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I spent $3k on a Samsung Smart TV and all I got were ads and unwanted content

zdnet.com

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Re: I spent $3k on a Samsung Smart TV and all I got were ads and unwanted content

#301

Post by tssva »

pb7 wrote: post #266
tssva wrote: post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Apple UX on all devices lacks discoverability which annoys me to no end. I can use my phone to fill in passwords and as a second remote on my Roku TV without needing to be locked in to the eco system of a single vendor. Haven't used the current remote but the previous one was an atrocity.

Yet Apple devices are usable and enjoyed by both young techies and old grandparents and all groups in between. >I can use my phone to fill in passwords and as a second remote on my Roku TV Mind explaining how? No one is "locked in". I can sell my phone and my Apple TV will still be better than all of its competitors.

>Yet Apple devices are usable and enjoyed by both young techies and old grandparents and all groups in between.

And many of them don't know the features they could be using and enjoying but aren't because they aren't discoverable.

>I can use my phone to fill in passwords and as a second remote on my Roku TV

>Mind explaining how?

The Roku app allows you to fill passwords via your phone and use the phone as a remote for your Roku. I can also use Roku's private listening feature to redirect its audio to my phone allowing me to listen using the headphones connected to my phone. Roku also has a remote available with a wired headphone jack which automatically redirects the audio to it when headphones are connected to the jack.

Re: I spent $3k on a Samsung Smart TV and all I got were ads and unwanted content

#303

Post by hakfoo »

Tenoke wrote: post #73
falcolas wrote: post #8

Corporate slogan of the 21st century: Why settle for some of your customer's money when you can get all of your customer's money (and monetize their data too)? Microtransactions, ads, selling customer usage data, up-front costs, PPV, subscriptions... I'm shocked we as customers can actually afford to obtain and use any of these devices anymore.

A lot of things are sold cheaper than they would be otherwise (including at a loss) because they can make part of the money through ads/add-ons instead. It's customers who have shown they prefer those cheaper on the face of it options rather than those with much bigger up-front cost (which still exist but have been mostly left to business products since only there are enough of their customers fine with it).

This would be much more interesting if they had to quantify it.

When Amazon sold the "ad-supported" Kindle, with a corresponding full-price unit, it made a pretty direct statement of the lifetime value they expected out of advertising.

I suspect both consumers and investors would be fascinated to know how much value the manufacturer expects to get out of these post-sale bleeds. Would their investors be comfortable with a firm that's willing to compromise their brand equity on halo-tier products to extract an expected $35 lifetime ad revenue on a $3000 set?

Re: I spent $3k on a Samsung Smart TV and all I got were ads and unwanted content

#304

Post by Alex3917 »

cbozeman wrote: post #155
Alex3917 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> never, ever give a TV an internet connection, wifi password or dhcp lease. The problem is that it’s becoming unavoidable. Right now the only oven with a good Consumer Reports rating requires a Wi-Fi connection, so it’s either get that model or another one with a significantly worse rating.

> Right now the only oven with a good Consumer Reports rating requires a Wi-Fi connection, so it’s either get that model or another one with a significantly worse rating. I guarantee you Wolf, Sub-Zero, and Viking do not require Wi-Fi connections.

> Wolf, Sub-Zero, and Viking

Sure, but they get worse reviews, and I can get 8 years of insurance on the appliance to cover if it gets hacked for less than the cost difference.

Re: I spent $3k on a Samsung Smart TV and all I got were ads and unwanted content

#305

Post by sgtnoodle »

afavour wrote: post #297
adastra22 wrote: post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From what source though? Antenna broadcast? Otherwise it’s better to route through the set-top box if at all possible, and that can output directly to the sound bar.

OP said they have both an Nvidia Shield and a Blu-Ray player so there is no single set-top box. Running from the TV means you catch all audio output no matter the source.

Yeah, the only device with a "passthrough" is the TV itself, via ARC. If I had a 4k capable receiver instead of the sound bar, then it could act as the hub and output everything to the TV.

Previously I did have a receiver, and no Nvidia Shield device. The TV has Android TV built in to it, so I still relied on ARC most of the time. The TV's built in functionality got too buggy (borked video, audio dropouts during loud scenes) and slow to use day to day, so I added the Shield. My receiver didn't support 4k, though, so I plugged straight into the TV and used ARC still. I since replaced the receiver and all the mid-size speakers with a 5.1 wireless soundbar to free up shelf space in that room. Since I know you're curious, the receiver got paired with a 1080p plasma TV in a guest house where it can retire with dignity, and the speakers got moved to a bedroom, connected to a pre-HDMI receiver and a cheap Bluetooth dongle.

Re: I spent $3k on a Samsung Smart TV and all I got were ads and unwanted content

#306

Post by loonster »

tsukikage wrote: post #136
hedora wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Samsung (Dacor) discloses this behavior in their fridge manual; it says it will mesh with Samsung TVs to better target ads. I’m not about to buy a Samsung set to find out what it actually does in practice. The fridge has deep learning object classifiers and internal cameras; I assume that is a big part of its ad targeting capability. Note that the fridge has demand response / energy use time shifting features that do…

> Samsung (Dacor) discloses this behavior in their fridge manual; it says it will mesh with Samsung TVs to better target ads. ...seriously? ...we collectively did this to ourselves. We live in the science fiction dystopian future we deserve.

Maybe the targeting works the other way around. Those refrigerators have cameras. Maybe a little bit of machine learning to figure out what you buy and play targeted ads based on what's in your fridge or what used to be in your fridge but isnt currently.

Re: I spent $3k on a Samsung Smart TV and all I got were ads and unwanted content

#307

Post by paxys »

mattmanser wrote: post #87
mikestew wrote: post #31

Just give me my Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime, HBO Max,... All of which are available on an AppleTV, and I assume other less-intrusive devices. TFA comes to that conclusion in the last paragraph, but just in case anyone didn't make it that far. And then, as everyone on this page is going to say, never let that TV anywhere near a network connection. Why anyone would go to the effort of dicking with a pi-hole cat-and-…

One remote is inherently better than two remotes. It's objectively less hassle. The apps are actually mostly identical from experience. I actually use a PS4 at the moment, and it occasionally forces me to update before I can use the TV app, so even more hassle.

I exclusively use my Fire Stick remote. Don't even know where the original TV one is.

Re: I spent $3k on a Samsung Smart TV and all I got were ads and unwanted content

#308

Post by Terretta »

mattmanser wrote: post #87
mikestew wrote: post #31

Just give me my Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime, HBO Max,... All of which are available on an AppleTV, and I assume other less-intrusive devices. TFA comes to that conclusion in the last paragraph, but just in case anyone didn't make it that far. And then, as everyone on this page is going to say, never let that TV anywhere near a network connection. Why anyone would go to the effort of dicking with a pi-hole cat-and-…

One remote is inherently better than two remotes. It's objectively less hassle. The apps are actually mostly identical from experience. I actually use a PS4 at the moment, and it occasionally forces me to update before I can use the TV app, so even more hassle.

What's the second remote for? ATV remote drives everything.

Even if you have, say, an PS5 or Xbox Series X plugged to same TV, the ATV remote screen button causes TV to take over from console and turning on a console controller causes it to take over from ATV.

Assuming you turned on all the CEC stuff anyway.

Re: I spent $3k on a Samsung Smart TV and all I got were ads and unwanted content

#309

Post by cgrealy »

tylerhou wrote: post #281
cgrealy wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Get an LG. Picture quality is just as good, and bugger all ads. I will never buy anything from Samsung ever again.

I'm pretty sure I have ads on my LG C1 on my input switch screen. Maybe there is a way to turn it off, but I tried (for all of two minutes) and couldn't find one.

I have an LG GX and there are no ads on the input switch screen.

Re: I spent $3k on a Samsung Smart TV and all I got were ads and unwanted content

#310

Post by Terretta »

tssva wrote: post #262
rewtraw wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't really imagine what you believe is so bad about the Apple TV UX. It's a basic grid of available apps and videos, with an easy swipe to access video settings (subtitles, language, etc). Not complicated at all. Most streaming boxes have the same basic interface... my usual issue is when one is laggy (e.g. TV built-in, Roku, Chromecast, etc). The Apple TV is buttery smooth, fast to scrub through videos, and neve…

It suffers from the same issue as all Apple devices, a lack of discoverability. It is even worse on the Apple TV given the lack of buttons on the remote. I much prefer my Roku TVs and don't have any issue with lag which bothers me.

> lack of buttons

Yesterday's news. ATV4K remote couple years now has all the buttons and no track pad (well, you can swipe in middle of the round OK button, but you wouldn't).

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