LG to offer subscriptions for already purchased appliances and televisions, evolving into a provider for “Home as a Service”::Subscription fatigue is a thing and regulators are circling, but Korean giant reckons you’re ready to cough up after buying hardware
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5 TV Streaming services? More like 25 at this point.
You know my story isn’t very different from yours.
As a teenager I massively pirated everything, became an adult with a paying job streaming was sensible so I paid for Netflix/Spotify eventually adding in Prime video + the occasional thing like P+/disney+ or whatever flavour of the month I wanted to watch.
Then earlier this year I realised I was paying for 6 different movie/tv streaming subs and when I went on holiday none of the services I had worked properly and I couldn’t continue watching the show I had been watching at night before bed and I just went nah fuck this. Blew about 2 grand on a Mac Mini m2 and a ton of hard drives and just went full on Arr stack + usenet + plex lifetime.
It isn’t even about the fucking money anymore it’s just how inconvenient they make everything, I’ve had enough and I don’t think I’m ever going back.
Disney Plus straight up refusing to run anything while we were on vacation just made me really mad. Here I am setting up the tablet for the kid, and then - nah wrong region mate. Even VPN didn’t help somehow.
Yeah Disney+ legitimately made me mad also. Fuck the streaming services.
I think they use the tablet location info to block you.
If corporations are gonna be greedy. It’s time to steal some of that value back for us. Huzzah!
What’s your issue with Spotify?
My biggest issue is how they took Podcasts, which have always been open RSS feeds for audio (and Apple, the largest player, kept open and public for decades) and started making exclusivity deals that only work through their app, with invasive analytics and monetization.
My second issue is how Spotify wants me to manage my library the way they believe I should: emphasize playlists, kinda add songs to a library, ignore albums. For instance, on Apple Music if I add 3 songs from an album to my library, I can go to the Albums menu and the album will show up there - even though I only have 3 songs. On Spotify, I either add an entire album, or if I only add the songs, the album won’t show up in the albums view. In fact, the whole “liked songs” section feels like an afterthought they added after impementing playlists, while on Apple Music and most oldschool music library software the song library was the main view and the songs added there populated all other fields such as artists or albums. Ironically, Apple Music is got intelligent playlists that work way better than Spotify’s, with the downside being they can only be created via iTunes which is ancient software.
My third issue is what are the value adds to the subscription as the years go by: Spotify added short videos, QR codes, inconsistent lyrics and digital stores that aren’t even converted to my local currency… While Apple Music added karaoke lyrics, lossless audio, spatial audio (even on my Android), remasters straight from the studio, and more. It’s totally subjective, but Spotify’s gimmicks aren’t worth it to me.
My fourth issue is just the number of tracks that are no longer available on Spotify from my library. Apple Music lost a few, YouTube Music slightly less, and Spotify quite a lot which surprised me.
As you can see, it’s not like Spotify killed my cat and replaced my audio library with a 10 hour loop of fart sounds… But I have deep concerns over their treatment of podcasts, I really dislike their philosophy on how to organize a music library (and they offer less customization than an Apple product, how crazy is that?), they’re becoming increasingly more popular yet their catalogue is actually shrinking for my music taste, and I don’t see real improvements in the service while their competitors keep adding actual value as time goes on.
Either way, don’t mind me - I’m actually now using a huge library of FLAC files on my PC that get converted to MP3 and sent to my phone. Free, no songs vanish, no internet connection, no issues 😄
Good explanation. Apple Music is still solid for me and I greatly prefer it over Spotify since I prefer listening to and collecting albums over playlists. Am also not a fan of what they’ve done with podcasts, the overall sound quality or the integration with the products I use.
While not ideal, I’ve found that most of the songs or music removed is due to some weird licensing issue and is still there. For example Wolfmother’s first album needing to be re-added as the 10th anniversary edition. Kind of annoying still but manageable.
I also have no interest in the Spotify “value adds”: they add no value for me. Last year I did try to leave, with their focus on podcasts that seem actively harmful to society, but their play lists are just the way I like to listen to music. Apple Music kept annoying me with focus on albums, and iverly targeted play lists, so I did come back
My fourth issue is just the number of tracks that are no longer available on Spotify from my library.
Yes this is what led me back to buying and downloading music again to keep a local back up of.
I use podcast addict. It works.
I get the podcast thing. I never use it, and I don’t think most others do. I’m hoping they just kill the idea at some point but who knows.
The library used to be more straightforward, but in the most recent updates or at least since I’ve started using it again it’s seemed much more playlist focused. To me, this actually makes more sense - with iTunes the “universe” of music is what I have downloaded, with Spotify it doesn’t really matter what’s in my library, everything is already accessible. Rarely do I just browse by artist in my library when using Spotify.
That being said, I do like to add music to iTunes still and sync it to my iPod as I have no faith that Spotify will be around for my entire lifespan.
I’d love to switch to Apple Music. I wish it’s let you add an artist to your library instead of individually doing all their albums.
Amazon music has held my attention for several years now
The podcast thing is not Spotify’s fault, it’s an industry-wide thing.
As podcasting took off, the most popular podcast hosts wanted to be fairly paid for their stardom. An exclusive distribution deal is the easiest way for the podcaster, who otherwise would have to grind their audience with paid subscriptions or intrusive sponsorships.
For the same price, Apple Music provides lossless audio quality, Dolby Atmos, 4K music videos (you can’t even get those on YouTube), karaoke (Apple Music Sing), and a personalized radio station that doesn’t feed you the exact same stuff every week. Plus you can use third-party apps like Marvis Pro with your AM subscription, so you’re not locked to one app’s GUI.
We have a group of friends who all pay for one family subscription service each, then we all share the passwords. If password sharing goes then I’m back to the high seas.
Curious, what’s wrong with Spotify?
They pay artists the least, fund the US war machine, inundate you with podcasts when you just want music, etc.
As for your phone you can buy an unlocked one and a month to month plan. I did that about 5 years ago. Phone dies, transfer sim.
Even the OS (like MS Windows) will be subscription. I don’t give a flying fuck, as I use Linux. And I have 0 (zero) subscriptions. I feel free, without vices (other than smoking).
I use Windows exclusively because that’s my comfort zone. I’ve been thinking of installing a Linux distro on my unRAID server to get more comfortable using it, because I will never pay a subscription for Windows.
Just curious why the hate for spotify?
what’s the problem with spotify, i never used it, but it isn’t the first time i read about someone complaining about them
Sorry, I just want to make sure I haven’t missed anything - why don’t you want to use Spotify?
Did you start with Jellyfin or go there from Plex? I’ve been thinking about setting it just as a backup in case Plex gets shitty.
What about a VPN?
There’s only one way I’d be OK with “subscribing” to use a LG fridge: I don’t pay anything upfront and I don’t need to pay for any repairs. If I don’t even get to own it, then I shouldn’t be responsible for fixing it when it dies and spoils all my food after a year or two, nor should I need to pay for a new fridge when I give up on it after those repairs inevitably fail again. Same with their TVs when the cheap capacitors die early.
If I subscribe to rent your product, the onus is on you to make it reliable enough that it lasts until the subscription turns a profit.
Since that won’t be their business model, I’m better off buying a half decent brand and then flushing $1000 down the toilet. Fuck LG appliances. (And fuck Samsung appliances while we’re here.)
Very much fuck Samsung. LG actually produces a decent product, even if this subscription bullshit exists. Samsung are just planned obsolescence trashboxes.
LG can go fuck off.
Love how these corporate executives these days can only use tricks to increase their profits rather than building better, more reliable products which gain more customers through hard work.
But more reliable products means existing customers will buy again less frequently.
There are nearly 8 billion people in the world and never in our history has there been as many people with disposable income. There are new customers out there. They don’t have to simply fuck over their existing customers and continually fleece us.
But what about their poor shareholders that want to see maximum profits :(
And don’t forget about executive bonuses too!
I bought a $3k+ LG OLED. I intentionally never agreed to any TOS so that it would act as a dumb TV. I wanted it on the network so that I could control it through Home Assistant and Apple HomeKit so I put it in my IoT VLAN. Within a day it was trying to port scan my network! It is now fully isolated with no outgoing connections allowed.
I have a 2017 era Samsung TV. I use it to connect to a media server that my router runs if I plug in a USB drive. This just worked so I assumed it was an open unauthenticated service.
Then I tried to use VLC running on my phone to connect and found myself presented with a login screen. When I investigated further I found the router’s media server defaulted to using the the router’s admin credentials.
So it looks like the TV had been programmed to try common default router creds before showing a login prompt to the user as a “convenience”.
That’s good UX, the real fuckup is using default admin credentials om your router.
Im safe.
I changed u:admin p:admin to u:root p:service
I wasn’t too concerned previously as my routers are only exposing their services to the local network.
I understand the view that it’s a superior UX but I was taken aback that it was guessing passwords for other devices on the network.
The “smart” LGTV experience is utter trash. I was very pissed off to see adverts on my Home Screen when I put it online. It’s since been taken off and an Apple TV now provides the streaming services.
Samsung isn’t any better. Bloated as hell too and I expect 0 privacy using it.
This thing with subscriptions has become insane. You can easily spend several hundred a month getting roped into all the subscriptions companies are pushing. It’s the latest way to squeeze as much money as possible out of the consumer.
I’ve gone into subscription boycott at this point. I had too many and said screw that. I still have Amazon Prime where I think I get my money’s worth. I shop there a lot and use their streaming so it’s worth it to me. Subscriptions for appliances? No way in hell.
Yep. I built a fully automated piracy machine that I can stream straight to any device with no hassle. Fuck subscriptions.
Can you expand a bit on how you did that? Sounds enticing and I do have a virtual server and a RasPi to play around with.
Sonarr, radarr, qbittorrent and jellyfin are what I use.
Should also look I to ombi, it can tie into your jellyfish server to see what you already have, and you can have it send requests to sonarr if you find something new.
(Also has user management so family / friends can see what you got or submit requests)
Prowlarr
Definitely! Don’t listen to the folks behind me - Jellyfin can only be viewed outside of your network if you build your own website and host it there, and that’s way more trouble than you need to go through. Use Plex instead. You can just download the app and login and view your media from anywhere in the world without having to be a web designer/programmer.
Jellyfin is cool and all, but the functionality is severely lacking compared to Plex. Plex is getting pretty commercial, so I get it, but it just fucking works haha. Jellyfin will hopefully be there someday, but trust me, save yourself that headache. It sucks in it’s current form. It’s mostly just hardcore nerds that use Jellyfin, and if you’re trying to share it with others, it’s very complex. With Plex, I can just have my elderly mother or whoever download the Plex app on their phone, smart TV, game console, or anything else with internet and you can cast it just like Netflix.
I use unRAID as my OS, which is a Docker-based Linux kernel. I use Plex, Prowlarr/Radarr/Sonarr for indexing and organizing my library, sabNZBD and qBittorrent to download the files, and Overseerr as a search engine and request system for movies and TV. Basically I’ve got Overseerr reverse proxied and myself and all of the folks I share my Plex with can access it and request stuff from any web browser.
I’m actually setting plex up within the next couple of days! I had to make some hardware changes first (mostly adding more storage)
Are there any good guides on how do to it the way you did so it can torrent the stuff you don’t have on demand? I assume that once you’ve torrented it, it keeps that torrented media downloaded for later use as well? Or does it automatically delete after a certain amount of inactivity on that file? Did you set it up with a VPN, and if so how did you get that working in Qbittorrent in docker?
Yep, this guide is a little outdated at this point, but still very solid. It does keep the file - Sonarr/Radarr actually have media management and you can clean up your media folder very nicely with them. There’s containers on the unRAID app store for both that already have your VPN integrated - you basically just plug in your VPN info. Highly recommend Private Internet Access for your provider - they’re the easiest one to configure and they’re one of the most secure. I’m at the office right now, but there’s two creators you want to look out for - hotio and linuxserver. Both of those guys make damn solid containers with this in mind.
Thanks! I’ll read up on that tomorrow, though I’ll have to do something slightly different as I used proxmox as my base OS rather than unRaid. But that looks like a good stepping off point!
No problem! I’m not super familiar with ProxMox myself, but if it’s doable, I’m sure someone on the internet has written something up on it!
It’s one of those things that was a shock at how prevalent it is on the Apple app store after so much talk of how much better the apps are compared to Android. There’s not even proper filter options to filter out apps that are subscription only. It was ridiculous how you could buy an app then get pop ups to get the subscription plan. It’s why I wish a foss app store like F-droid becomes available once slide loading becomes possible so I can avoid the appstore as much as possible when I need a basic app. Like a calculator.
Yeah phone apps are horrible, don’t know about iOS since I’ve always used Android, but they’re mostly bad. The apps geared to a company service are usually fine, but the rest are just ad support systems.
I actually don’t use third party phone apps that much, but the times I have it’s like an assault. You get a tenth of the screen for the actual function of the app with the rest of the screen gyrating ads. It’s especially a problem for me because I’m old and can’t see the screen that well. I don’t know how people put up with it. I can’t.
Good thing about at least paid apps on play store is that they usually don’t have subscriptions, and there are tags warning if it Contains Ads before you even install the app.
I don’t think Apple appstore even has ad warnings. Only in-app purchase warning. So using appstore was when I found out talking video ads exist.
Yeah, it’s bad enough that an LG TV makes you agree to have all of your data sent to them, but now they want you to pay for the privilege as well. Screw that!
I mean, i think all smart TVs do that now. Don’t know what I’ll do when my dumb one breaks.
Just don’t connect smart TVs to the internet. Get something cheap like a raspberry pi + wireless mouse/keyboard or an android TV box for the same functionality. (More functionality, actually)
Ugh I wish raspberry pis were still… anywhere… for reasonable prices.
Man I had no clue they went up in price. I have a couple laying around here somewhere.
But you know, if you look on newegg.com, you can just about buy a full cheap motherboard with CPU for the same price and get more ports and probably more speed as long as you can handle the size.
Haha I accidentally bought an extra right before prices skyrocketed, and am just saving that bitch for when the right project comes along. Came close to returning it, but am damn glad I didn’t.
Open your fridge once per day before the door locks with our SmartHome Basic tier. You can enjoy up to five door openings per day with SmartHome Premium, or choose SmartHome Ultimate for unlimited door openings, ability to adjust the temperature AND the light turning on automatically when you open the door! Act now to get a 10% discount for the first three months!
Screw you for putting that nonsense out into the world
Sigh. Our latest TV is an LG precisely because LG did not have ads in its OS whereas its main competitors do. Once they introduce ads, they’ll have completely lost me as a potential repeat customer.
Guess our next TV will just be a large monitor, with no “smart” shenanigans whatsoever.
I’d rather have a dedicated box and a dumb tv, the hardware rarely keeps pace than a box
Good luck. They don’t really make non-smart TVs anymore.
But I just picked up a Sony and never connect it to the internet after updating the firmware. I have an Apple TV box for an interface. I don’t need a non-upgradable streaming stick built into my TV thanks
Exactly, I’ll be using a big monitor with an HTPC. These “smart” TVs are just horrific anymore with their ads and subs and everything else that’s a money grab. I don’t need any of that garbage.
Right now I have an older TV without a smart OS. It’s hooked up to an AV amp and a couple TV boxes. I dread replacing my TV because of the crappy operating systems they all have now. I’ll have to find a big monitor if I can even find something like that for a decent price, don’t know, haven’t looked.
Plug a Raspberry Pi with LibreElec into the HDMI port of any smart tv and never use the OS or connect it to wifi. I can’t fathom why people use the ad-ridden trash these TVs ship with.
I just don’t connect my TV to the internet. Once a year I update the firmware with a USB, it’s perfect.
While I agree that smart TVs are garbage, they’re cheap AF because of the ads and other garbage they include. Look for a dumb TV, if you can even find one nowadays, and it’s double the price. They’re subsidizing the cost of the TV with the ads and tracking.
I also have an older TV from 2008, and if it dies, I’m probably not going to replace it. I don’t use it enough that it’s worth replacing.
If you want a large monitor, those are quite expensive, especially at the sizes of today’s TVs. You can get a cheapish 40" monitor, but above that, you’re looking at a 50% premium for a monitor over a TV.
Why even use the LG OS? I always used a fire tv stick and now nvidia shield (I don’t see ads as far as I know), which is much better supported as an Android OS instead if an LG OS.
All these “sticks” don’t have good support for domestic streaming services in my country. The native TV OS does.
I tried that: they are difficult to impossible to find. I thought I was generous to be willing to pay double, but I couldn’t find a monitor with my tv’s specs for any price
I ended up getting a Vizio and to my surprise I actually use the spyOS over my streaming devices most of the time. It’s actually pretty good —- except for the ads. Even then, it mostly needs an extra click or two to open the app I want, rather than the sponsored app
That is disheartening to hear.
My 6ish year old Sony was purchased with the built in OS as my least important quality, as I knew that someday it’d be unsupportable as far as new apps, but that a third party box would provide a good experience with a single HDMI. I’m actually still using the built in OS but I can tell that it’s getting slower and buggier, so I’m thinking of getting a Roku soon.
where are those ukrainian crackers that made custom flash for john deere tractors, we’re gonna need them
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Let’s send them F-16s so they are back sooner
🫡
Home as a Service
This has triggered a Fight AND Flight response in my brain. I want to smash everything with a mallet then run to the mountains.
I hate “as a Service” so much!Soon we’ll have breathing “as a service”.
Please don’t give them more ideas
Enshittification is not just for social media platforms.
Commenting from an LG phone (last one produced) next to an LG tv. Will never purchase another one of their products in my life, even before this article.
I have a dumb LG TV and idek how I’ll replace it when it’s finished. Do they even sell dumb TV’s anymore?
You have to buy a “smart tv”, never connect it to wifi and plug a proper media device to it.
Are there really only smart tvs nowM
Search for the ones that are meant for retail use. I don’t recall what they’re called, but that class of tvs will get you a decent dumb tv.
Do they even have good image quality?
Digital signage? They’re basically monitors but often have a basic onboard OS like Android for running DS apps, but like you said they’re otherwise a dumb TV without the aerial port.
What I’ve done.
I have a dumb tv now, I plan to replace it with a computer monitor. Sound and video go through my reciever already, which sends the video to my tv. Chromecast and a rpi to do any smart things.
I think those are called “commercial displays” now.
Don’t buy LG?
I don’t plan on it after my current TV goes. This one was given to me when my parents got a new TV.
After seeing this post and the article, I just blocked my LG C1 from WAN at my router. LAN still available for automation purposes, but fuck letting that thing out to the internet now. Funny enough, it turns on faster, and no more notification splash at the bottom. Nice.
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Nah, smart TV with media box. You get the ad adjusted price, you merely don’t hook it up to the Internet.
I’m never buying a “smart” anything, aside from phones. I put up with Android and it already feels like too much.
By all means. But “smart” TVs come at a discount because they believe they’ll have opportunities to make revenue off of those features. However, if you prevent the thing from connecting to the Internet then you get the best of both worlds. Cheaper and ad free.
What is “media box”?
Chromecast, Kodi, Roku, Apple TV, Nvidia shield, fire TV, etc.
Fire TV firmware also just gets worse and worse with each new version. Netflix app also follows suit.
Does it? I’ve never had one. I have a Kodi box and a Chromecast. I’ll be sure to avoid the fire brand, then.
The one saving grace is that it’s cheap and you can install Kodi on it.
I have a Fire Stick and a newer Vizio TV. For a while I could tell Alexa to turn in the TV: the Fire Stick would turn on, then use HDMI-CEC to turn on the TV and select its input. Worked great and I didn’t have to deal with Vizio
Then at some point Alexa started controlling the TV itself instead. Now I have to choose whether to deal with Vizio or to do more clicks to get to my streaming device. I really need to figure out how to get the original configuration back
You don’t get any dumb TVs in my country anymore. I’d assume its the same everywhere else unless you’re going back a minimum 5 years of tech evolution, which might not be all too bad.
Mark my words we are soon going to have to subscribe to our toilets. You get one flush a day for free. Save money by subscribing to the flush-lite which gives you 2 additional flushes. If you choose not to subscribe, you will be charged 2.99 for each flush beyond the first one.
Don’t give them any shitty ideas
LOL! I know right.
I literally have paid a toilet subscription for the past 10 years.
Its the fee on my water bill called waste removal.
Power is a subscription model, you want to have power at your house you pay a quarterly connection fee on top of what you use.
Yeah, in my facetiousness, I forgot that I actually do something remarkably similar in terms of a sewer bill.
If it’s yellow let it mellow. Is it’s brown flush it down. Possibly for $2.99. And unlock your toilet paper dispenser for just $1.99 per every 10 one-ply squares.
Yup. The privatization of everything ends up with every moment of our existence monitored and metered and billed.
There will also be a free tier, where you have to watch adds for a whole toilet visit in order to flush.
For just a low low price of $15.99/month you can use the freezer functionality to keep things really cold! Or, you can use our free ad tier where the freezer only unlocks after you watch a 60 second ad.
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Nice a free simulation of the global warming.
