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Reverendender ,

Pro Tip: Connect your TV to your Wi-Fi so the TV doesn’t bother you constantly, and shut off access outside your network at the router level.

DJDarren ,

My TV is a smart TV whose smart features I never, ever use because the first thing it does is switch to the input my Apple TV is on.

Ironic really that the reason I chose an LG is because webOS seems less cunty than Android TV and whatever shit Samsung are offering. But I still never use it.

Aceticon ,

I replaced the TV Box from my ISP as well as the Media Player I already had for local media with a cheap mini-PC running Lubuntu and Kodi and have seen only a handful of adverts on my TV in the last couple of months (which I might see only when I’m watching Live-TV).

(PS: Mind you, there is no way to avoid Product Placement in Movies and TV Series, so I have still probably seen quite a lot of “covert” advertising).

The whole thing is now under my control and hence I don’t have to endure that crap.

Granted, I’ve been a Techie for decades and have for a long time been very aware of how software with Internet access is an agent of the software maker serving their objectives, not of yours serving your interests and how anything you paid for held by somebody else isn’t yours until you take them into Court for it and win (so your “bought” movies held in somebody else’s system aren’t yours) so I never jumped into the Streaming bandwagon and instead kept my eyepatch handy and wooden leg polished, and when I got a TV some years ago - before the enshittification really took off - I very purposefully avoided “smart” ones like the plague.

Frankly even if you’re not technically adept just get a Mini-PC and install LibreElec on it (which is purposefully made for non-Technical users to just to use Kodi) and get used to using Kodi. If you’re into paying for it you can even subscribe to perfectly legit IPTV subscriptions with hundreds of Live-TV channels and it definitelly integrates with the paid streaming services if you can’t do without and don’t want to sail the high seas.

(I’m running Lubunto, a more generalistic lightweight Linux distro where I explicitly installed Kodi, rather than LibreElec, because I use it for more things than just watching stuff on my TV).

FeelThePower ,
@FeelThePower@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

not if I don’t have a smart tv

Frozyre ,

My phone is a billboard. My TV is a billboard. My PC is sometimes a billboard.

Like, what hasn't advertisement infected?

I think it's about time we just harass marketers back, but not with advertisements, but with other means. Enough so they get the message.

Blackmist ,

Ironically the billboards in my town seem to be disappearing due to lack of use.

The billboards are the only thing that aren’t billboards.

knightly ,
@knightly@pawb.social avatar

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if your screens are showing you ads then they aren’t your screens…

SlopppyEngineer ,

“We estimate we can sell up to 80% of an individual’s visual field before inducing seizures.” ~Nolan Sorrento

HelixDab2 ,

Don’t give your TV the wifi password, kids. No, you don’t need to ‘finish setting up’ your TV; it works just fine as a dumb display.

ThePowerOfGeek ,
@ThePowerOfGeek@lemmy.world avatar

Next time I have to get a new TV I think I’ll just get a large computer monitor and stream content via an old mini PC with Linux installed on it. Not an ideal solution, but I’m so tired of this invasive bullshit. At least that will cut out some of its vectors.

After the recent Roku TOS fiasco I’m done with them. If manufacturers won’t give us a viable situation we will make one ourselves.

Anyone know a good OS setup for reduced ad streaming? I know about Pi-Holes, but I’m talking about a way of actually streaming content (in addition to blocking ads at our near the router level).

HelixDab2 ,

I use my PS5, TBH. I still get ads on Amazon Prime, but I’m not seeing Netflix ads. (I also don’t have Hulu, etc.) I pay for a VPN for my desktop–I’m using Win 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC–and with Firefox and uBlockOrigin I see pretty minimal ads online; if you’re able to open your streaming service in a browser rather than needing to download their application, then a VPN an uBlockOrigin might be sufficient.

Aceticon ,

A way more than enough Mini PC for streaming content costs about $140 nowadays.

It’s a direction I went into recently and was amazingly surprised how cheap it all is.

PoopMonster ,

My best purchase in the last couple of years was a 4k Sceptre TV from Walmart. Super cheap, good enough video quality and is dumb, just turns on to 4hdmi ports. That way I can just plug in whatever I want, or get a $30 roku and replace it whenever they update it to the point where it lags on basic menu navigation like my previous tvs.

Fuck all that bloatware, ad infested crap.

Hector_McG ,

An article on Ars Technica, complaining about advertising.

What hypocrite posted this?

the_post_of_tom_joad ,

“you participate in society? Interesting!”

daddy32 ,

“each new connected TV platform user generates around $5 per quarter in data and advertising revenue.”

Fuck me, this is the amount of money that’s enough motivation for them to ruin my experience and make me angry?

I guess regular users have much higher tolerance to ads than me, but our home has a strict zero ad policy.

Zwiebel ,

I’ve heard somewhere else that it’s a 50/50 split between the TV sales and ad revenue

HelixDab2 ,

A quick check online says that Samsung–which has about 25% of the global market–sold at least 1M OLED televisions and 8.3M QLED televisions in 2023. So, let’s say that they sell 9.5M televisions annually (I’m not sure if the numbers are global or US-only); that’s $190M in pure profit from advertising alone. For a billion-dollar plus corporation, that might seem small, but it’s certainly enough to get them to take notice.

ItsComplicated ,

Samsung is also trying to make its ACR data more valuable for ad targeting, including through a deal signed in December with analytics firm Experian.

This should add to their profits.

the_post_of_tom_joad ,

Experian, the social credit score credit rating company? Fuuuuuck

ItsComplicated ,

My jaw dropped when I saw that. Not sure how many people are aware if it.

PlantJam ,

Experian has a program where you connect your bank account and they monitor transactions for things that could improve your credit by a couple points. I’m sure they’re not also harvesting the rest of your data to use in their analytics, right?

ninja ,

That’s just 1 year’s sales. If the TV lasts 5 years it’s raking in 5 times the data. 190M x 5 = 950M/year, and 5 seems conservative.

HelixDab2 ,

Good point.

Aceticon ,

It’s even better for them: those $190M are per-year for the lifetime of that TV.

So if for simplification we said they also sold 9.5M TVs in 2021 and again in 2022, in the year of 2024 the will be making $570M from the TVs they sold in 2021, 2022 and 2023.

If Samsung TVs are used in average for 10 years, in 2033 they will still be making money from TVs sold in 2024 and all the years in between. If their rate of sales remains 9.5M per year and how much they generate per quarter in data and advertising revenue from those TVs remains $5 (true, all big simplifications), by 2033 they will be making $1.90 BILLIONS from just this in addition to what they make from selling TVs.

No wonder they’re full in on this monetization of users even whilst making user experience significantly worse - they would need to lose a huge number of sales due to this for it to not be worth it for them.

TORFdot0 ,

If a company could pay $5 a customer for a competitive edge in customer satisfaction over their competitors, they would. Either they are getting way more than that or there is some cartel/monopoly action going on in the market. Maybe they are playing the long game to introduce an ad free model at a premium.

Still don’t see how nobody is undercutting existing players with ad free, smart tvs.

pdxfed ,

That was the sentence that stuck out to me the most in the whole article as well. Incredible how much is lost for so little. I imagine it’s like drug dealers though, maybe $5 for the first seller, then gets chopped up and cut again and sold for less and chopped up again…

My question is, what are the alternatives? Other than finder older TVs without so much junkware and spyware, Are there open OS ROMs that can be loaded? Cracked firmware or debloated ROMs? I was very into Android’s launch 15 years ago and rode a train of options away from terrible stock ROMs from various OEMs; eventually privacy and simplicity becomes a selling point for OS after companies get through enshittifying it.

ItsComplicated ,

Average users will not have the knowledge or patience for work arounds.

Imo, the larger problem seems to be the majority of users appear to be fine with ads and data collection just to watch a movie or series.

LainTrain ,

Yeah that’s well put. All this advocacy for adblockers and not accepting the awful state of things fall on deaf ears, most people don’t care, they accept the state of things as it is, and technology as magic.

ItsComplicated ,

People deserve better and should expect/demand better.

Frozyre ,

Oh man, I'd hate to be the dude twiddling his thumbs on Ad 2 of 8 on Twitch.

"Dum de dum dum, wonder what the streamer is currently up to. Oh well, another 45 seconds to go. Dum de dum dum"

the_post_of_tom_joad ,

Imo, the larger problem seems to be the majority of users appear to be fine with ads and data collection a lax and ineffective regulation.

“Voting with your wallets” is a false premise dreamed up by corporate to avoid govt regulation and has not and will never be a real thing that works in this world of monopoly and lack of option.

henfredemars ,

It only works in competition which we don’t have for the most part.

Instead we have the illusion of choice through multiple brand product names. There’s a couple choices, sure, but few enough to function as an effective monopoly.

Mr_Blott ,

I notice OP said

This world of monopoly

And you agreed with him, but I’d like to point out you’re talking about one country

Monopolies are really really bad for consumers and are strictly regulated in modern countries

sunzu2 ,

You can either vote with your wallet or do nothing...

Working people have no way to lobby government, shortage of a revolution, real people make decisions for benefit of other real people.

NPCs are just here to enrich them both.

the_post_of_tom_joad , (edited )

You can either vote with your wallet or do nothing

I don’t want to fight here, we agree. In fact i bet we agree on a lot. But VWYW is, i can not stress this enough, not a thing. If it ever was in our lifetimes, it ain’t now. Its time the phrase was dropped outta everyone’s mouth.

You can purchase something that thru your effort does not do most of the awful things you are trying to avoid, that’s being a smart customer. It’s not like I’m dismissing the entire idea behind VWYW, just that it is simply that now, it’s an idea that doesn’t work with the facts on the ground.

The power of our “wallet ballots” gets lower when Monopoly power gets higher. Monopoly power is very high. VWYW power is in this world, in this moment, not a thing.

My point, is a simple but strident one. VWYW is not voting! It just isn’t.

It has absolutely no effect on the world around us. Puts no pressure on companies. Is not a thing except in our heads. It is time to let go of the idea.

And yeah…working people like you and me have no power period. “Voting with your wallet” is now simply a power fantasy pushed by capitalists to keep regulations at bay and held by the powerless clinging to an illusion of agency.

sunzu2 ,

I don't agree but you can either vote with your wallet or mindlessly consume.

One is better than the other but yeah 80% of spending is not really discretionary... Gonna need to get a rental, gonna need healthcare, transports education etc

But you can stop drinking soda for example... It ain't much but it is something.

People don't have to pay subscriptions either...

the_post_of_tom_joad ,

I … think i understand what you’re saying. You don’t agree with my definition of VWYW? I don’t wanna assume, but i think maybe you define it as reckless vs thoughtful spending?

Mine has to do with the effectiveness of our purchases in driving market trends. They do not.

You don’t have to buy a subscription to Netflix, but deciding not to isn’t changing anything for anyone (besides saving you 15 bux).

kusivittula ,

and i bet if most users would not put up with that, they would remove hdmi ports.

kent_eh ,

They’re not “fine with ads and data collection” so much as they don’t care and can’t be bothered to look for a better way.

It’s just apathy and a bit of lazy inertia.

MaggiWuerze ,
@MaggiWuerze@feddit.org avatar

Problem is getting an 55+" Screen with an OLED panel and support for HDR in a non-smart package

Zwiebel ,

It’s not smart if you don’t connect it to the internet

MaggiWuerze ,
@MaggiWuerze@feddit.org avatar

But it will try to start into a crippled user interface ever so often.

Diplomjodler3 ,

There are commercial displays that don’t have any of the bullshit. But you’ll have to jump through some extra hoops for the sound.

MaggiWuerze ,
@MaggiWuerze@feddit.org avatar

I have a dedicated sound system anyway

Diplomjodler3 ,

But if your display has no digital output, you may need to plug it into the analog output of the computer you’re using to drive the display. That’s not optimal.

MaggiWuerze ,
@MaggiWuerze@feddit.org avatar

No, I just plug the video input into my AV-Receiver and let it split it up, and then an HDMI cable from the receiver to the TVs input

ZeroTwo ,

Smart tub and stremio. I’m good.

anarchrist ,

GO AWAY!! BAITIN’!

the_post_of_tom_joad ,

I unironically wanna watch “ouch! my balls”, that looks like quality programming i could get behind

kent_eh ,

Isn’t that basically what Jackass was?

7U5K3N ,

Pihole on your network… And block Internet access to the TV…

Tho… a while back the wife and I bought a dirt cheap 32 inch TV from bestbuy… it will literally turn itself on to deliver an advertisement if you power it off while in an app. (Skipping the home page)

Pihole crashes it.

We bought it for watching football outside so it’s unplugged for the majority of the year… but that’s still absolutely unacceptable. Imho

TrickDacy ,

That’s some fucked up shit

the_post_of_tom_joad ,

Ah that’s a terrible sign of where things are going

0x0 ,

…bought a dirt cheap 32 inch TV from bestbuy…

Pihole crashes it.

I wonder why…

kent_eh ,

it will literally turn itself on to deliver an advertisement if you power it off while in an app.

Name and shame that brand.

The more the word is spread about who the worse offenders are, the more people can effectively vote with their wallet.

7U5K3N ,

It’s a visio.

Literally the cheapest 32inch TV that best buy had.

It’s absolutely unusable with the ads disabled.

Horrific television.

teft ,
@teft@lemmy.world avatar

Mine is a monitor and nothing more.

Dymonika ,

Literally came here to say that. HDMI is king!

Exec ,
@Exec@pawb.social avatar

DisplayPort is superior

Ghoelian ,

Definitely, but unfortunately TV’s don’t usually have DP.

friend_of_satan ,

Any TV can have DP if you watch the right videos.

yggstyle ,

https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/87554143-64f7-4079-bc19-361d12cd8a0a.gif

QBertReynolds ,
@QBertReynolds@sh.itjust.works avatar

Bonus points for buying a smart TV to get the heavily discounted price and never connecting it to the internet.

ICastFist ,
@ICastFist@programming.dev avatar

Even then, you’re still having to wait for its CPU to fuck around with the image and sound before it actually outputs it,

kent_eh ,

Some of the brands have been reported to not allow you to do anything until it has an internet connection to do its “initial setup” (or some such excuse).

I hope I can find a list of which ones to avoid when I have to eventually replace my old dumb TV.

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