I really wish that journalists would push back against companies when they give bullshit responses to this. The Verge (and many other outlets) just incredulously take them at their word. We all...
I really wish that journalists would push back against companies when they give bullshit responses to this. The Verge (and many other outlets) just incredulously take them at their word. We all know that they would do this and far more invasive ads that make them more money if they thought for a second they could get away with it.
The author should have said to the spokesperson, “Did you guys try this because you thought you could get away with it and make more money on these ads that are objectively a bad experience for users?”
I know the reason (if they ask too many “difficult” questions, they don’t get invited to the next event or lose access to hardware for review) but it makes for poor journalism. It’s not just a problem with tech journalism, but journalism as a whole.
Access Journalism. It's not as bad as it was since B2B gifts have been significantly neutered, but simply denying the story to the journalist still works. Here's an example of it happening...
Access Journalism.
It's not as bad as it was since B2B gifts have been significantly neutered, but simply denying the story to the journalist still works.
Hummm.. you can look up the "US ambassador to the Netherlands" and I almost guarantee it's the first hit. It's worth it. This entire thing happened during the first Trump presidency when Pete...
Hummm.. you can look up the "US ambassador to the Netherlands" and I almost guarantee it's the first hit. It's worth it.
This entire thing happened during the first Trump presidency when Pete Hoekstra claimed cars and politicians were being burned in the streets. The Dutch journalists dogged him for weeks in every interview to get him to admit that was false. They'd even back each other up. If he moved to the next person in the room they'd just tell him to answer the question of the previous journalist.
There's one with the initial claim and questioning, and another during a press conference when they all refer back to the first interview.
Besides that, spokespeople are trained to divert from tricky questions. It's often a dead-end to push harder on these. Leaks, whistleblowers, and trials (like Meta's and Google's) are better...
Besides that, spokespeople are trained to divert from tricky questions. It's often a dead-end to push harder on these. Leaks, whistleblowers, and trials (like Meta's and Google's) are better venues to get what C-level people really think about their business.
That's where the journalists should write "[Name], spokesperson for [Company], was evasive and refused to answer when questioned directly about [Issue]." They evade real questions because they're...
That's where the journalists should write "[Name], spokesperson for [Company], was evasive and refused to answer when questioned directly about [Issue]."
They evade real questions because they're permitted to. If they were consistently blasted as being weaselly, it would reflect poorly on the company's image and they would have to stop.
That's how you spot a skilled, engaged interviewer or moderator in politics: they will draw attention to a question being ignored and force a response of some kind.
I guess The Verge has a policy to only publish official statements from companies if the person can be named — so, no off-the-record statements. These people simply don't care and the public...
I guess The Verge has a policy to only publish official statements from companies if the person can be named — so, no off-the-record statements. These people simply don't care and the public opinion, at least the majority, doesn't either.
I agree. But it's still extremely annoying to hear these people lie and not get called on it. It's like some dumb dance they do even though we all know why they did it. And they know we don't...
I agree. But it's still extremely annoying to hear these people lie and not get called on it. It's like some dumb dance they do even though we all know why they did it. And they know we don't believe their B.S., it's just that they have to say it to get their paycheck. Not a great mentality to have when running your business.
Yes, but it doesn't matter if they believed them. Reporters should at least ask the hard questions and press them when given non- or evasive answers. My issue was that they didn't do that....
Yes, but it doesn't matter if they believed them. Reporters should at least ask the hard questions and press them when given non- or evasive answers. My issue was that they didn't do that.
There are many other outlets that are guilty of the same things as The Verge, but I don't think anyone is quite as bad as them. Their editorial staff seem to only care about clicks, because for...
There are many other outlets that are guilty of the same things as The Verge, but I don't think anyone is quite as bad as them. Their editorial staff seem to only care about clicks, because for every article I've ever read on their site, they only barely ever have the faintest pushback to corporate bullshit unless it's lit on fire.
Funny timing - I was just telling the wife that it's time to go back to piracy. I very much want to pay a fair price for content, as evidenced by the many streaming services I use, but I won't pay...
Funny timing - I was just telling the wife that it's time to go back to piracy. I very much want to pay a fair price for content, as evidenced by the many streaming services I use, but I won't pay for ads.
In addition to simply not wanting to see ads unless I'm being compensated for the displeasure, I have kids. Roku showed my four year old ads for dramatic adult content that I don't want to explain to him on our way to watch bluey.
This is orthogonal to piracy though. The ads mentioned in the article are coming from powering on a Roku stick. If you pirate, you still need a client device that won't stuff ads in your face. A...
This is orthogonal to piracy though. The ads mentioned in the article are coming from powering on a Roku stick. If you pirate, you still need a client device that won't stuff ads in your face. A computer like @rodrigo mentioned is a solid idea, but another is an Apple TV. It's $129 and the one mainstream product (afaik) on the market not stuffing the UI with ads.
You're right. It's the thing that pushed me over, but also pretty much ubiquitous experiences from the major streaming services. I have some spare hardware needing a purpose so here we go!
You're right. It's the thing that pushed me over, but also pretty much ubiquitous experiences from the major streaming services. I have some spare hardware needing a purpose so here we go!
For sure. It’s half for parents and half for children in a great mix. When new episodes are realised I’m disappointed if I don’t get to watch them with my son!
For sure. It’s half for parents and half for children in a great mix. When new episodes are realised I’m disappointed if I don’t get to watch them with my son!
For folks running roku devices and have the time for some DIY fun, think about either self-hosting a Pi-Hole adblocker on your network (with proper smartTV blocklist) or switching your network's...
For folks running roku devices and have the time for some DIY fun, think about either self-hosting a Pi-Hole adblocker on your network (with proper smartTV blocklist) or switching your network's default DNS to a free DNS with an adblocking feature like ControlD or DNSForge.
I've used DNSForge in the US without a noticeable delay and it blocked roku's mainpage and screensaver ads. I wasn't a part of the loading video ad A/B test so I have no clue if things still work, neither does reddit/pihole discourse from what I can see.
I guess it's safe to say there still hasn't been much progress made in the way of jailbreaking Roku devices? I hope this stunt prompts some movement in that way
I guess it's safe to say there still hasn't been much progress made in the way of jailbreaking Roku devices?
I hope this stunt prompts some movement in that way
I'm guessing part of the issue is just how many different devices there are, often from different manufacturers likely using different parts. A lot of them are built into the tv as well, which...
I'm guessing part of the issue is just how many different devices there are, often from different manufacturers likely using different parts. A lot of them are built into the tv as well, which makes it a much bigger pain in the ass to open up and work on the hardware.
Once upon a time there was an industry standard for integrating computers into displays. You could pop in and out modules made by different manufacturers. Unfortunately this is the darkest...
Once upon a time there was an industry standard for integrating computers into displays. You could pop in and out modules made by different manufacturers.
Unfortunately this is the darkest timeline. It never got beyond commercial displays.
Im not so adventurous(and don't expect others to be either) as to crack open TV's in an attempt to dig out the bakeware. The little devices however, i figured would be ripe for tinkering. As...
Im not so adventurous(and don't expect others to be either) as to crack open TV's in an attempt to dig out the bakeware. The little devices however, i figured would be ripe for tinkering.
As stated though, there's so many variations on the models it'd be a logistical nightmare to try to create a OSFA hack.
At some point I need to find a good replacement for Roku. I like the simplicity and usability of it far more for a TV than plugging a computer in, but it has issues. I'm pretty much fine with the...
At some point I need to find a good replacement for Roku. I like the simplicity and usability of it far more for a TV than plugging a computer in, but it has issues. I'm pretty much fine with the ads it had off to the side, but won't be happy with it getting any more intrusive than it is. It also randomly shuffles my home page layout every few months and still doesn't support PGS subtitles.
At least it's not as bad as a fire stick, but that's such a low bar.
Personally I don’t think there’s anything in the streaming box world that’s better. Doesn’t really have ads, it’s fast and smooth, and unlike nearly all competitors its hardware isn’t anemic so if...
Personally I don’t think there’s anything in the streaming box world that’s better. Doesn’t really have ads, it’s fast and smooth, and unlike nearly all competitors its hardware isn’t anemic so if you run into a situation where you need to play a video file format that’s not hardware accelerated, you can because its CPU has muscle in abundance. This also means that it doesn’t slow down easily over the years as the result of software updates.
The cheapest dongles/boxes especially have shockingly weak hardware, with some having as little or less power than an entry-level smartphone from 10+ years ago which makes them wholly dependent on hardware acceleration and reduces headroom for updates to almost nothing.
I have considered swapping to Apple TV at some point. I have an iPad and a MacBook air, but most of my other devices are windows or android. I have a 4k Roku but I got it free so it's been great...
I have considered swapping to Apple TV at some point. I have an iPad and a MacBook air, but most of my other devices are windows or android. I have a 4k Roku but I got it free so it's been great to use for a while, but I'm getting increasingly annoyed by little things. If the Apple TV isn't ad-ridden and plays well with services I want it to, it might be worth grabbing I suppose.
Something to consider, although I've been thinking I may want more control over whatever my next TV device is than Apple, Roku, Amazon, or most of the others will let me have. For example, it...
Something to consider, although I've been thinking I may want more control over whatever my next TV device is than Apple, Roku, Amazon, or most of the others will let me have. For example, it would be nice to be able to use things like SmartTube.
Folks mentioned this ONN box for $20 when Chromecast was being shutndown. No support for Dolby Vision or Atmos, that's in the $50 box, but otherwise this one seems like a fine box....
Folks mentioned this ONN box for $20 when Chromecast was being shutndown. No support for Dolby Vision or Atmos, that's in the $50 box, but otherwise this one seems like a fine box.
The ads aren’t meant to be interruptive? The billboard ads they added to the Roku City screensaver used to open the ad when you clicked the play button on your remote. How does making the action...
The ads aren’t meant to be interruptive? The billboard ads they added to the Roku City screensaver used to open the ad when you clicked the play button on your remote. How does making the action of clicking the play button to resume your show instead close your show and open an advertisement supposed to do anything except interrupt your viewing experience?
And that is why I am not buying any internet required crippled computer(anything smart more or less and even things not labeled as such. As far as I can yell smart is simply used to downgrade the...
And that is why I am not buying any internet required crippled computer(anything smart more or less and even things not labeled as such. As far as I can yell smart is simply used to downgrade the expectations of the product) unless I have to as happened with the smartphone I got.
Barring specific and niche situations buying something that the manufacturer can control at will and that requires internet will inevitably cost more in the long run in time, sanity and money replacing the thing.
Are there any good Roku alternatives? I see a few folks recommending Apple TV so I'll look into that. I've gotten into borrowing Blu-ray discs from the library lately and an considering a PS4 /...
Are there any good Roku alternatives? I see a few folks recommending Apple TV so I'll look into that. I've gotten into borrowing Blu-ray discs from the library lately and an considering a PS4 / Xbox for streaming / disc playback.
Normally I'd build something like with a used Lenovo ThinkCentre but I'm really looking for one remote, simple UI, auto updating convenience.
Only Apple TV, AFAIK. Which is a shame, since it's freaking expensive in many countries (literally x10 the price of a basic Roku Express in Brazil, for example).
Only Apple TV, AFAIK. Which is a shame, since it's freaking expensive in many countries (literally x10 the price of a basic Roku Express in Brazil, for example).
I really wish that journalists would push back against companies when they give bullshit responses to this. The Verge (and many other outlets) just incredulously take them at their word. We all know that they would do this and far more invasive ads that make them more money if they thought for a second they could get away with it.
The author should have said to the spokesperson, “Did you guys try this because you thought you could get away with it and make more money on these ads that are objectively a bad experience for users?”
I know the reason (if they ask too many “difficult” questions, they don’t get invited to the next event or lose access to hardware for review) but it makes for poor journalism. It’s not just a problem with tech journalism, but journalism as a whole.
Access Journalism.
It's not as bad as it was since B2B gifts have been significantly neutered, but simply denying the story to the journalist still works.
Here's an example of it happening properly: https://youtu.be/thIRJLsnIxY
Headline news. It was incredibly funny for weeks. Dude didn't know what hit him.
Aww, video unavailable for me...
Hummm.. you can look up the "US ambassador to the Netherlands" and I almost guarantee it's the first hit. It's worth it.
This entire thing happened during the first Trump presidency when Pete Hoekstra claimed cars and politicians were being burned in the streets. The Dutch journalists dogged him for weeks in every interview to get him to admit that was false. They'd even back each other up. If he moved to the next person in the room they'd just tell him to answer the question of the previous journalist.
There's one with the initial claim and questioning, and another during a press conference when they all refer back to the first interview.
Besides that, spokespeople are trained to divert from tricky questions. It's often a dead-end to push harder on these. Leaks, whistleblowers, and trials (like Meta's and Google's) are better venues to get what C-level people really think about their business.
That's where the journalists should write "[Name], spokesperson for [Company], was evasive and refused to answer when questioned directly about [Issue]."
They evade real questions because they're permitted to. If they were consistently blasted as being weaselly, it would reflect poorly on the company's image and they would have to stop.
That's how you spot a skilled, engaged interviewer or moderator in politics: they will draw attention to a question being ignored and force a response of some kind.
I guess The Verge has a policy to only publish official statements from companies if the person can be named — so, no off-the-record statements. These people simply don't care and the public opinion, at least the majority, doesn't either.
I agree. But it's still extremely annoying to hear these people lie and not get called on it. It's like some dumb dance they do even though we all know why they did it. And they know we don't believe their B.S., it's just that they have to say it to get their paycheck. Not a great mentality to have when running your business.
I don't see any evidence that the reporter believed them? Particularly given how they ended the article:
Yes, but it doesn't matter if they believed them. Reporters should at least ask the hard questions and press them when given non- or evasive answers. My issue was that they didn't do that.
@redwall_hp's comment nailed it.
I think that might work better on live TV.
There are many other outlets that are guilty of the same things as The Verge, but I don't think anyone is quite as bad as them. Their editorial staff seem to only care about clicks, because for every article I've ever read on their site, they only barely ever have the faintest pushback to corporate bullshit unless it's lit on fire.
Funny timing - I was just telling the wife that it's time to go back to piracy. I very much want to pay a fair price for content, as evidenced by the many streaming services I use, but I won't pay for ads.
In addition to simply not wanting to see ads unless I'm being compensated for the displeasure, I have kids. Roku showed my four year old ads for dramatic adult content that I don't want to explain to him on our way to watch bluey.
This is orthogonal to piracy though. The ads mentioned in the article are coming from powering on a Roku stick. If you pirate, you still need a client device that won't stuff ads in your face. A computer like @rodrigo mentioned is a solid idea, but another is an Apple TV. It's $129 and the one mainstream product (afaik) on the market not stuffing the UI with ads.
You're right. It's the thing that pushed me over, but also pretty much ubiquitous experiences from the major streaming services. I have some spare hardware needing a purpose so here we go!
A cheap/old computer + Jellyfin is a wonderful combo. Ironically, I'm using a Roku stick to access Jellyfin content on a TV.
As a tangent, I really enjoy Bluey as a parent. A great show.
so many (way too early) morning feels are struck with that show.
For sure. It’s half for parents and half for children in a great mix. When new episodes are realised I’m disappointed if I don’t get to watch them with my son!
For folks running roku devices and have the time for some DIY fun, think about either self-hosting a Pi-Hole adblocker on your network (with proper smartTV blocklist) or switching your network's default DNS to a free DNS with an adblocking feature like ControlD or DNSForge.
I've used DNSForge in the US without a noticeable delay and it blocked roku's mainpage and screensaver ads. I wasn't a part of the loading video ad A/B test so I have no clue if things still work, neither does reddit/pihole discourse from what I can see.
I guess it's safe to say there still hasn't been much progress made in the way of jailbreaking Roku devices?
I hope this stunt prompts some movement in that way
I'm guessing part of the issue is just how many different devices there are, often from different manufacturers likely using different parts. A lot of them are built into the tv as well, which makes it a much bigger pain in the ass to open up and work on the hardware.
Once upon a time there was an industry standard for integrating computers into displays. You could pop in and out modules made by different manufacturers.
Unfortunately this is the darkest timeline. It never got beyond commercial displays.
Im not so adventurous(and don't expect others to be either) as to crack open TV's in an attempt to dig out the bakeware. The little devices however, i figured would be ripe for tinkering.
As stated though, there's so many variations on the models it'd be a logistical nightmare to try to create a OSFA hack.
At some point I need to find a good replacement for Roku. I like the simplicity and usability of it far more for a TV than plugging a computer in, but it has issues. I'm pretty much fine with the ads it had off to the side, but won't be happy with it getting any more intrusive than it is. It also randomly shuffles my home page layout every few months and still doesn't support PGS subtitles.
At least it's not as bad as a fire stick, but that's such a low bar.
I second this. I switched from Roku to Apple TV (despite not having an iPhone or anything) and it's been a great experience. Much faster, no ads.
Personally I don’t think there’s anything in the streaming box world that’s better. Doesn’t really have ads, it’s fast and smooth, and unlike nearly all competitors its hardware isn’t anemic so if you run into a situation where you need to play a video file format that’s not hardware accelerated, you can because its CPU has muscle in abundance. This also means that it doesn’t slow down easily over the years as the result of software updates.
The cheapest dongles/boxes especially have shockingly weak hardware, with some having as little or less power than an entry-level smartphone from 10+ years ago which makes them wholly dependent on hardware acceleration and reduces headroom for updates to almost nothing.
I have considered swapping to Apple TV at some point. I have an iPad and a MacBook air, but most of my other devices are windows or android. I have a 4k Roku but I got it free so it's been great to use for a while, but I'm getting increasingly annoyed by little things. If the Apple TV isn't ad-ridden and plays well with services I want it to, it might be worth grabbing I suppose.
Something to consider, although I've been thinking I may want more control over whatever my next TV device is than Apple, Roku, Amazon, or most of the others will let me have. For example, it would be nice to be able to use things like SmartTube.
Folks mentioned this ONN box for $20 when Chromecast was being shutndown. No support for Dolby Vision or Atmos, that's in the $50 box, but otherwise this one seems like a fine box.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/onn-Google-TV-4K-Streaming-Box-New-2023-4K-UHD-Resolution/2835618394
The ads aren’t meant to be interruptive? The billboard ads they added to the Roku City screensaver used to open the ad when you clicked the play button on your remote. How does making the action of clicking the play button to resume your show instead close your show and open an advertisement supposed to do anything except interrupt your viewing experience?
Your question presumes their argument is rooted in truth. It isn't.
And that is why I am not buying any internet required crippled computer(anything smart more or less and even things not labeled as such. As far as I can yell smart is simply used to downgrade the expectations of the product) unless I have to as happened with the smartphone I got.
Barring specific and niche situations buying something that the manufacturer can control at will and that requires internet will inevitably cost more in the long run in time, sanity and money replacing the thing.
Are there any good Roku alternatives? I see a few folks recommending Apple TV so I'll look into that. I've gotten into borrowing Blu-ray discs from the library lately and an considering a PS4 / Xbox for streaming / disc playback.
Normally I'd build something like with a used Lenovo ThinkCentre but I'm really looking for one remote, simple UI, auto updating convenience.
The good old Nvidia Shield https://tildes.net/~tech/1mkq/chromecast_alternatives#comment-f2vz
Only Apple TV, AFAIK. Which is a shame, since it's freaking expensive in many countries (literally x10 the price of a basic Roku Express in Brazil, for example).