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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

#521
post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If I paid 1000s of dollars for an "idiot box" that's supposed to reproduce faithfully the signal that I pass it Just don't connect it to the Internet. The bigger problem is that at some point there will not be any "idiot box" models at all. The TVs will refuse to work if they aren't seeing the Internet. Then we'll be truly fucked.

I think that will just create a market opportunity. There was a company that made just a good tv, no smarts, but I can't find it right offhand. It think it was a european company

Commercial TVs (and video/signage displays, if you don't actually care about the TV tuner) are out there from most of the major brands including Samsung, but they tend to cost a fair bit more than the equivalent consumer TV.

Re: Samsung TV owners complain about increasingly obtrusive ads

#523

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The NVIDIA Shield TV, which runs Android TV, can no longer be initialized without signing in with a Google account, the setup screen will refuse to get past that step, even if you don't have an internet connection. The forced login is likely illegal, because there is no mention of a requirement for a Google account in their marketing materials or on their sales pages. The device stays perfectly functional if the the…

iOS 14 now requires an account to enable the phone. It literally just bricked my test iPhone SE.

That doesn't sound right. You do need an iCloud account to enable some functionality, for example to enable seamlessly switching AirPods between different Apple devices.

Re: Samsung TV owners complain about increasingly obtrusive ads

#524
I am looking for a small non-smart TV for a workout area in my home. My last TV purchase was around 2010.

The options seem very limited. I may end up using a computer monitor with a streaming box and or a tv tumer card on an old computer. I already have a good OTA signal from an outdoor antenna that is used by the main TV in the house and can easily run a splitter.

Any low cost recommendations?

Re: Samsung TV owners complain about increasingly obtrusive ads

#525
post #122
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…

In some stupid meeting somewhere: A: ...and in conclusion, it's a win-win situation. Users will benefit from ads and our revenue will go up. B: People don't like ads on their TV. A: But they do. I refer you to slides 18 through 25 where you can see engagement metrics for our ad rollout on the old model. If people wouldn't like ads they wouldn't be clicking on them so much . B: I don't like ads. Do you like ads on you…

Absolutely. Can I have a few minutes before I come to your office in order to come up with a list of things I least like when I see an ad? This is a great opportunity to increase engagement from the likes of me by considering what improvement can be made in your ad campaign.

Re: Samsung TV owners complain about increasingly obtrusive ads

#526
post #450

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, try to buy a high end non-smart TV. Near impossible

Maybe not an economical choice but you can buy digital signage displays. They are typically more expensive but are built for maximum durability and don't include consumer features like streaming.

I bought an LG OLED Wallpaper signage display; it wasn't cheap, or easy to get, but it makes a fantastic TV, with no "apps" or "ads", just one HDMI input for an Apple TV (which I run through a Denon HEOS A/V receiver). 1080p, not 4K, but I'm 55 and couldn't see those pixels from 10 feet anyway ツ It doesn't have CEC, but it does wake on signal. Well worth the cost and trouble.

Re: Samsung TV owners complain about increasingly obtrusive ads

#527
post #124

... 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…

How do you force WebOS to default to HDMI? I replaced my parents TV with a LG LED last year, and it defaults to showing "No signal found" when turned on, then you have to switch to HDMI.

That's strange. I have an LG (a couple of years old I think?) and it defaults to whichever input it was on previously.

So if I turn it off while on HDMI 3, it turns on to HDMI 3. If I turn off to antenna, it turns on to antenna.

Only irritation I really have with it is that it's run into the odd error and will reboot suddenly. :|

Re: Samsung TV owners complain about increasingly obtrusive ads

#528
post #359
post #317

I wonder how many people who buy TVs read reviews on them beforehand. I always do, and I wouldn’t consider any device that came with this garbage. I have a feeling this will last about as long as it takes for consumers to get a sense for what models come with ads. No one wants this on a device they already paid for.

These ads starting appearing on my TV two years after I bought it. There were no ads before that. No reviews mentioned ads. There is no way to disable them in settings. Yes I could disconnect it from the network but that would defeat one of the reasons I did buy it and which was mentioned in reviews: high-quality built in apps for Netflix and other services.

That is insane. Obviously there’s nothing you can do to avoid something like that. I guess most of us were under the naive impression that, having paid for our televisions, we were entitled to use them in peace.

I might still be naive, but my point was more that I’m having trouble imagining how the reputational damage to Samsung here wouldn’t, ultimately, impact sales. If I was thinking of buying a Samsung TV and my neighbor told me that his suddenly started throwing ads in his face, I’d never consider anything from Samsung.

It might take a little time for the word to spread, but am I wrong in assuming this tactic will turn out to be disastrously unpopular with consumers?

Re: Samsung TV owners complain about increasingly obtrusive ads

#529
post #382

... 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

I will build a faraday cage around my house!

Re: Samsung TV owners complain about increasingly obtrusive ads

#530

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well it's more like "people hate ads, but next time they buy a new TV, the ads will make our TV $10 cheaper than the other guy and they'll buy it anyway" It's the same thing in the airline industry - people will complain all day long about legroom and being treated as cattle, but the next time they buy a ticket they vote with their wallets when they sort the flight list by price and choose the cheapest option.

Airlines are controlled and limited by regulation to where its no longer "free" and you can't vote with your dollar cause you are a guarantee. There are very few airlines that offer more legroom and even then it's not comfortable. Same with telecoms. TV industry lacks competition in this regard as well but largely due to the centralized manufacturing. I also blame modern ip law as many of these companies have redicul…

>There are very few airlines that offer more legroom and even then it's not comfortable.

American tried. American failed. Nobody was willing to pay more.

https://www.nytimes.com/2000/02/04/business/american-air-to-...

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