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Yeah, let's keep rewarding the companies that are profiting from weaponizing consumer electronics by buying from them, instead of promoting an alternative that

Yeah, let's keep rewarding the companies that are profiting from weaponizing consumer electronics by buying from them, instead of promoting an alternative that offers something that actually is what people want.

leptons 2y ago
It's not really rewarding the company if they are subsidizing the price of the TV by selling people's information through the "smart" part of the TV, when you don't participate in the "smart" part of it. You got a cheaper TV, didn't hand over any of your info, so the company loses money on the "smart" TV.
- rglullis 2y ago
  The manufacturer is not losing money on the device. Google/Amazon are paying them to get their spyware crap on the device. > You got a cheaper TV, didn't hand over any of your info... But you are still enabling Surveillance Capitalism. Even if you think you personal data is safe, the system still exploits the majority of the consumer market.
  - leptons 2y ago
    Nobody is being rewarded when I don't connect the subsidised "smart" TV to the internet. There are other kinds of very cheap TVs with forced ads and tracking that require an internet connection to function at all, but those are a whole other story entierly, and we aren't talking about those here.
    - rglullis 2y ago
      The manufacturer is being rewarded. You just bought a TV from them. They are making money anyway. The revenue from the data selling is just extra.
      - leptons 2y ago
        That's a win-win-win in my book. I get a cheap device, manufacturer sells a device, evil data collection companies don't get my data. The rest of you can connect your tv to the internet and have creeps do stuff with your data, I really don't care what you do. And really, why should anyone be worried that some company knows you watch family feud instead of the price is right.
        rglullis 2y ago
        > The rest of you can connect your TV to the internet and have creeps do stuff with your data, Your data is still getting collected, just not through the TV. > I really don't care what you do. What if you were told that ad companies are still going to be able to target you just by collecting data from others like you?
        leptons 2y ago
        What if you were told that I've worked for those ad companies, I know all the tricks they use, and I know extremely well how they target me - and I'm still not worried about buying a "smart" TV and using it while not connecting it to the internet.
        rglullis 2y ago
        > I've worked for those ad companies Well, then I definitely don't trust your moral compass and this whole discussion is pointless.
        leptons 2y ago
        I quit on moral grounds, so you really don't have the moral high ground here, as much as you'd like to think you do. Once I realized what was going on there I found another job and left them immediately, my employment there lasted all of 3 months. So I know what they do, how they do it, but I don't condone it and never did. In many ways I'm better off for having been on the inside for a brief period of time, learning about what they do and how they do it, so I can avoid it. I'll still continue to use my cheap unconnected "smart" TV knowing full-well why it was created, what it is capable of, and how I've bypassed all of that by simply not plugging it in to the internet.

leptons 2y ago

It's not really rewarding the company if they are subsidizing the price of the TV by selling people's information through the "smart" part of the TV, when you don't participate in the "smart" part of it. You got a cheaper TV, didn't hand over any of your info, so the company loses money on the "smart" TV.

rglullis 2y ago
The manufacturer is not losing money on the device. Google/Amazon are paying them to get their spyware crap on the device. > You got a cheaper TV, didn't hand over any of your info... But you are still enabling Surveillance Capitalism. Even if you think you personal data is safe, the system still exploits the majority of the consumer market.
- leptons 2y ago
  Nobody is being rewarded when I don't connect the subsidised "smart" TV to the internet. There are other kinds of very cheap TVs with forced ads and tracking that require an internet connection to function at all, but those are a whole other story entierly, and we aren't talking about those here.
  - rglullis 2y ago
    The manufacturer is being rewarded. You just bought a TV from them. They are making money anyway. The revenue from the data selling is just extra.
    - leptons 2y ago
      That's a win-win-win in my book. I get a cheap device, manufacturer sells a device, evil data collection companies don't get my data. The rest of you can connect your tv to the internet and have creeps do stuff with your data, I really don't care what you do. And really, why should anyone be worried that some company knows you watch family feud instead of the price is right.
      - rglullis 2y ago
        > The rest of you can connect your TV to the internet and have creeps do stuff with your data, Your data is still getting collected, just not through the TV. > I really don't care what you do. What if you were told that ad companies are still going to be able to target you just by collecting data from others like you?
        leptons 2y ago
        What if you were told that I've worked for those ad companies, I know all the tricks they use, and I know extremely well how they target me - and I'm still not worried about buying a "smart" TV and using it while not connecting it to the internet.
        rglullis 2y ago
        > I've worked for those ad companies Well, then I definitely don't trust your moral compass and this whole discussion is pointless.
        leptons 2y ago
        I quit on moral grounds, so you really don't have the moral high ground here, as much as you'd like to think you do. Once I realized what was going on there I found another job and left them immediately, my employment there lasted all of 3 months. So I know what they do, how they do it, but I don't condone it and never did. In many ways I'm better off for having been on the inside for a brief period of time, learning about what they do and how they do it, so I can avoid it. I'll still continue to use my cheap unconnected "smart" TV knowing full-well why it was created, what it is capable of, and how I've bypassed all of that by simply not plugging it in to the internet.