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People regret buying Amazon smart displays after being bombarded with ads

arstechnica.com

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Re: People regret buying Amazon smart displays after being bombarded with ads

#151

Post by N_Lens »

jonhohle wrote: post #54
neilv wrote: post #10

I recently bought a Kindle/Fire device pre-owned, to save money. But seeing full-screen shitty consumer products ads on the 'covers of my books', sitting around my home was so depressing, I paid the extra $10-$15, to retroactively turn it into an ad-free device.[1] Though, even with Special Offers disabled, it still puts oversized icons for marketing promotions, bursting out of the search bar at the top of the home s…

I worked on Prime during the Prime Video launch. All of the marketing was around it being ad free and a new benefit of the Prime membership. Not too long later they started playing pre roll ads for Amazon Video offerings (maybe Amazon Studios, I don’t remember). I brought it up in a meeting and the business folks said it was OK because it wasn’t in the middle of the selected content. I’m pushed back, but it went nowh…

Well ofcourse - the I in MBA stands for Intelligence.

Re: People regret buying Amazon smart displays after being bombarded with ads

#152

Post by baq »

dreamcompiler wrote: post #125

I was thinking just today how nice it would be if I had a private AI that I could just ask "What streaming network that I already pay for can I watch Superman on without paying extra for it or watching ads?" and have it simply answer "HBO." And now, after reading this comment, somebody is on the phone setting up a meeting with VCs for Monday morning to pitch this idea. Only the VCs are gonna insist that the AI make m…

I just want a box of AI with a USB cable and hook it up to home assistant.

Re: People regret buying Amazon smart displays after being bombarded with ads

#153

Post by piggg »

kaonwarb wrote: post #137

I can't reconcile Amazon's growing flood of ads with their famous first Leadership Principle: "Leaders start with the customer and work backwards. They work vigorously to earn and keep customer trust."

"advertisers are customers too"

Re: People regret buying Amazon smart displays after being bombarded with ads

#154

Post by cornholio »

N_Lens wrote: post #149
dreamcompiler wrote: post #122

> the company is working to improve the ad experience on Alexa devices There is one and only one way to "improve the ad experience" and we all know what it is but for some strange reason the companies showing the ads never seem to figure it out.

The proctologist is working to improve the spiky dildo experience. Thanks for your patience.

We've got our best spike sharpeners working on improvements.

Re: People regret buying Amazon smart displays after being bombarded with ads

#155

Post by baq »

gbin wrote: post #67
krapp wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>There is no system we can think of to avoid that? There is, but it requires thinking outside the box of "free market" capitalism, something most Americans are incapable of.

Please elaborate.

Not op, but usually this is a shortcut of saying that the regulator prioritizes businesses instead of consumers and it predictably makes the market not as efficient for consumers as it is for businesses, i.e. consumers don’t even have a choice of getting what they want.

Re: People regret buying Amazon smart displays after being bombarded with ads

#156

Post by bentley »

dingaling wrote: post #136
dmalik wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No need to connect or use any smart tv feature. How much is your time worth? Apple TV is the best experience (not even close to FireTV) for the cost of it. There are ways to get completely ad free if you have time. I've been using a HTPC for close to 20 years for example.

> No need to connect or use any smart tv feature. Many 'smart' devices now have their own 5G modems, you don't have a choice of connecting or not.

> Many

How many? Can you provide some examples?

Re: People regret buying Amazon smart displays after being bombarded with ads

#157

Post by cyberax »

cameldrv wrote: post #43
neilv wrote: post #10

I recently bought a Kindle/Fire device pre-owned, to save money. But seeing full-screen shitty consumer products ads on the 'covers of my books', sitting around my home was so depressing, I paid the extra $10-$15, to retroactively turn it into an ad-free device.[1] Though, even with Special Offers disabled, it still puts oversized icons for marketing promotions, bursting out of the search bar at the top of the home s…

Same thing with Audible. Very annoying. When you open the app, it shows you ads for books to buy instead of the books you already have or the book you're listening to now. Of course, they do not care. Whether you actually listen to the book isn't that important to them, as long as you buy it.

OpenAudible saves the day.

Re: People regret buying Amazon smart displays after being bombarded with ads

#160

Post by frm88 »

ToucanLoucan wrote: post #27
roughly wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> How should they know? Because they’ve got eyes, memory, and a working brain? Every product Amazon has ever put out has wound up with ads in it, as has Amazon itself, so why in gods name wouldn’t this new one be covered in ads? It’s not 2005, this stuff shouldn’t be surprising anymore - everyone is on Facebook, TikTok, or Instagram, and if you can’t recognize that those are ad platforms from ad companies and you som…

> Because they’ve got eyes, memory, and a working brain? Every product Amazon has ever put out has wound up with ads in it, as has Amazon itself, so why in gods name wouldn’t this new one be covered in ads? Because not everyone has been immersed in that world the whole time. A whole lot of people don't know fucking anything about Amazon beyond it being the best store on the Internet. I've got relatives who still don'…

I completely agree with what you wrote.

There is this, though:

I don't need to know shit about plumbing, about electricity, about carpentry, or any one of dozens of specializations utterly crucial to my ongoing existence in this world.

That's the crucial difference. In each of these cases you can contact a specialist to make sure your basement doesn't flood or you don't get decapitated by your roof caving in. More to the point: you know when it's time to contact a specialist and you can easily find one. With everything around consumer electronics and hostile practises neither is the case, so you somehow have to impart that information to the uninitiated with whatever means necessary, so they - at least - recognise the limitations of their knowledge. Then regulate away the extremes.

If we don't act on these practises - and soon - we'll drown.

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