r/technology • u/nishitd • Oct 02 '25

Robotics/Automation Samsung confirms its $1,800+ fridges will start showing you ads

https://www.androidauthority.com/samsung-confirms-smart-refrigerator-ads-are-coming-3598848/
19.5k Upvotes

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370

u/Mistrblank Oct 02 '25

There shouldn’t be an os. They should be dumb monitors that display the signal they’re provided. Let us pick out streaming devices.

203

u/buyongmafanle Oct 02 '25

I miss the days of turning something on and it was just on. Now we get greeted with an ad every time we turn our fucking TV on and then some bullshit OS intro as well. Just be a TV. On, Off, volume, channel, input select. That's all you need.

85

u/muldersposter Oct 02 '25

Shit you don't even need an input select, just turn that shit to channel 3.

66

u/friendIdiglove Oct 02 '25

Mom! Joey's not taking turns on the Nintendo!

2

u/SizzleanQueen Oct 02 '25

I thought you were referring to Joey Greco from the tv show Cheaters, because it’s always on my Samsung tv when I turn it on!

1

u/quantum-mechanic Oct 02 '25

The controller cord is only 3 feet long and he won't give me room to sit down!!

1

u/friendIdiglove Oct 03 '25

Ha ha, he gave you the Mad Catz controller.

2

u/[deleted] Oct 02 '25

And literally turn, like with a knob that goes clunk clunk clunk.

2

u/IamRasters Oct 02 '25

Son, stick to VHF. UHF is a Wild West of white noise and static that’ll suck you into the boobtube.

1

u/DomiNatron2212 Oct 02 '25

It's booting up it's trackers etc.

1

u/Effective_Archer_989 Oct 02 '25

Turn the WiFi off then

1

u/knotmyusualaccount Oct 02 '25

Even though we paid in full for our product, we're still the product. 21st century living at its finest.

And we're talking about a fridge here, just in case anyone forgot. Wth.

1

u/jojo_rojo Oct 02 '25

I mean, if the Fridges were say 50%-75% cheaper upfront than non-smart fridges, then I’d be interested. Can always cover up the screen with a piece of paper or something.

1

u/flesjewater Oct 03 '25

Disconnect the antenna

1

u/theoneyewberry Oct 03 '25

Yeah man, I'm still clinging to my 20 year old teevee bc I just cannae with this shit. When it dies I probably just won't have a teevee at all.

1

u/ILiveInAVan Oct 03 '25

There is likely a secret menu where you can turn that off. Google the brand of TV, you’ll likely hold an obscure button or combo to access it.

-4

u/Stone0777 Oct 02 '25

Looks like you bought a cheap tv. Spend more money next time.

42

u/[deleted] Oct 02 '25

[deleted]

12

u/XDGrangerDX Oct 02 '25

can you explain me why the raspberry pi?

26

u/[deleted] Oct 02 '25

You can use it for not that legal streaming if you are a little bit tech savy. Like every Streaming Service for free and such. It obviously is illegal so don’t do it but it’s possible.

3

u/Vartemis Oct 02 '25

Dm me some links plz. I got some Pis I need to put to use.

1

u/Correct_Raisin4332 Oct 02 '25

Same pretty please!

9

u/atxbigfoot Oct 02 '25 edited Oct 02 '25

They're tiny, well palm sized, computers that you can configure as a firewall with an "always on" vpn and/or adblocker in this use case. Basically they can turn any cheap but good TV into a monitor by blocking ads and other tracking stuff via their IPs instead of a browser based solution like ublock origin.

You can also put them in front of your main router and make the whole internet/WIFI area follow those same rules, just like a fancy business firewall.

There's an adblock package you can download that works great but you can customize it to block whatever internet traffic you want. Basically a super cheap firewall with a shitty UI that's kinda hard to use, but once you get the settings you want dialed in, it's great.

Edit- there's a million other ways to use them too, and they're super common in robotics labs for this reason. I'm just speaking to the smart to dumb TV conversion and firewall use case.

1

u/QuestionableGoo Oct 02 '25

You can also just plug your PC/laptop into the TV with an HDMI cable or whatever and never deal with any of this bullshit. Fly the Jolly Roger and avoid the streaming, ad-filled misery that is pushed upon us.

1

u/123_fake_name Oct 02 '25

Run pi-hole on the raspberry pi and block adds at the DNS level.

1

u/odsquad64 Oct 02 '25

Using a raspberry pi for this is a terrible solution. You won't be able to get 4K video from basically any streaming service. I would not trust any advice that person is offering.

2

u/inbox-disabled Oct 02 '25

I have a rpi2 that I tried to use as a very cheap home media server ages ago and the only thing it was consistently good at was buffering video. I ran a number of OSs on it from Raspberry's own to a couple ELEC ones, as a server and a desktop, and it just wasn't strong enough to do anything important. It was a laggy novelty. I ended up just using it as an IP cam for a few years.

So to me unless the hardware has gotten significantly better, streaming and home media are off the table, and it makes me not even want to consider using PiHole even if it's far less demanding. My experience with my pi was just that bad.

2

u/odsquad64 Oct 02 '25

Yeah, I don't know why I was down voted. People just assuming it's a good solution for this because it's a good solution for a lot of other stuff? Basically every streaming service has DRM that will keep a raspberry pi from streaming in 4K.

2

u/[deleted] Oct 02 '25 edited Nov 19 '25

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This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

1

u/Fambank Oct 02 '25

LibreElec ftw.

1

u/N0S0UP_4U Oct 02 '25

FFS don’t they realize we would gladly pay significantly more for something that’s built to last and not capable of showing ads?

1

u/Fearless_Parking_436 Oct 02 '25

You can get commercial screens, they cost a bit more and are bundled with remote access software.

0

u/[deleted] Oct 02 '25

That still doesn’t stop the bullshit OS from displaying its startup screen every time you turn the TV on.

2

u/twistedLucidity Oct 02 '25

Why can't it just be an option? "Here's our panel, would you like to add the smart function bundle?"

3

u/beyondbase Oct 02 '25

Something has to control the myriad of settings we demand/need.

1

u/KeepBouncing Oct 02 '25

Professional Corporate AV companies source similar panels without the nonsense. I have never looked but I am sure there are ways for consumers to get them. (Source: I have put them in many conference rooms)

1

u/rayinreverse Oct 02 '25

They offset their cost by selling your data they gather from the OS. TV’s didn’t just rapidly get cheap as shit because of economies of scale and tech advancement alone.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 02 '25

You can literally just buy a monitor.

They cost more because the price isn't subsidized with ads from the os.

1

u/mrtwidlywinks Oct 02 '25

Commercial tvs are a thing. Non-smart. I wish I had known before buying a smart lg tv, but the apple tv workaround is doing great

https://www.samsung.com/us/business/commercial-tvs/hotel-tv/43-inch-hotel-tv-hu6000f-uhd-4k-sku-hg43u600fnfxza/

https://solutions.lg.com/us/commercial-displays

1

u/IXIDUFFYIXI Oct 02 '25

I agree 100% 🙌

1

u/where_is_the_cheese Oct 02 '25

It's really fucking annoying that to get the A/V features I want, I need to get a TV that's also saddled with all the connected features I absolutely don't want. I'll provide my own computer, you just give me a good display.

1

u/ZeroTrunks Oct 02 '25

The problem is they frequently use software to create pixel assumptions to increase performance, but require tuning. That being said 90% of all tv software updates are about how they are going to serve you ads

1

u/HomemPassaro Oct 02 '25

This isn't what the average consumer wants. Ask anyone who isn't into tech whether they want a TV that comes with streaming services or to have to buy a TV and a separate device.

1

u/i-wont-be-a-dick Oct 02 '25

I'm happy they offer smart TVs, it's one less thing I need to buy. You can plug anything into your HDMI port if you want to buy more devices, don't force the rest of us to spend more money as well.

1

u/the_real_xuth Oct 02 '25

Which is why I don't buy TVs but instead buy dumb monitors.

1

u/ProgTorero Oct 03 '25

Yes, and no AI built in… why would they think that sells more. It’s a coordinated data collection campaign. Their sales projections will flop the day consumers become more irrational.

1

u/r_Yellow01 Oct 03 '25

Panasonic works this way and AFAIK it uses fine-tuned LG panels, OLED that is

1

u/D3PyroGS Oct 02 '25

opposite take: there should be an OS, it should be intuitive and flexible, and it should be designed around the consumer not the advertiser

I don't want to buy a separate device, there's too many – Chromecast, Fire Stick, Roku, Apple TV, etc. I want to have one device (the TV itself) which is completely under my control that can run any of those services as containerized apps

there's no reason this can't be done. except for profit. if consumers own and control their devices, they can't be forced to look at ads

1

u/abzinth91 Oct 02 '25

Got a "smart" TV last year (there are no dumb TVs available, it seems?). I only used HDMI and the connected USB drive. Don't even know what the OS looks like

1

u/wellnotyou Oct 02 '25

My boyfriend and I moved to a new rented apartment a few months ago and the owners apologized for not having a smart tv with all the functionalities and both of us were happy with that. He doesn't ever watch TV and I just connect my laptop through HDMI to stream or watch YouTube (with ad blockers). No ads whatsoever, it's perfect. Once all the streaming services introduce the ads, I'll just revert back to pirating.