this post was submitted on 17 Mar 2025
206 points (99.5% liked)

Technology

2207 readers
633 users here now

Which posts fit here?

Anything that is at least tangentially connected to the technology, social media platforms, informational technologies and tech policy.


Rules

1. English onlyTitle and associated content has to be in English.
2. Use original linkPost URL should be the original link to the article (even if paywalled) and archived copies left in the body. It allows avoiding duplicate posts when cross-posting.
3. Respectful communicationAll communication has to be respectful of differing opinions, viewpoints, and experiences.
4. InclusivityEveryone is welcome here regardless of age, body size, visible or invisible disability, ethnicity, sex characteristics, gender identity and expression, education, socio-economic status, nationality, personal appearance, race, caste, color, religion, or sexual identity and orientation.
5. Ad hominem attacksAny kind of personal attacks are expressly forbidden. If you can't argue your position without attacking a person's character, you already lost the argument.
6. Off-topic tangentsStay on topic. Keep it relevant.
7. Instance rules may applyIf something is not covered by community rules, but are against lemmy.zip instance rules, they will be enforced.


Companion communities

[email protected]
[email protected]


Icon attribution | Banner attribution


If someone is interested in moderating this community, message @[email protected].

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

Users are unimpressed, eager to toss devices if test sticks.

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 hours ago

Go look at the down votes on all your posts and just how universally unpopular your take is - That's called being wrong. That's fine, you can be wrong sometimes, that's okay. It doesn't define you, but stop digging in the wrong direction.

I can pay for music, I often don't on principal. I work to find other ways to contribute to artists as directly as I can (patreon, merch, shows, etc). I'm not alone in that. You had some weird guilt socialized into you that tells you your value is in what you spend and own. Protest at any level is valid. Copyright law is bullshit, DMCA takedowns are bullshit, DRM and digital streaming music that you never actually legally own is all bullshit. Anything you can do to make that broken system nervous or hurt is a great and valuable thing to broader society.

You are unequivocally wrong here, you're the last person to realize that, but you still can realize it here and now today and go forward from here. How about it, take the olive branch, bud?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

They're not "smart" TVs. They're TVs with shitty android spyware boxes attached.

Stop using that garbage. Don't connect it to a network, just use it as a display.

If you need to watch YouTube on your TV go and grab an OSMC (Kodi-based OS for media boxes) media box. You can get a pre-built one for around $100, or install it yourself on a raspberry pi.

These manufacturers depend on you being lazy and accepting their spyware. You will save yourself so much more headache in the long run if you control your own hardware and software.

Trying to navigate through the world without some minimal knowledge of computers means you're going to get taken by every scam like what Roku is pulling.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

It's not just the tvs, they're doing it on their streaming sticks too.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 hours ago

Yeah, every product that they sell will do it.

Using something like OSMC (or buying a Vero is you don't want to mess around with the setup) will let you control what runs on your player.

Until you do that, you're paying some random company while also giving root access on a device in your house and letting them waste your time with ads.

All you get out of the deal is avoiding having to learn how to use a new piece of software. A Pyrrhic victory due to the fact that you have to learn to use Roku.

I'd rather spend a few hours learning how to setup Kodi. It's free software, you don't pay for it and it's Free software, you control it with no strings attached.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 19 hours ago (18 children)

This is one of the many reasons why you should be your own streaming service. 🏴‍☠️

load more comments (18 replies)
[–] [email protected] 26 points 19 hours ago

We had one on our TV the other day. This will absolutely be our last Roku.

In the meantime I immediately installed PiHole, to block all their ads.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 20 hours ago (4 children)

I will absolutely be getting rid of mine if I experience this.

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 12 hours ago (2 children)

Ive never looked into it but how viable is a raspberry pi zero for this? I mean, is the hardware powerful enough and is there software available for easy TV use? Potentially paired with an android bluetooth remote.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

I don't have personal experience trying to do that specifically but the zero is a really underpowered device that's sluggish even updating itself. I've tried streaming games through a pi 4 which is way more powerful and even it struggled with the video being choppy, though it is more intensive than just streaming video by itself.

You'd probably have good luck with a pi 4 or 5, though, and they aren't very big either.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 hour ago

You are right. Ive looked into it and it lacks memory for what I'd want out of it. Pi4/5 would certainly work though it would no longer be the "stick" form factor.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 12 hours ago

Tried this with streaming from the cable box, and it did not work really well. Upgraded to a Pi 4, which now runs a full Kodi MediaCenter and is connected via Gigabit Ethernet to the cablebox. I use a Logitech harmony with an IR USB dongle, which was a bit clunky to get to work because it's old, there's probably much easier Bluetooth solutions available, or you can just use your phone as remote. All in all I fiddled around an afternoon to get the whole thing to work, there's tons of how tos on the web.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

Basically punishment for people who either don't get their own streaming box/avoid tvs with roku built in.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 19 hours ago (7 children)

What? This is reported to be happening on both sticks and tv versions of the rolu app.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 19 hours ago (7 children)

It's capitalism... When every CEO, Board Member, and shareholder wants a yacht, it's literally never enough. They even created a term to describe this inevitable deterioration of every company's product: enshittification.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

It's not that they all want yachts, they make enough to each buy multiple yachts. It's just that nothing is ever enough. They don't know what success is, so they chase the undefined feeling until they die unfulfilled. Fucking living dead and a cancer on collective humanity

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 hours ago

They want nesting yachts.

And once they have a nesting yacht, they want an even bigger yacht to nest that one in.

It's yachts all the way up.

load more comments (6 replies)
load more comments (6 replies)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 hours ago

Oh god, and I was considering getting a Roku stick for my old dumb TV, glad I went for a Xiaomi box instead 🫣

[–] [email protected] 9 points 19 hours ago (6 children)

Roku is the worst thing to happen to TVs since motion smoothing.

load more comments (6 replies)
[–] [email protected] 10 points 20 hours ago (4 children)

I never plugged mine into the Internet. I just plugged in an Apple TV, and I’m good to go. No ads, no sweat, no problem.

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] [email protected] 8 points 19 hours ago (3 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 hours ago

Never, apparently. Dunno why Nvidia is dragging their feet on this one

[–] [email protected] 4 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

Apparently Valve might be releasing a shield-like thing. If they do it's an instant buy for me.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 13 hours ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 hours ago

Steam Link 2 that also does 4K video would be awesome.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments
view more: next ›