ZeeTiger
ya boi timI love my smart TV. I love the way it takes a long time to boot up because it's trying to refresh the advertisements on the home screen. I delight in the way it randomly restarts because it's downloaded an update without asking me, each of which makes the TV slower and slower with every subsequent install. I adore the way it buries the apps that I want to use, and that I use without fail every single time, below the apps that it's being paid to promote and which I have never touched in my life and would never use without the cold metal of a glock pressed hard against my sweating temple. I am infinitely thrilled by the way the interface lags constantly, due to the need to have one thousand unnecessary animations rendered on hardware ripped wholesale from a ten year old phone. I feel myself borne aloft on wings of pure joy when I am notified that my data will be collected and analysed to determine my useage patterns. Even now I am writing this from a field of beautiful flowers and soft luscious grass as I lie and look up happily at the bright blue sky, smiling happily to know that this is the future of technology
lord save me from unsolicited tech advice
an update on this infuriatingly viral toot which continues to haunt my ass. the smart TV (named herein as a "Sony Bravia") died, got repaired, then died again, within the space of 3 months.
the same thing caused it to die both times: being turned off and unplugged so that I could vacuum behind the TV cabinet. understandably a TV which cannot deal with something as horrendous as "being occasionally turned off" was absolutely stupid, and I successfully yelled at the seller for a refund.
the bad smart TV has been replaced with a very large (42 inch), non-smart, monitor instead which is a fucking dream and simply pipes audio and video out of my media centre without trying to sell me shampoo at the same time. I will never buy a smart TV again as long as I live. have a nice day and please stop boosting this toot
Joe@burgerdrome where did you get the monitor?
@burgerdrome PLE! That's where I bought the components for my first machine, a bit over 25 years ago, a P3 800mhz with 4mb of ram and I think a 256mb hdd
Sorry, I just got all of the nostalgia haha
This might be the answer I'm looking for - thank you!
@joe they're still cracking along! and easily the best PC parts shop in Perth
VirtualWolf@burgerdrome Jesus fuck I just looked at the number of boosts and favourites on that. D:
mathew@virtualwolf @burgerdrome I got 820 boosts for a post last month and 420 for another post this month, so I've had to turn off boost notifications. I'm not sure what the solution is, but it's something that needs thinking about if we're going to get famous people with 500,000 followers on here.
(Really wanted to boost the original post because I have similar feelings about my Sony "smart" TV, but refrained.)
@virtualwolf it's easy to go viral on the tootnet as long as you are saying something like "modern technology bad... old technology good". unfortunately it is also completely and objectively true to say that modern technology bad while old technology good. so who knows
Mre. Dartigen [maker mode]@burgerdrome I need to do this. 50% because my old smart TV was starting to do that out of the damn box (also it liked to randomly crash out and reboot every 15-20 minutes if it was streaming 4K, and since not many streaming services have an option like 'my internet sucks shit do not ever stream anything in 4K, 720p is enough for me' it made a couple of platforms almost unusable) and 50% because I bet that monitor is also significantly lighter than a TV, and/or came with a decently sturdy stand so you're not forced to wall-mount it (for reasons largely related to 'I live in a very old house and I don't trust that this would end well').
AlexanderMars@burgerdrome you should just totally buy what I bought, even though I hate it as much as you hate yours. Recommending it allows me to feel validation in my choices and completes me as a person.
Michael@SubElement mike you may have a free pass. some motherfucker just tried to tell me that "glocks are quite notably made of plastic"
Erik Haugen@burgerdrome @SubElement I was thinking that, too, but the barrel is not plastic. π
Scott Killen πΊπΈ@burgerdrome Did you try standing at the rear of the TV to see if it behaves differently when it doesn't think you are around? π
Tyler π@burgerdrome Hah! Good luck!
FKA facebook@burgerdrome ah, so you hate being mansplained to, and yet you are a man? curious! i am very intelligent
@drownee ah ya bloody got me!!!
dj2mn@burgerdrome maybe try free to air? My 10+ year old 27β Samsung Tv still going great and doesnβt spy on me because it canβt.
(Funny story, when the antenna distribution system in our apartment block died recently, we were the only ones to complain. We already knew we were the weird old couple in the building but that proved it decisively π€ͺ We tried using The Internet while it was off but the experience was too awful, much as you describe in fact.)
unfunk@dj2mn @burgerdrome watching FTA doesn't stop a smart TV from doing all that bullshit stuff. The only way is to completely block its network access. And then you lose Netflix et al unless you have a set top box of some description...
...which is just as susceptible to enshittification :(
Finnley Dolfin 
β 
β 
@unfnknblvbl @dj2mn @burgerdrome Exactly this. I got a Vizio and connected it to WiFi to be able to use the streaming apps. After I did that the βTVβ app took me to a list of free and freemium streaming TV services. I no longer had access to my OTA channels. No where in the menus could they be found. I couldnβt enter a channel number directly and the option to perform a channel scan in settings was gone.
It wasnβt until I factory reset and didnβt connect to WiIf did it function like a normal TV. I ended up getting a cheap Roku for the streaming stuff.
TFF@FinnleyDolfin @unfnknblvbl @dj2mn @burgerdrome
I've got an older, non-smart Vizio and just connect my PC to it. It's basically a glorified Computer monitor, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
I've got an older, non-smart Vizio and just connect my PC to it. It's basically a glorified Computer monitor, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
@unfnknblvbl @burgerdrome Fortunately for me there's nothing on Netflix that really appeals so I don't subscribe. I have an old rev2 AppleTV which is slowly becoming more incompatible with everything (something something HDMI something?) but I can still stream from my phone or iPad in an emergency. As mentioned earlier tho the whole experience is pretty awful and I was very glad to get my FTA back and not have to dick around with the tech. One area I'm entirely comfortable being a luddite in :)
@dj2mn @burgerdrome I mean, replace Netflix with Plex or YouTube or whatever... I'm honestly surprised the Shield hasn't been killed off by now, to be honest. Eight years and counting!
Hutch@unfnknblvbl
Takes that long to depreciate that much up-front cost. Too rich for my blood.
@dj2mn @burgerdrome
Takes that long to depreciate that much up-front cost. Too rich for my blood.
@dj2mn @burgerdrome
Jane C@unfnknblvbl @dj2mn @burgerdrome
There's an excellent word.
One person's progress is another's enshitification.
There's an excellent word.
One person's progress is another's enshitification.
@dj2mn @burgerdrome -- I read OP post with interest because I hate that all consumers are being sold all the time, but like you, my twelve year old Samsung is going strong and I am spared a bunch of bologna. We use an X-Box to access our apps. Sometimes an X-Box 360.
Whiskers π¦πΊ@burgerdrome I haven't bought a TV for 15 years so this is like science fiction to me. But hardly surprising now that I think about it
GeekFTW (He/Him)@ecoscore @burgerdrome Yeah I'm a 'wear the fucking thing into the ground before you replace it' fella so my TV is from 2009 and its still working well enough for my needs (plus I kept it around as I had a *huge* game console collection and it afforded me the perfect number of inputs to have like 9-10 consoles hooked up lol).
I still have 3 dumb Chromecasts (from before they changed them to have a full OS and apps and whatnot) so my TV isn't smart but it at least has basic connectivity and I don't need to worry about the other guff...yet.
alastair87 (old account)@burgerdrome I know it's effectively sort of the same thing but I've had a better experience turning off the network on the TV and connecting an external Roku stick. It has the advantage at least that Roku don't care about selling me a new TV so it keeps getting updates to work with new versions of services, and I can just use the TV unencumbered for broadcast.
Gary Parker@burgerdrome that's a nice long list of reasons not to buy a TV running Android!
Long time fan of LG's webOS here, which exhibits very few, if any, of those issues. I can't recommend it enough as a product range
@witewulf @burgerdrome unfortunately, I have one of those, and LG does their best to actively ruin the experience by pushing more and more ads on the screen. Also, the inability to put the TV on itβs own vpn is what I would consider a deal breaker these days. I constantly get Nagged to upgrade the software, which if you wait long enough itβll just force the update on you with your agreement. No, fuck LG, this is the last time I give them money for this shit.
@AlexanderMars @burgerdrome I strongly recommend running something like pihole on your network to block ads and tracking. I have a separate client group for TVs and streaming devices on my network with a specific blocklist configured for it
Sinjut@burgerdrome Post of the year.
Farbs@burgerdrome I especially love that 9 months into owning it, I'm still not entirely sure whether my tv can tune in to broadcast signals.
Aidan@burgerdrome same. Futterly uucked.
Christine T@burgerdrome I've played with enough smart tv test units to know I will never want one...
So basically if the Chromecast stops being a thing I will be quite upset.
Simonoid@whatshisays @burgerdrome I like the google tv for the remote. It has some ads. But is more user friendly and app friendly.
I can also buy a new google device without throwing away the screen π
I can also buy a new google device without throwing away the screen π
Ma Quest 
@burgerdrome I stopped watching TV Christmas 2021 πΊ
Andy Carolan 
@burgerdrome Smart TVs aren't all that smart. Give me a big dumb screen with 14 HDMI ports and I will plug what I want into it. @whatshisays
yakkoj π¦@andycarolan @burgerdrome @whatshisays but then that would no longer be a "TV" and it would become a "monitor"
They'll charge much more money for it. Fine; I'll pay the money if they make a quality monitor. At least then their product would actually be honest!
@burgerdrome i recommend buying a big Computer Monitor as TV because they are dumb and dont do such shit
Dan Δla@burgerdrome well all this bloatware can be uninstalled be the european users starting August 2023. Will the providers comply with the new EU law? We'll see. My Xiaomi phone definitely is not complying yet with DMA (Digital Markets Act).
https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-2019-2024/europe-fit-digital-age/digital-markets-act-ensuring-fair-and-open-digital-markets_en
https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-2019-2024/europe-fit-digital-age/digital-markets-act-ensuring-fair-and-open-digital-markets_en
π‘πππΊππππΊπ π°ππππ±@burgerdrome
I feel you.
Mine keeps stopping these days - so annoying. If anyone out there can give us tips on telling stupid #SmartTV to at least ask before it updates, or better still get rid of ads, I'd be astonishingly grateful.
#tech #bigbrother
This is not #progress.
I feel you.
Mine keeps stopping these days - so annoying. If anyone out there can give us tips on telling stupid #SmartTV to at least ask before it updates, or better still get rid of ads, I'd be astonishingly grateful.
#tech #bigbrother
This is not #progress.
Light The Unicorn!@burgerdrome Agree on all points. The only thing with a tuner I own is an old hotel TV I brought for Β£10 from a charity shop, and that's because it has a great selection of inputs for old consoles, hah.
gavinisdie 
@burgerdrome I'm glad I still have a "dumb" TV, leave all the "smart" stuff to streaming boxes and game consoles
Jeroen Baert@burgerdrome I just treat my Smart TV like a dumb TV, disconnect it from the network and use a different, more capable and focused device as a media center.
Tim Schofield
oceaniceternity@burgerdrome Well done. excellent copypasta
Marc RotheraOne of these: https://www.raspberrypi.com/products/raspberry-pi-tv-hat/
On a Pi
With some of this:
Fulfills all my (admittedly limited) TV requirements with the occasional adjunct of a budget chromecast dongle so I can watch GCN bikeracing from my phone.
Mo βΆβπ΅πΈ@burgerdrome a lot of software is written on top of layers of other software by people who do not really understand or care to understand what the CPU or memory is really doing, all to serve features users don't really need.
You would expect with technology getting better computers would get faster but it's not actually the case
felix b. ohmann@burgerdrome yeah, it is insane. in my livingroom there is a sony android tv, a denon reciever and a ps5. each of these wants network, accounts, needs updates and all that stuff. i wish sony would sellco sumer devices with just the panel with one hdmi input, no speakers and no options other than energy saving maybe. just a 4k oled screen with no options. all of them sell public signage displays, which are basically that, but at 3x the price. meh.
raffitz@burgerdrome I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment, but aren't Glocks notably made of plastic?
Wilfried Klaebe@raffitz Really? π€¦
The essential parts that makes a Glock a firearm are the barrel and the bolt, and those are still hardened steel.
@burgerdrome
The essential parts that makes a Glock a firearm are the barrel and the bolt, and those are still hardened steel.
@burgerdrome
wisel@burgerdrome spot on
Peter Gordon πΊπ¦@burgerdrome yeah, I've used a few brands of SmartTV over the years, and the Samsung one seems to be the shittiest.
My favourite is my FirefoxOS based Panasonic. The OS is so simple and basic, but it's very quick to achieve what you want because of it, and there are only 3 small advert boxes that are non intrusive and easy to ignore.