Privacy is popping up all over my news feeds lately. I guess the algorithm is tracking my curiosity. So many services make suggestions based on recent activities. Buy an app and then you will see other related apps. Binge watch a television show and see similar recommended series. Like a Tweet and see more about that topic or by that same poster.
Interesting read in Apple News from The Atlantic. Check out Justin Pot’s article “The Hidden Cost of Cheap TVS” from the January 3, 2023 issue.
‘Smart TVs are just like search engines, social networks, and email providers that give us a free service in exchange for monitoring us and then selling that info to advertisers leveraging our data. These devices “are collecting information about what you’re watching, how long you’re watching it, and where you watch it,” Willcox said, “then selling that data—which is a revenue stream that didn’t exist a couple of years ago.”’ He is quoting James K. Willcox, the senior electronics editor for Consumer Reports.Apple devices cost more because Apple does not subsidize their products by selling us out. Or so the marketing campaign declares. I’ve bought the story.
A smart tv has apps - like our iDevices - that can connect to subscription services Prime Video, Netflix, Hulu, ESPN, YouTube, etc. when you connect them to your home Internet. How wonderful to have one remote control to access cable TV shows and your other apps!
Well, there is another way if you can stand to have multiple remotes. We have a “smart tv” purchased several years ago but never connected it to our Internet service. Instead there is an Apple TV box that connects to the Internet with HDMI connection to our big screen TV. Most of the same apps and subscriptions available to smart tvs are offered on the Apple platform: Netflix, Prime, YouTube, PBS, etc. at the same subscription price. I have to trust that Netflix or Prime is not selling my watching habits.
What does this have to do with photography? Let’s talk about it.
