I have recently started university and am required to use an app that has three Facebook trackers, one of them being a Facebook location tracker according to Exodus App Privacy, for the dining plan, when it would literally work perfectly fine using your student ID and ordering to a real cashier, LIKE HOW IT HAS BEEN DONE FOR DECADES.
I have also read many stories of people that live in apartments that require them to use a mobile app for god damn LAUNDRY. All you need, is a card reader, and it will work perfectly fine like it has been for the longest time.
Privacy concerns aside, it is just annoying that you need this app and that app and this app and that app and it just clutters space on your phone. Security concerns too as now they have all of this additional info on you online, such as your phone number your email your real name, instead of just your credit card info like a card reader would have. And I am willing to guarantee that their security model is absolute horseshit because they have such a small team of engineers working on the app and the servers.
Literal enshitification
If you do buy a smart TV, yanking the network connection and use a Pi to drive the TV connected to a media server. And use OTA antenna.
My issue is more because of the slow as piss operating systems since they are all an afterthought but one they force on you.
Buying a newer smart TV showed me this isn’t getting better. Same size model and price range as the TV from years ago - previous TV was damaged.
The software has more “features”. This removes the app and input feature to a dedicated screen, rather than a bottom scroll menu.
You can no longer switch to a chosen source. The TV analyses a source and only allows you to switch to that source if it has detected the input and guessed what it is. Now when you plug in a hdmi device you need to wait for the TV to decide if you can change to the new source. This is very frustrating when using a switch. Not a problem in older Samsung TVs.
Most of the bundled apps are terrible Samsung services or paid for apps with no uninstall ability.
The apps you may want like BBC iPlayer don’t work correctly. They can access the app, but often the app is unable to play the media without a reset of the TV.
The TV can’t be reset with the remote. Powering off, doesn’t power off the TV. You need to switch it off at the wall. Despite this you can’t cast media to the TV when the screen isn’t on.
Using external devices like a chromecast, firestick, raspberry pi etc. Seems like a good solution. Not really. Samsung breaks the ability for devices to control the TV over hdmi to switch to their source when the TV is in Samsung app menu or settings.
The colours on the newer TV are worse than the old TV.
The TV also has to boot up now.
TVs are getting worse. No one in the TV market actually cares about the experience of the customer. Dumb TV seem like a good idea, but they are harder to access and often cost more.
Someone new has to enter the TV space. Samsung, LG and Sony all make shitty software. They sell as having extra features but these features are half backed and don’t care about the overall experience. It’s the same with their smart phones. A TV should come with decent calibration. A dumb TV controller that handles volume, source input, brightness. Then a second computer to do apps and features, that doesn’t need to be working for base functions until called upon.
My piece of shit smart TV flashes the power light when it’s not connected to the network. 🙃
Past the return policy?
I’d add to that - never connect it in the first place so it doesn’t know your wifi credentials, and if it has ever connected block the tv in your firewall via hardware address.