Comment by jitl
5 days ago
I’ve used some of my friends more recent year TVs and even if they’re not networked the UX is just horrible. One Samsung model eliminated the “input” button on the remote and forces you to go through “Home” to select inputs in a tiled menu festooned with quick tips and baked in ads for Samsung stuff like SmartThings. The worst part is that if it detects an input is connected to a game console, then it moves that input to the Gaming tab, which is chock full of tiles for shit like Solitare, Samsung game store, etc. WTF.
It’s like every interaction is viewed as an opportunity to sell attention or get you to mis-click on an ad.
We really need laws against products that are still tied to the vendor after you buy them.
If a product needs to be tied to the vendor, it is a service and it should not be sold as a product.
The problem is that every business seems to be run by fuckheads who would respond to this by changing their business model to "Televisions as a Service"
Every TV would become a rental instead of a product you can buy
Maybe I'm cynical, but I don't see any way to be optimistic anymore. Every company now seems to behave like landlords instead of producers
Yes, but if it is "TVs as a service" then it completely changes the game. We can force them to replace the TV when it dies. Or make them take the TV back when we stop the service. Repairability would be their problem, not ours.
This could arguably be a win for the environment.
Of course, many people would still want to own their products, so that would be a market opportunity then.
2 replies →
It’s not just TVs, General Motors wants to be a “service” too removing connectivity like CarPlay/Android auto to force you to use a car App Store, and BMW with their subscription heated seats. Recurring revenue at all costs!!
One thing you could try is to get a third party remote. The input switching functionality may still exist and be reachable. At least, it worked for mine.