3 ms·

My understanding is that you're overestimating the cost to manufacture the "smart" crap. The basic hardware is so inexpensive that they don't really lose much t

by delecti 10y ago

My understanding is that you're overestimating the cost to manufacture the "smart" crap. The basic hardware is so inexpensive that they don't really lose much to just cram some extra crappy software (crappy software that is extra, or software which is extra crappy, your pick) onto the hardware that already has to go into the TV.

coldpie 10y ago
Leaving the "smart" crap out isn't for cost savings, it's to create a higher quality product. I will even pay more for a TV with fewer features to get in the way.
- untog 10y ago
  You're in a minority, though - that's the problem. Stuff like TVs have huge benefits to manufacturing at scale. Counter-intuitive though it might seem, it'll be cheaper per-unit to produce a TV with smart TV crap with a market of one million than it will be to make a basic TV with a market of ten thousand.
  - blacksmith_tb 10y ago
    But the manufacturer might stand to poach 10K incremental sales if they just added a small "disable (outdated) smart functions" switch to the back of the unit...
  - ethbro 10y ago
    > it'll be cheaper per-unit to produce a TV with smart TV crap with a market of one million than it will be to make a basic TV with a market of ten thousand I would go even farther and say that (in longer term accounting) it will be much cheaper to produce a smart TV with 10,000 sales than a basic TV with 10,000 sales. Or haven't we learned that the first thing a processor + network connectivity is used for is extracting marketable analytics?
- cr0sh 10y ago
  > I will even pay more for a TV with fewer features to get in the way. Look up "Retail Digital Signage" and "Retail Video Displays" (and similar terms) - for instance: http://www.planar.com/products/large-format-displays/ultrares/ http://www.planar.com/products/large-format-displays/ultrare... These are all essentially large LCD displays (monitors) with little to no extra features (many will have the ability to load via wifi or usb graphics and animations to be rotated on the screen - it's advertising after all). Your only other option would be large computer monitors, but because these tend to be meant for the desktop, you won't easily find sizes beyond 40 inches diagonal. Note that for digital signage - you are going to pay more - a lot more (it's one of those cases of pay more, get less - because niche and "you're a business, you have money"); also note that some of these kinds of displays can be found at Business Costco stores (though maybe not the 4K+ units). Another interesting thing about these units is that they have very small width bezels at the edges, for those cases where you want to tile them to make a video wall (again, retail advertising and menus and such).

by delecti 10y ago

coldpie 10y ago

Leaving the "smart" crap out isn't for cost savings, it's to create a higher quality product. I will even pay more for a TV with fewer features to get in the way.

untog 10y ago
You're in a minority, though - that's the problem. Stuff like TVs have huge benefits to manufacturing at scale. Counter-intuitive though it might seem, it'll be cheaper per-unit to produce a TV with smart TV crap with a market of one million than it will be to make a basic TV with a market of ten thousand.
- blacksmith_tb 10y ago
  But the manufacturer might stand to poach 10K incremental sales if they just added a small "disable (outdated) smart functions" switch to the back of the unit...
- ethbro 10y ago
  > it'll be cheaper per-unit to produce a TV with smart TV crap with a market of one million than it will be to make a basic TV with a market of ten thousand I would go even farther and say that (in longer term accounting) it will be much cheaper to produce a smart TV with 10,000 sales than a basic TV with 10,000 sales. Or haven't we learned that the first thing a processor + network connectivity is used for is extracting marketable analytics?
cr0sh 10y ago
> I will even pay more for a TV with fewer features to get in the way. Look up "Retail Digital Signage" and "Retail Video Displays" (and similar terms) - for instance: http://www.planar.com/products/large-format-displays/ultrares/ http://www.planar.com/products/large-format-displays/ultrare... These are all essentially large LCD displays (monitors) with little to no extra features (many will have the ability to load via wifi or usb graphics and animations to be rotated on the screen - it's advertising after all). Your only other option would be large computer monitors, but because these tend to be meant for the desktop, you won't easily find sizes beyond 40 inches diagonal. Note that for digital signage - you are going to pay more - a lot more (it's one of those cases of pay more, get less - because niche and "you're a business, you have money"); also note that some of these kinds of displays can be found at Business Costco stores (though maybe not the 4K+ units). Another interesting thing about these units is that they have very small width bezels at the edges, for those cases where you want to tile them to make a video wall (again, retail advertising and menus and such).