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Samsung TV owners complain about increasingly obtrusive ads

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Re: Samsung TV owners complain about increasingly obtrusive ads

#511

Post by ViViDboarder »

alexpi wrote: post #382
fxtentacle wrote: post #84

... and that's exactly why my TV will never have an internet connection. By now, it doesn't really matter which brand you use. I have analyzed Samsung, Sony, LG and Philips and ALL of them send data about your usage to NetEase in China and ALL of them have ToS that say that they might record your voice and store it for improving their AI or whatever. Plus all of them shove suggested apps in your face, so I'd say it i…

> And without internet, there are not ads until all TVs will have built-in 5G SIM

Why would they need a 5G sim for that?

They could easily be delivering ads and siphoning user metrics with 3G, 4G, or LTE sims today.

Re: Samsung TV owners complain about increasingly obtrusive ads

#512

Post by RandomBacon »

torgian wrote: post #267

What happened to just buying a "normal" TV? No internet needed or anything? Seems dumb. Seeing this link has already made me to decide I actually won't buy a Samsung tv. I'll just get something else. If we truly go the road of the dodo, I'll just make a side business rewiring "smart" tvs.

Sceptre TVs are "normal" (aka "dumb") and even do 4K.

Unfortunately they probably don't get the extra revenue from ads to be able to get placement in stores like Best Buy.

Re: Samsung TV owners complain about increasingly obtrusive ads

#513

Post by mthoms »

ssully wrote: post #484
Swenrekcah wrote: post #294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is one thing Apple TV has so backwards that I can't even. Text input. All the letters lined alphabetically with only left-right movement allowed. Takes ages to input anything. Also no corrections allowed. I actually exit appleTV and use the built in TV apps for when I need youtube and the like, because their input mechanism is not insane. I know there is a remote app for iPhones, but you do provide an actual re…

I assume they made the letters one row because of how sensitive the touch pad is on the remote. For example, when picking a show on Netflix I constantly go down a row when I am just trying to go right on a column. I assume keeping the letters on one axis is a not so great work around.

Just FYI, there's an option to adjust the sensitivity of the remote.

(Even so, what you describe still happens on occasion for me, but it helps)

Re: Samsung TV owners complain about increasingly obtrusive ads

#515

Post by RandomBacon »

jmull3n wrote: post #19

Curious to see what HN users believe is the best smart TV to buy in terms of OS functionality, privacy and user experience?

Sceptre TVs.

They are not "smart", but less is better, so in terms of OS functionaliry, privacy, and user experience; they top the charts.

Re: Samsung TV owners complain about increasingly obtrusive ads

#516

Post by ViViDboarder »

fxtentacle wrote: post #338
rthomas6 wrote: post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use a pi-hole to block that traffic.

The difference is that you had to accept their EULA. I didn't because even if I technically prevent their data extraction, I still want it to be illegal for them.

At least my Samsung TV had several EULAs that were optional. I accepted the basic one that allowed me to use the onboard Netflix and then opted out of data collection via CCPA and installed a Pi-Hole. I didn’t accept the one for voice control or other “smart” features.

Re: Samsung TV owners complain about increasingly obtrusive ads

#517

Post by RandomBacon »

logicOnly wrote: post #307
sasaf5 wrote: post #292

Don't buy a TV, buy a screen and connect it to your own media source. Preferably offline media. You can be a lot more deliberate about the content you consume and there won't be tracking (though there might still be ads in the media).

I read about these problems and they really only effect low information consumers. Anyone that researches can get a TV without ads for hundreds of dollars. I don't buy anything from Samsung, it sounds like a user issue. Samsung is notorious for being awful.

> they really only effect low information consumers.

I have a feeling that's about 95+% of consumers.

Re: Samsung TV owners complain about increasingly obtrusive ads

#518

Post by auggierose »

Swenrekcah wrote: post #489
auggierose wrote: post #457

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple TV has bluetooth, so if this is really an issue for you, why not get a dedicated TV keyboard?

Why can't they just fix their user interface? Nobody in the world I have talked to thinks this is the best choice of interfaces. I don't need a dedicated TV keyboard. As I said, I work around it by using the TV apps, but it's annoying, and the most annoying part is that it's probably annoying on purpose to get people more on their phone.

I don't think it is on purpose to get people on their phone. Most people just don't use the keyboard much, I would guess. I never do, except for signing up for new apps.

So I would agree with their design decision: make an elegant remote, use voice dictation for search and the like, if you need a keyboard, use your iPhone, and if you are not happy with that, get a dedicated keyboard. If you are not happy with THAT, well ...

Re: Samsung TV owners complain about increasingly obtrusive ads

#519

Post by gwern »

neya wrote: post #31

Fuck the guy who wanted to suck up to the management in some stupid meeting projecting estimated revenue out of this to ask for a raise later because he "contributed to a revenue increase" to the company. There's absolutely no after thought to this decision - If I paid 1000s of dollars for an "idiot box" that's supposed to reproduce faithfully the signal that I pass it, showing ads is unacceptable, no matter what the…

Unfortunately, showing ads probably does increase long-term profit. Take a look at the randomized experiments measuring long-term retention & profit with various ad loads: https://www.gwern.net/Ads#replication

Often, despite the ~10% user/activity loss, profit is increased by increasing ad load. And this is in tech contexts like web browser/smartphone/music-streaming where switches and upgrades are pretty easy and often done anyway. The loss from equivalent ad burdens on TVs is probably much less. (People replace their smartphones more often than their TVs!) The ad revenue also lets them discount the upfront price of TVs (I think I saw an article on HN that the discount due to advertising is at least $50/set?). And then there's the time-value of money: $1 up front in exchange for $1.10 of lost sales 10 years from now when they (maybe) buy an alternative brand is a pretty sweet deal for the seller.

Some consumers may hate ads like poison. But most of them are just fine with it, and prefer the micropayments to the macropayments, as it were.

Re: Samsung TV owners complain about increasingly obtrusive ads

#520

Post by RandomBacon »

paulus_magnus2 wrote: post #268

Can someone with 1st hand experience reassure me I would be able to use a commercial digital signage as a TV?? From what I learned so far the difficulties are: [please also correct me on these] - stand is not included (need to buy that separately / do a wall mount) - hard to find a seller - prices are higher than for equivalent consumer TVs - brightness is higher -> more power consumption - there is no antenna (terre…

You don't need commercial signage. Sceptre TVs come with stands, Walmart sells them, price is average, has standard TV connectors and remote.
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