JuhisAug 11, 2024

When the company calls their home appliances "smart", what I hear is:

- they spent money on features I don't care about
- those features will be worse than standalone devices but will drive them out of market (looking at you TVs)
- the appliance is more likely to break
- my data is likely being sold to advertisers
- when the company loses interest in it and cut support, I will need to buy a new device

So no, I don't want "smart" home appliances.

Show threadJuhisAug 11, 2024

If I buy a TV, I want a TV that shows channels and to which I can plug other devices to watch the other stuff.

If I buy speakers, I want to connect whatever I have to them and not risk remote bricking of devices by manufacturer.

Show threadTim Ward ⭐🇪🇺🔶 #FBPEAug 11, 2024
@hamatti Other people have other use cases. I *don't* want a TV that "shows channels" as that would be no use to me as I don't have a TV licence. I want a TV that plays DVDs (and yes, I accept that that's via another device) and shows stuff from the internet (and I don't see why that should need another device, it's only software and the telly already has a computer in it).
Show threadRoderickAug 11, 2024
@TimWardCam @hamatti non UK readers might not understand the concept of a "TV licence". In Britain, you can't watch TV until you've taken the Television Aptitude Test, or TAT, which gauges your understanding of BBC4 arts programmes, your ability to follow long running soaps in a regional dialect, and whether or not you laugh at Ant and Dec.
Show threadTim Ward ⭐🇪🇺🔶 #FBPEAug 11, 2024
@rvkennedy @hamatti Well, I wouldn't qualify. Never heard of BBC4, never heard of Ant and Dec. But I do know the "long running soap in a regional dialect"- that's The Archers, for which no TV licence is required seeing as how it's on the radio not the telly.
Show threadSarah W
@TimWardCam @rvkennedy @hamatti
Almost everything on BBC Sounds is available to me in France without a licence and no fee. I can pick up LW in Normandy as well which is ok until cricket season.
I'd be happy to pay a licence fee in the UK if I could pick up television as well.
Aug 13, 2024 at 7:49amWeb