this post was submitted on 04 Sep 2025
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I saw an 85" Samsung TV for $1000 at walmart today.
Kinda crazy (stupid) how people spend that much on a fucking phone.
The cost of that TV is heavily subsidized on the expectation that you connect it to the internet and it feeds Samsung data on you.
Just don't do that? The same argument could be made for their phones.
I think you're talking out of your ass.
Oh my sweet summer child. The privacy community is all over this and any economics course will explain how we got here.
Anyone making equipment needs to come in just below competitors in terms of price. How? By using telemetry and data collection to sell for advertising. This is seen as a subsidy to make the equipment more competitive to get it in more homes for long-term rent-seeking for income lasting years from every user. Same as with any smart appliance. The TV, connected to the internet, monitors what you watch even when you've connected by HDMI.
Can you just not connect the TV? Absolutely, yes. That's how low the bar is, that simply not giving the TV a connection and using 1 extra device in between is all it takes to come out ahead. That's a gamble worth it to Samsung. I have a Samsung TV, and that's all I need to do to come out ahead. But many, many people think the TV needs to do it all and just give it a data connection.