“This is getting ridiculous and I’m about to just toss the whole thing and move back to Google,” one Redditor said of the “full-volume” ads for Alexa+ on their Echo Show.
Oh sweet summer child, Google is NOT going to be any better at this. That will just be changing one corporate evil for another.
Advertising…helps customers discover new content and products they may be interested in.
Someone needs to coin a word to describe this type of infuriating corporate statement. They make astonishingly piss-weak arguments in a patronising tone, as if to insist that reality must be whatever they say it is because they’re a successful company.
It’s the kind of statement that’s not technically a lie, but still seems dishonest for them to present as though it were a sane response, almost like an attempt at gaslighting.
I think the person who wrote that response should be forced to wear it around their neck so that everyone can see what sort of person they are.
Rhetoric?
It’s not just companies. Amazon started pushing ads to subscribers who pay for ad-free Prime video content. Some idiot here on Lemmy actually insisted it wasn’t an ad at all, but a “promotion.”
Companies are getting their customers to make infuriating, ridiculous corporate statements for them.
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FWIW, I have had some Google (now Nest) Home Hubs for years and I don’t think I’ve ever seen or heard ads on them.
I’m gradually de-googling my life though, so maybe I’ll just replace them with some DIY thing
I have the end of life’d JBL smart speaker. It still works with Google. But doesn’t have the bells and whistles. But it’s the best system I have ever come across. I have one Google screen and I don’t see the difference between the two. And the JBL has amazing sound.
This is a real “the scorpion stung the frog” situation.
There was never any other way for this to go. Is in the scorpions nature to cram ads and tracking into your devices. That was always the strategy even with their Fire lines of devices.
Ring will be next. It’s already giving them your address, neighbourhood, routine, device types, etc. That data gates correlate to census income data, network traffic, etc. to build a profile of who you are as a consumer.
I believe there was just a post the other day arguing that Ring was beginning to collect biometric data on anyone that passed in front of it.
[Edit] It was A Boring Dystopia post from 6 days ago https://lemmy.ml/post/37147235
Not just who you are as a consumer, who you are as a person.
People seem to never learn. Same behavior for decades now from these companies but people are shocked. :)
The low cost of these devices doesn’t help, and the constant “sales” they have throughout the year.
Yeah, ppl say ‘if it’s free, you’re the product.’ and that sentiment feels like it applies here.
This is a simple problem. Destroy it and end your Amazon prime subscription. Now, your Samsung fridge that shows ads is a different problem.
Why the fuck anyone needs a smart fridge is beyond me. Just open the door and write down what you need. The only thing a good refrigerator needs to do is keep shit cold
Yeah that was my first thought. Better learn about corporate greed from a “smart display” then a >$1k appliance (but better not to buy them at all).
This week Amazon starting pushing ads to customers paying extra for ad-free Prime Video.
Corporations are now so powerful they don’t have to abide by reasonable norms, contracts, or laws any longer. Any fines are just a cost of doing business and are a small fraction of the profits they generate.
What are customers going to do anyway? Go to other businesses that are doing the exact same things on different days?
We’ll kick piracy into high gear.
Then they’ll make any ISPs suspecting people of piracy to be forcibly shut off.
The real question is what will we do then?
What are customers going to do anyway?
Convince themselves that it’s necessary.
People should give up streaming subscriptions. How long would it take to learn how to get movies another way, from a friend who is already doing it.
People dont even own their media anymore and it can be removed at any time. And they are paying for that. Lols.
I think you are severely underestimating how computer illiterate most people are. Many people I know struggle to use their Iphones. Not long ago a friend asked me to help him turn on subtitles on a streaming service on his smart TV.
Its for families mostly. I dont want my small children coming up to me all the time asking for a different show downloaded that they heard about from school, and Erica’s parents actually HAVE Disney+ and says anyone who cmdoesnt must be a loser omg etc etc.
I taught my brother how to do it years ago, and he got his shit virused so fast. I’m not sure if hes colossally stupid or just plain unlucky.
Just get Real Debrid with Stremio/Kodi.
Real Debrid + Kodi + Bingie theme = Everything available on torrents, instantly streamable in a netflix-like interface.
There are extremely idiot-proof solutions like Stremio.
I learned how to sail in 5 mins from a friend the other day. It’s stupidly easy.
Never saw this coming (said no one ever).
Well, you would be surprised, I bet at least 50% didn’t see that coming.
I didnt see it coming. I assumed that having a device always available to add shit to your shopping basket and listen to everything you say forever would be enough for them.
Honestly it should be more than enough.
Nah, nothing’s enough.
But why would they take less if they can take more and you will keep buying it because it’s cheap? These devices are a race to the bottom
Exactly. These companies don’t know the concept of enough, only more.
We’re in a sad state of affairs in this world.
I get that we should expect shit like this from Amazon but at the same time, they bought something and the maker completely changed how the device worked after they bought it.
I’d be pissed too. We have to hold these companies accountable.
Yeah, they totally deserve to be sued and pay a $5 fee as punishment.
That will teach them!
I’m kind of glad that I don’t mind flipping switches and pressing buttons. I’ve never felt the need for a smart home, so this stuff hasn’t affected me much personally.
Smart Home is really good for me bc I have trouble remembering things, but I’m for building my own and running it on my own server vs using corporate bullshit.
Good to see you get some good utility from it. 💪😎
Home assistant is the way to go, all run locally on a homePC, I have ZigBee lights and switches automated
An example is my front deck lights turn on at sundown, at 10% brightness, at 11;00 pm they drop to 1%.
If motion is detected they brighten up for a bit. On holidays they have appropriate RFB effects.
All of this is automated, none of it talks to the internet.
My current project is making a harry potter style “clock”, with hands for me, my wife, and kids. Can set up some geofencing. Run off some ESPhome and the HA app, which reports directly to my install, without releasing tracking info.
That’s awesome, but I don’t need it. :)
Oh, for sure, it’s just for fun
My entire design goal is making it invisible for my wife, so things just work. As an example, I took our doorbell, and made it smart… Not a smart doorbell, but I have an esphome between the doorbell and the chime, so I can turn the chime off, or I can have our phonea get notified.
Are those things hackable? Even if it means a full wipe?
… and all the actual tech nerds who told everyone they should avoid smart devices like the plague laugh and laugh…
I really don’t. I can find no joy about being right about the state of our world. Quite the opposite.
And the pro tech nerds who told everyone to use local-only, non proprietary smart devices so they can still have a secure, ad-free smarthome laugh as we walk through the house without ever touching light switches.
Exactly. It’s not the smart part of a device that is the problem. That’s an extreme overreaction.
The problem with most smart devices today is that they are proprietary, non-fully libre and open source, for-profit, cloud-connected, corporate committee designed spyware, adware, and bloatware.
Devices that are fully FLOSS (firmware, hardware, software) and based on open and free standards and protocols are awesome, but they get easily forgotten.
The Internet and your technology can be so much better. Demand it.
Can you recommend some light switches like that?
There is plenty of information on !selfhosted@lemmy.world and !homeassistant@lemmy.world if you’re looking for more than the most basic motion- or remote-controlled light switches.
Z-wave or zigbee. They use an alternative to wifi.
User in tandem with a open source system like home assistant.
Oh, you own a house, I see, ok, that explains that.
Yes but I have done zero maintenance on my light switches in over 30 years. No downtime either or updates.
I have done zero maintenance on my light switches in all my life, and I never had any smart home stuff, lol
My smart switches have zero downtime. If I attack my server with an hatchet I lose smart functionality but pressing the switch still works, just like yours.
It doesn’t take much to avoid the bullshit devices.
To be fair I put in all my smart lights once 7 years ago haven’t touched them a single time in that entire span. Took an hour to set up.
And now my alarm turns on lights which helps me wake up :D
You think “actual tech nerds” don’t like smart devices? I don’t think you know what a “tech nerd” is.
Actual tech nerds love the tinkering to make it work again until the moment they are tired of it and just want something that works. I’m in the tinkering phase.
Why would you buy that. Ten years ago I had an Amazon phone and it would fill my home screen with ads. I guess if you hadn’t experienced that scenario but otherwise why would you pay for that. Besides the ads fuck Amazon why give them any money. Go to Newegg, Walmart anywhere else
I mean…. Hasn’t been this with Amazon products forever? I had a Kindle Fire in 2012 and had to root it just to stop ads from showing up on the locked screen
But they have gotten significantly worse over time. I did buy a Fire Stick knowing i was getting ads, but it was so much better the Apps on my smart tv and cheap that it was well worth it. Now it’s gotten bad enough that I no longer use it but suffer through the TV’s apps
I do plan on trying Apple TV in case it stays useable but at this point I’m not buying consumer tech from three years ago
Similarly with the Fire tablet. I knew I was getting ads when I bought them way back when, but tablets were expensive. Fire tablets were much cheaper and quite usable so the tradeoff was worth it. That long since stopped being true, and this experience is e partly why I don’t have an echo show.
I do want some dory of home dashboard, but echo show had never been under consideration. If the Apple rumors are real I might try that but otherwise I guess I’ll see when I have the motivation to build my own
Edit: rereading the post, this is even on devices where people paid extra to be ad free
I feel like for all the effort you may spend pissing about you could just go to an electronics recycling center buy a relatively new laptop with a busted screen and just use that. Just get a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard, hell I think there are remotes specifically made for this purpose.
Yes it has, every amazon product is massively subsidized price wise with the expectation they make it up via advertisements.
I think the only one that really didn’t fall down that train was the alexa, but, well we already know where they are making it up on that one.
Don’t Kindles have multiple tiers though? Ad-subsidized or pay more for an ad-free model
Or contact support and ask nicely.
Did that and they removed the ads for me.I may remember badly but I think in the days, the small one was only with ads and tiers were for the bigger tablet 🤔 (more than 10 years though so my memory is hazy)
No the regular kindles have ad free tiers… for now.
Second generation Paperwhite was actually really good, and still works nicely. They were still in the capture the market phase with that, so they had to offer some quality.
Installing spyware and wire taps in my home was never appealing to me.
AND not even being paid for doing so. But paying for instead. that’s the most bizarre part of it.
it doesn’t take much critical thinking to conclude that smart tvs are bullshit, but apparently too much for most people
In the case of smart tv’s it’s obvious why it works. It’s way cheaper to buy a smart tv vs a dumb tv now, and It’s all companies make for consumer side, which only leaves business grade TV’s/advertisement boards which cost more. Even if this isn’t the case though, with how streaming oriented most people are, the general public won’t buy a dumb tv because they would still need to buy some sort of device to allow them to access their stuff. It’s just convenient to have it in the same device rather than buy a tv then spend another $25+ on a device that can allow access to streaming, when one device can do it all.
I upgraded to a “decent” Smart TV for my den (my previous one was an early stage Phillips smart TV that the store was basically deprecated on), and it converted 3 devices I had for my dumb tv, into that one device. It’s just convenient.
I personally think that people should be focusing more on not buying slop-ware, and working on implementing legislation of what companies are allowed to do to consumer purchased products before trying to revert back to dumb tv’s and spending 3x as much. The future is going to happen regardless, and people are going to take the easy way out, the easier way is going to be preventing the annoyances from being allowed in the first place.
you do you. enjoy your convenience. for my part, i will continue to spend $0.00 for the privilege of being the product.
all of these brands can take their smart devices and go fuck themselves with it. “convenient” GTFO
I’d far rather have a dumb TV/monitor and a cheap, easily upgradable smart device connected to it, but I’m on Lemmy so that shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Even worse than not-really-understanding-any-of-it is the wilful ignorance shown by some. “I have nothing to hide” is the epitome of obedient worker-ant stupidity.
“ok. tell me your account and routing numbers then”
What are you going to do, send them money? That information isn’t private, people have to give it up all the time to receive money…
ok. tell me your account and routing numbers
7826391786239 and 121000248
Ha! Try that with a german boomer. It’s one of the most well guarded secrets to them.
I still have the first Google Home speaker I got for free via Spotify subscription years ago, and it’s as far as I went, wouldn’t have put money on this
I’m about to just toss the whole thing and move back to google.
… Ah yes. Here we see that, while frustrated, the consumer remains largely undeterred from fitting into the boxes outlined by our fearless corpo overlords.
“I gave Amazon my money and I’m mad, so I’m going to give even more money to another billionaire corp.”
They’re a redditor and redditors aren’t exactly smart.
Lemmy is structurally just super reddit. It just hasn’t been flooded by children yet so the discourse is still college level.
UI is too difficult for iPad babies but as the apps catch up the dumbass summer children will flood here too.
While certain large instances 👀 might resemble Reddit in terms of “quality” of discussions, not all of them do. Not at all.
Hey! I resemble that remark.
