this post was submitted on 11 Oct 2025
1011 points (99.1% liked)

Technology

75959 readers
2821 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.


Our Rules


  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related news or articles.
  3. Be excellent to each other!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, this includes using AI responses and summaries. To ask if your bot can be added please contact a mod.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
  10. Accounts 7 days and younger will have their posts automatically removed.

Approved Bots


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

“This is getting ridiculous and I'm about to just toss the whole thing and move back to Google,” one Redditor said of the “full-volume” ads for Alexa+ on their Echo Show.

Oh sweet summer child, Google is NOT going to be any better at this. That will just be changing one corporate evil for another.

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] slaneesh_is_right@lemmy.org 3 points 18 minutes ago

People regret buying ....

They will continue to support .....

[–] Alenalda@lemmy.world 5 points 2 hours ago (2 children)

Wait until your smart TV starts playing adds every 10min no matter what your watching, or even if the TV is "turned off"

[–] markovs_gun@lemmy.world 1 points 18 minutes ago

Or use eye tracking to automatically pause the ad if you look away from it and hold up everything until you actually watch it

[–] thr0w4w4y2@sh.itjust.works 6 points 2 hours ago

“Drink a verification can to continue”

[–] Bobgrayyy@lemmy.world 7 points 4 hours ago

I'm now reading Helen Philips' Hum and it feels so disturbing that the dystopian world depicted in the book is so real. Like all of those things actually exist already, we just don't think about them too often.

[–] drmoose@lemmy.world 39 points 8 hours ago (1 children)
[–] qaz@lemmy.world 1 points 48 minutes ago

It's so predictable

[–] LustyArgonianMana@lemmy.world 15 points 7 hours ago

Fucking ads, even on Netflix and at gas stations now. So offensive

[–] skisnow@lemmy.ca 35 points 11 hours ago (5 children)

Advertising..helps customers discover new content and products they may be interested in.

Someone needs to coin a word to describe this type of infuriating corporate statement. They make astonishingly piss-weak arguments in a patronising tone, as if to insist that reality must be whatever they say it is because they’re a successful company.

It’s the kind of statement that’s not technically a lie, but still seems dishonest for them to present as though it were a sane response, almost like an attempt at gaslighting.

I think the person who wrote that response should be forced to wear it around their neck so that everyone can see what sort of person they are.

[–] ours@lemmy.world 8 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

"Bullshit" still works wonders.

[–] dermanus@lemmy.ca 1 points 2 hours ago

That sounds right to me. Maybe "spin" if I want to be a bit more neutral, but it doesn't look like they deserve the benefit of the doubt.

Theyre putting a happy spin on some bullshit.

[–] Robaque@feddit.it 6 points 4 hours ago (1 children)
[–] skisnow@lemmy.ca 2 points 3 hours ago

I guess? Someone also said "rhetoric", and although it counts as both of these, I'm specifically thinking about these kinds of statements you get in press releases that obnoxiously try to paint the world the way that the company needs it to be in order to justify what they're doing.

Things like "Customers don't like regulations that stop us giving them the best service", "Our users are clear that they want the freedom to choose what subscription models work for them", you know? Those kind of weaselly shit on my pie and tell me it's a blueberry statements, where they dishonestly attempt to pose as the good guys wanting to do best for the world. They clearly must know that nobody actually falls for it, but they say it anyway because they need it to be out there in order for their paid-off politicians and useful idiots to have something to support deregulation.

[–] spaghettiwestern@sh.itjust.works 10 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago)

It's not just companies. Amazon started pushing ads to subscribers who pay for ad-free Prime video content. Some idiot here on Lemmy actually insisted it wasn't an ad at all, but a "promotion."

Companies are getting their customers to make infuriating, ridiculous corporate statements for them.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] panda_abyss@lemmy.ca 46 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

This is a real “the scorpion stung the frog” situation.

There was never any other way for this to go. Is in the scorpions nature to cram ads and tracking into your devices. That was always the strategy even with their Fire lines of devices.

Ring will be next. It’s already giving them your address, neighbourhood, routine, device types, etc. That data gates correlate to census income data, network traffic, etc. to build a profile of who you are as a consumer.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] percent 4 points 10 hours ago

FWIW, I have had some Google (now Nest) Home Hubs for years and I don't think I've ever seen or heard ads on them.

I'm gradually de-googling my life though, so maybe I'll just replace them with some DIY thing

[–] JackbyDev@programming.dev 1 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

I have an Echo Show, it shows a bunch of ads. It's typically out of my view and I never use the video features. It has options to disable things and I thought I disabled them all but maybe they show ads now regardless. Because I'm definitely seeing ads. I only got one because I think it was bundled with something else or it was a gift.

[–] blady_blah@lemmy.world -3 points 6 hours ago (3 children)

I have an echo show in my kitchen. It displays ads, but they're super easy to ignore. They're just basically text pictures on the screen when it's not being used and on topics that I selected.

I'm pretty massively against ads, but the echo show's don't bother me in the least. If Alexa Plus starts giving me verbal ads or injecting them into things then it will quickly find its way into the trash can.

[–] JackbyDev@programming.dev 2 points 51 minutes ago

No, I don't like mine and would probably literally cover the screen of it was in my eyesight. It's unacceptable.

[–] tiramichu@sh.itjust.works 15 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

For me, there's no level of advertisement that is permissible, no matter how seemingly inoffensive the ad may be. It's still an ad.

In my own home on a device I paid for, it's simply not happening.

My tolerance is zero, because I am not willing to accept this ad-saturated society that we have somehow been generationally conditioned into thinking is acceptable.

[–] mrmanager@lemmy.today 4 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

I still dont understand how people think its fine seeing ads everywhere they look. What is in their minds....

It makes the world ugly. Real ugly.

[–] sobchak@programming.dev 1 points 2 hours ago

I have one of those echo ball looking things with a clock on it. I mostly just use it to play atmospheric noise and set alarms and as a clock. I do get ads sometimes. Sometimes I ask it to play something and it will ask me to subscribe to something. Sometimes it will notify me of a price drop on Amazon. I'll probably get rid of it soon. My life has just been hectic lately, and I haven't had the time to set something else up to replace it yet. Going to completely de-big-tech soon (I'm mostly there already); I don't trust them, with them being so close to this fascist admin. I think it's likely these will be used for state surveillance; some of big tech's products and services already are.

[–] 1984@lemmy.today 37 points 17 hours ago (3 children)

People seem to never learn. Same behavior for decades now from these companies but people are shocked. :)

[–] slaneesh_is_right@lemmy.org 1 points 3 hours ago

But it's so cheap.

Yeah and you get what you pay for

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] myfunnyaccountname@lemmy.zip 28 points 17 hours ago (3 children)

This is a simple problem. Destroy it and end your Amazon prime subscription. Now, your Samsung fridge that shows ads is a different problem.

[–] slaneesh_is_right@lemmy.org 3 points 3 hours ago

There is a special kind of person who buys a smart fridge. But even they must realise after a month that standing in front of a frige and looking at a screen isn't really a thing anyone does.

[–] Cosmonauticus@lemmy.world 10 points 14 hours ago (2 children)

Why the fuck anyone needs a smart fridge is beyond me. Just open the door and write down what you need. The only thing a good refrigerator needs to do is keep shit cold

[–] TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world 2 points 34 minutes ago (1 children)

I can see the logic of being able to set certain items that you always want in stock, and your fridge being able to tell you if you're running low or if it's beyond its expiry.

Can smart fridges do that? I don't think so.

Even if they can, it's probably not worth the extra expense, complexity, data mining, security concerns, or the fact that Samsung or whoever can shut down functionality whenever they want.

I just want a basic fridge-freezer.

[–] Flisty@mstdn.social 1 points 31 minutes ago (1 children)

@TheGrandNagus @Cosmonauticus how would a smart fridge know whether a box of something or a carton of something was full or empty? Weight-sensitive shelves? Would you have to show it everything you put in or took out to make sure it registered? Seems like a faff.

[–] Flisty@mstdn.social 1 points 27 minutes ago

@TheGrandNagus @Cosmonauticus i can see a very dull future of filling in individual details for all minor-brand/non-US/homemade items in your fridge because the fridge doesn't have the details in its catalogue. Or the company changes the size but leaves the branding intact (hi, shrinkflation) so the fridge gets confused...

[–] Jack_Burton@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 hours ago

I was falling down that hole about 2 years ago. I've always been a tech nerd, big scifi fan, etc so the tech advancements lately were really cool to me. Integration was such a cool concept. A fridge that could see inside itself, track what was in it, and suggest when it's time to get more of something just seemed so futuristic. Screens everywhere with weather and useful info really played into my childhood dreams watching scifi movies and tv. I've since done a complete 180 and as of 2 months ago finally completely cut out all big tech, but there's a big push for people like me to fall into the trap of "I don't need it, but it's so cool".

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] spaghettiwestern@sh.itjust.works 54 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago) (3 children)

This week Amazon starting pushing ads to customers paying extra for ad-free Prime Video.

Corporations are now so powerful they don't have to abide by reasonable norms, contracts, or laws any longer. Any fines are just a cost of doing business and are a small fraction of the profits they generate.

What are customers going to do anyway? Go to other businesses that are doing the exact same things on different days?

[–] rumba@lemmy.zip 3 points 9 hours ago

We'll kick piracy into high gear.

Then they'll make any ISPs suspecting people of piracy to be forcibly shut off.

The real question is what will we do then?

[–] 1984@lemmy.today 22 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago) (7 children)

People should give up streaming subscriptions. How long would it take to learn how to get movies another way, from a friend who is already doing it.

People dont even own their media anymore and it can be removed at any time. And they are paying for that. Lols.

load more comments (7 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] jjlinux@lemmy.zip 34 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

Never saw this coming (said no one ever).

[–] sasquatch7704@lemmy.world 24 points 18 hours ago (5 children)

Well, you would be surprised, I bet at least 50% didn't see that coming.

load more comments (5 replies)
[–] W3dd1e@lemmy.zip 61 points 20 hours ago (7 children)

I get that we should expect shit like this from Amazon but at the same time, they bought something and the maker completely changed how the device worked after they bought it.

I’d be pissed too. We have to hold these companies accountable.

[–] PushButton@lemmy.world 24 points 19 hours ago

Yeah, they totally deserve to be sued and pay a $5 fee as punishment.

That will teach them!

load more comments (6 replies)
[–] sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com 79 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago) (4 children)

... and all the actual tech nerds who told everyone they should avoid smart devices like the plague laugh and laugh...

[–] BanMe@lemmy.world 60 points 21 hours ago (7 children)

And the pro tech nerds who told everyone to use local-only, non proprietary smart devices so they can still have a secure, ad-free smarthome laugh as we walk through the house without ever touching light switches.

[–] donalonzo@lemmy.world 51 points 20 hours ago (3 children)

Exactly. It's not the smart part of a device that is the problem. That's an extreme overreaction.

The problem with most smart devices today is that they are proprietary, non-fully libre and open source, for-profit, cloud-connected, corporate committee designed spyware, adware, and bloatware.

Devices that are fully FLOSS (firmware, hardware, software) and based on open and free standards and protocols are awesome, but they get easily forgotten.

The Internet and your technology can be so much better. Demand it.

load more comments (3 replies)
load more comments (6 replies)
load more comments (3 replies)
[–] CatZoomies@lemmy.world 169 points 1 day ago (14 children)

Installing spyware and wire taps in my home was never appealing to me.

load more comments (14 replies)
load more comments
view more: next ›