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After luring customers with low prices, Amazon stuffs Fire TVs with ads

arstechnica.com

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Re: After luring customers with low prices, Amazon stuffs Fire TVs with ads

#141

Post by [deleted] »

vladvasiliu wrote: post #16
whalesalad wrote: post #7

The trick is to never give your TV access to the internet and to pair it with an Apple TV. If you buy a TV and it won't even boot or work without an internet connection - return it and get a different one.

That works fine with a TV. I bought one knowing that the "smart" features weren't all that great. I tried connecting it to the internet, and it felt more sluggish, although it's a brand new 2023 model. I was able to reset it to factory defaults and it's working well enough for what I bought it for (the image is very good, at least for my needs). For reference, it's a TCL with Google TV. But the Fire TV TFA talks abou…

[deleted]

Re: After luring customers with low prices, Amazon stuffs Fire TVs with ads

#142

Post by ndriscoll »

pxx wrote: post #140
nvy wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>These shows take pseudo-commercial breaks and send you 2-3 ads tailored to you specifically. My wife didn't believe it until I did a simple Amazon search on my phone for automotive batteries. Not more than 30 minutes later the ads switched to some random LiPo battery for RVs. This is so depressing. We're living in the future and it's awful.

I'd much rather my ads be targeted than generic. It increases value on both sides here. Comparing against the baseline of terrestrial broadcast, this is a far better experience than before.

You're making the mistake of assuming the ad is for the best offer you'd be interested in instead of the one that makes the most money from you (i.e. the worst one for you). The expected utility to you is negative.

Re: After luring customers with low prices, Amazon stuffs Fire TVs with ads

#143

Post by silisili »

garciasn wrote: post #130
silisili wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For cheapskates like me, Walmart sells an ONN Google TV box for like $20. Make sure to get the 2023 version, it's a much improved upgrade from one released a few years ago. I love that little thing, and if there are ads, I don't see or notice them. It's much nicer and more responsive than the actual Chromecast TV it replaced.

Yet. You don't see ads, yet. But, what you are doing, is selling your viewing history to marketers, albeit indirectly. For that $20 box, you are giving away everything you watch, when you watch, and very likely anything that goes through that box. That said, you might be 100% ok w/that for the price and that's ok. But, you should go in eyes open about what these lower-cost pieces of hardware are doing to 'permit' you…

I wouldn't say I'm 100% OK with it, more just accepted it. I don't think there's any real way around it with a streaming lifestyle. The streaming device wants data, the services want data. Even my TV I believe asked if it can view what's on the screen.

Even if I had a dumb TV, and a secure trustworthy streaming box, the services themselves(Netflix et al) are collecting the same data, no?

Re: After luring customers with low prices, Amazon stuffs Fire TVs with ads

#144

Post by [deleted] »

gambiting wrote: post #132
whalesalad wrote: post #7

The trick is to never give your TV access to the internet and to pair it with an Apple TV. If you buy a TV and it won't even boot or work without an internet connection - return it and get a different one.

Meh, I own an LG CX and I have never seen a single ad on it - the app integration is so good I can't imagine needing to mess with another device just to use streaming services. Just don't buy ad-ridden crap from Samsung and others, I guess?

[deleted]

Re: After luring customers with low prices, Amazon stuffs Fire TVs with ads

#145

Post by tommica »

dsdsafklj wrote: post #129
joombaga wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

PlutoTV is the same. I used to put on the Geek & Sundry channel and get ads from my employer.

I know what you mean but I can't help but imagine a 60 year old man pointing at the camera and saying, "Get back to work, Steve."

Now that's targeted advertising!

Re: After luring customers with low prices, Amazon stuffs Fire TVs with ads

#146

Post by mulmen »

aldanor wrote: post #134
mulmen wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To access content.

Why can't you access it from any of the tv boxes (ie Apple TV or any other) and just use the TV itself as one big screen, a bunch of pixels and nothing else?

It’s built into the TV. Why buy an extra box that also shows ads?

Re: After luring customers with low prices, Amazon stuffs Fire TVs with ads

#147

Post by beebeepka »

Honestly, that's what you get for not buying a cheap pc that can be hooked to any screen. It's easier, cheaper, and you don't have to deal with "apps".

I am continuously amazed HTPCs are losing ground to commercial setups that are objectively worse by any conceivable metric. No, dealing with "apps" is not simpler.

Re: After luring customers with low prices, Amazon stuffs Fire TVs with ads

#148

Post by hardcopy »

grishka wrote: post #139
RajT88 wrote: post #3

My wife and I bought a Fire TV for a particular use case: - The hot tub room in the winter - The outdoor patio in the summer It was so cheap, we don't mind the ads on the home screen. If it dies from the moisture, we'll just buy another one. The apps are the key anyways, as I use a few totally ad-free apps to stream stuff: - JellyFin - VLC - HDHomeRun (for my antenna on the roof) PlutoTV is not ad-free, but has so mu…

Does it run Android? If so, you can try replacing the launcher with a user-friendly one.

It's really quite easy (for the average HN reader) to do this too, no cables required. I used FLauncher and followed this guide. https://gitlab.com/flauncher/flauncher#method-2-disable-the-...

Re: After luring customers with low prices, Amazon stuffs Fire TVs with ads

#149

Post by owisd »

pxx wrote: post #140
nvy wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>These shows take pseudo-commercial breaks and send you 2-3 ads tailored to you specifically. My wife didn't believe it until I did a simple Amazon search on my phone for automotive batteries. Not more than 30 minutes later the ads switched to some random LiPo battery for RVs. This is so depressing. We're living in the future and it's awful.

I'd much rather my ads be targeted than generic. It increases value on both sides here. Comparing against the baseline of terrestrial broadcast, this is a far better experience than before.

Not necessarily, it could mean the ads get better at tricking you into buying something you never use, or that it adds greater costs to the supply chain for something that you would have found out about via conventional means anyway.

Re: After luring customers with low prices, Amazon stuffs Fire TVs with ads

#150

Post by [deleted] »

grishka wrote: post #139
RajT88 wrote: post #3

My wife and I bought a Fire TV for a particular use case: - The hot tub room in the winter - The outdoor patio in the summer It was so cheap, we don't mind the ads on the home screen. If it dies from the moisture, we'll just buy another one. The apps are the key anyways, as I use a few totally ad-free apps to stream stuff: - JellyFin - VLC - HDHomeRun (for my antenna on the roof) PlutoTV is not ad-free, but has so mu…

Does it run Android? If so, you can try replacing the launcher with a user-friendly one.

[deleted]
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