many consumers right now are willing to pay for an AppleTV over a $30 Roku stick?

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

#145
post #57

> Some may argue that there's no need to be dramatic and that there's nothing wrong in seeing an occasional ad every now and then. Oh, no, I am very dramatic about this. I will go to any lengths not to see advertising. I will entirely forgo any platform that shows me even one ad, especially when I pay them. Amazon Prime video is already pushing it with their preroll previews. The second it's something else I'm cancel…

Ditto. I got rid of windows shortly after they introduced ads in the OS. It really doesn't matter to me that there are technical ways of blocking them, I don't want to have to think about it or play cat and mouse with them.

When it comes to websites I really wouldn't care if they blocked my access because I use an ad blocker. I don't feel any entitlement to their content and they have no entitlement to what displays on my machine.

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

#146
post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow. Thanks for the head's up. I have Disney+ and have not yet seen this, but I'm done as soon as it does.

It’s not true. Disney+ is adding a lower cost ad free tier. The current plan doesn’t have ads.

Now. Just like when food companies sells the same package as before (or a slightly bigger version) as "now with 20% free product!" and after a few months, they remove the free product discount. Price increased, less people noticed it.

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

#147
One thing I fundamentally don't get: all this endless shoehorning of ads into everything is dependent on there being a seemingly unlimited amount of ad revenue on the table.

Why? Do ads actually work this well if everyone hates them? What about ads shoehorned into marginal spaces and presented in ways that are barely relevant to the material?

The only ads I EVER click on are relevant ads that come up from a search in which I am looking for something potentially to buy. In media and platforms (software, OSes) I usually associate the presence of ads with low-end crap.

Am I weird? Are there tons of mindless ad clickers out there who actually buy based on irrelevant ad spam?

Why are companies so stingy with wages and willing to outsource their core competencies in exchange for small gains but at the same time are willing to piss endless amounts of money away on ads?

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

#148
I have a Samsung smart TV but have never agreed to the EULA or connected it to the internet. Not sure if this is good enough but I never see ads or really anything unexpected, just good old fashioned TV. I do worry though that some other EULA I’ve agreed to might give them the ability to connect the TV through SmartThings or something similar without my permission. Doesn’t this seem crazy to even have to consider?

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

#149
post #87

FWIW, it is still possible to get TVs without this stuff, albeit at a premium. TVs are still made for business usage in areas like conference rooms, wall displays etc. They're often found under labeling like "commercial digital signage" or "business display" or the like, they seem to often try to avoid using "TV" (if being cynical maybe to make them harder for normal people to discover and confuse them if they do). B…

> FWIW, it is still possible to get TVs without this stuff, albeit at a premium. TVs are still made for business usage in areas like conference rooms, wall displays etc.

Do they have tuners? I've heard many of those are missing them.

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

#150

If you have children you have a moral imperative to pirate content and prevent this from infecting their lives. Search for a plexshare. $20 for everything, zero ads. Screw these greedy bastards.

You’re right, it’s a moral imperative to show children that if you can’t legally get what you want just do it illegally…
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