Samsung's smart TVs are inserting unwanted ads into users' own movies

Post by bediger4000 » Wed, Feb 11, 2015, 3:54 PM UTC

omega_rythm wrote: post #79

snarfy wrote: post #26

> Samsung explained that these sorts of ads were supposed to be opt-in only and was working with Yahoo to improve the system. No user would opt-in to commercials, ever. I don't believe for a second this system was designed with opt-in in mind. Whenever an ill conceived feature like this is brought to the light, it's always explained as a bug, glitch, or some screw up in engineering. Well, it's not a bug. It was speci…

> No user would opt-in to commercials, ever. I don't believe for a second this system was designed with opt-in in mind. The occidental mindset is heavily geared against advertising. If you got free rebate coupons, gifts, etc. as rewards for opting in, would you still refuse it? I'm trying to say that we don't necessarily see the whole picture, and the article doesn't give hints about the purpose of that "feature".

Post by Roboprog » Wed, Feb 11, 2015, 3:58 PM UTC

anon4 wrote: post #88

a3n wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I haven't bought a TV for five years (a Samsung, as it happens, plugged into a Roku). Can you even buy a TV that isn't smart these days?

Yes, it's called a monitor. There are plenty of monitors that have hdmi inputs and a standard audio jack output for connecting to a set of speakers.

Post by jpindar » Wed, Feb 11, 2015, 4:02 PM UTC

cauterized wrote: post #17

ourmandave wrote: post #3

They're not unwanted ads until you tell Samsung and Yahoo they're unwanted. And that convenient opt out is only 5,000 clicks through a maze of twisty passages away. I'd bet the pop-up confirmation box on the opt-out has a Pepsi ad on it.

Is there such a things as a wanted ad?

Post by bitL » Wed, Feb 11, 2015, 4:05 PM UTC

morganvachon wrote: post #85

jbinto wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As others have noted here already, the smart TVs are quickly becoming the only thing you can buy now, at least in North America.

If you do all your shopping in brick-and-mortar stores that only carry expensive Samsung and LG TVs, I'd believe that. But there's a wealth of "dumb" TVs available online and even in big-box stores like Best Buy and Walmart. I'd say if someone is savvy enough to know they don't want a "smart" TV, they will know where to look for a good deal.

Post by fooqux » Wed, Feb 11, 2015, 4:06 PM UTC

occam65 wrote: post #78

That's it, I've had it. I'm going to set my router to take all traffic from the MAC address of my TV and route it to 127.0.0.1. I'll disable the redirect when I want to check for firmware updates, but that's it.