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[glynor]

I would lose my fricking mind if this happened to me:

http://blog.davidchartier.com/post/73517939961/bought-our-samsung-smart-tv-two-months-ago-now

Bought our Samsung Smart TV two months ago, now it’s showing popup ads for apps and services. To clarify: what you see is my Apple TV in the ‘background’ (running a photo screensaver) and a Samsung ad for Yahoo Broadcast Interactivity popping up on top of my Apple TV.

A POPUP AD ON MY TV.

Under no circumstances, scenarios, case studies, fictional situations, or boardroom fantasies is this acceptable. None. No, if you think you have an argument or a circumstance under which these ads are acceptable, you are wrong and there’s a great chance you are not a very good person.

Read the article for more horror.

* The "prompt me" box on that screen?  Yeah, you can't uncheck it.  At least he couldn't with the included remote.
* To disable this "feature" apparently you have to go to the Samsung Hub, then open the App store, search for the SyncPlus app (because that's clearly named).  The text on the ad makes it seem like it is included, but it wasn't on his TV.
* Then, once you get this app installed, buried in the menus somewhere is an option which supposedly disables this "feature".  Though who knows, since he had the TV for two months and this is the first time it happened.

Seriously.

I'm not a Samsung fan by any means, but I will NOT buy a Samsung TV until I hear confirmed that they've stopped this terrible practice.

[JimH]

I saw this yesterday.  It really confused me for a while. 

[mwillems]

Ack;  I've got a Samsung Smart TV, and up until this moment I'd been pretty happy with it.  That's godawful. I haven't seen an ad like that yet, but I expect it's only a matter of time  

I deliberately never setup some of the network functionality because I didn't actually need a "Smart TV" (I just needed a large monitor basically, and got a good deal on it).  Maybe that will keep me safe for a while.  Because of this nonsense, my next TV will probably not be a Samsung (this may actually be the push I need to give up on screens and get a projector).

[rec head]

My new Panasonic VT60 has adds sometimes. I think it might just be when I access the home screen. I have only seen them twice.

[Scolex]

Seeing this just make me wish the manufacturers would offer high end 3D TVs without the *Smart* feature that much more.
I have never used any of the so called smart features of my TV I have a smarter box it is called a HTPC and it will play anything I want.

[kstuart]

Do you notice that we have now entered a situation where the creation of profit occurs entirely outside of human control ?

In all cases, if an action would increase profits, and it is not done because of some other consideration, the person responsible is fired and replaced with someone who does not have any other considerations.

We're only a short way from profit creation being moved into software where it is immune to human considerations entirely.  Then they won't have to bother with "side effects may include..." because it will be tough luck if you have side effects, software doesn't care...

[mwillems]

So I saw my first TV ad last week after a firmware update, thankfully not superimposed over my computer output, but enough's enough.  I had tried not to setup all the TV's network functionality in the hopes that it might protect me from ad content, but I'd been leaving the Smart TV's internet access enabled against my better judgment on the rationale that firmware/software updates might be worth having, but no more of that.

For anyone else with a Samsung Smart display:

It took a few go rounds to figure out how to cripple it's internet access (it has a built in WiFi receiver and no menu option to "disable" internet access once it's gotten it), but I eventually succeeded in turning it off by given it bogus router info (all zeroes).  It can no longer "phone home" to receive ads, etc., and as an added bonus it no longer indiscriminately broadcasts itself as an available DLNA option (which I never deliberately enabled, and also couldn't be turned off).  

Fortunately I need none of it's "smart" features, so the internet-ectomy is a good solution for me.  So far it seems to be working (no more ads), which is good because the next step was going to involve voiding my warranty: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skfDtN63XD4 .

I feel bad for anyone who bought a Smart TV, expecting to be able to use the "Smart" features in a way that didn't involve loads of targeted ads.  It's an appliance for heaven's sake  

[kstuart]

expecting to be able to use the "Smart" features in a way that didn't involve loads of targeted ads.

Apparently you have not spent $14 for a ticket at a movie theater in order to watch 20 minutes of ads before your movie.   They did that after putting ads at the beginning of DVD movies that you paid $30 for.

[MrC]

You have control... you have a choice.  Stop being their consumer.  Civil and consumer protest is never free, nor without some discomfort or sacrifice.

[mwillems]

You have control... you have a choice.  Stop being their consumer.  Civil and consumer protest is never free, nor without some discomfort or sacrifice.

Absolutely, that's exactly the reason why I stopped going to the movies and started working on building up my own home theater  

As for the TV, I think this is a comparatively recent practice for Samsung TVs (I went two years without seeing an ad).  And whether it's recent or not, I certainly wasn't aware this was going to be a thing when I grabbed the TV a few years back, or I would've grabbed something else (a different TV brand, or a projector). Arguably, I should've seen it coming, and I'll certainly know better next time.  

Meanwhile I've already paid for the thing, so I plan to try and recover my sunk costs by using it until I can't effectively use it...

[kstuart]

You have control... you have a choice.

for now:

Reuters reports widespread protests over the recent increase of Brain Ads from 24 to 25 minutes of every hour in January 2145.   Thousands massed outside the McDonalds Global Government Palace, but were soon dispersed by the 2.7 million robot defenders.  One protestor commented "How can they expect us to get anything done in a 10 hour workday with all those ads beamed into our brains?" prior to being disintegrated into his component atoms by a defense robot.

[rec head]

For the record the Panasonic VT60 does let me turn them off.

The first time I saw it I thought it was just ridiculous. The second time I new I would either be turning them off or unplugging the ethernet.