One that is really insane to me is Ads when driving on the highway. I can’t recall seeing that in Europe, but now in Canada when I take the highway there’s Ads everywhere. Some of them rotate.

Ironically they also have a sign that changes, one of the updates is “don’t drive distracted”… and like, I wasn’t distracted until the sign flashed at me lol.

Legal ads in product catalogues only. Product catalogues are actually useful and nobody is subjected to them unless they chose to seek one out and pick it up willingly.

I agree, ads are inserted everywhere, also hidden, and has surpassed the physiological threshold and brain barriers (e.g. attention).

A simpler solution is to allow the device owner to turn off ads. Ads on purchased devices should be opt-in, not default and not mandatory.

There are billions of dollars motivated against this outcome

I thought you were being sarcastic at the start.

Vermont bans billboards on high ways. It's so nice.

The current admin will get right on that …

> If someone wants to install an advert app on their fridge (I assume in exchange for money) then fair enough.

No, it should be illegal even when done willingly. Because this worsens the bargaining position of everyone else.

From another posts recently, just the fact some of the greatest minds in our planet are mostly working in advertising and trying to squeeze the most out of consumers just tell us everything. Our society is so rotten. This time of the year it gets even worst.

Hmm, maybe there's a simple legislative fix for this problem. Basically vendors that want to make you "rent" devices would have to allow termination for convenience at any time by customer including repayment of any fees paid by the customer for the device.

Termination for convenience is a standard term in contracts, hence well-understood by corporate lawyers. The repayment could be reduced using a depreciation schedule so the longer the device is in your hands the less that's returned.

I think this would work. The legal machinery is already there. The market would work out the details.

Already done! You agreed to it in the Terms and Conditions - you did read them, right?

But yeah I agree with you, there needs to be a way for people to get away from ads without relying on the existence of some benevolent alternate company

Outlawing this specific scenario sounds pretty hard. I can see only two reasonable options:

* Ban all advertisements. (I'm all for it, at this point.)

* Make sure smart-devices make extremely clear that they can be used to show ads, and include trivial instructions to disable ads

Forcing ads onto stuff we pay money for is not okay. Ads to fund free content is probably unavoidable, but even then, it needs to be clear up front what you're subjecting yourself to. Unexpected ads on devices you don't expect them from, can be confusing and disorienting for many people. For people with schizophrenia, it can clearly be dangerous.

And I think this is not just true for smart fridges, but also for those billboards at bus stops that seem stationary at first until they suddenly start to move or talk to you. Ban those please. Or make it clear upfront that they're video. Don't spring this on unsuspecting people.

I'm going to keep this sort of on topic and this will not be a popular opinion.

No, this does not need legislation. If you don't wants ads on your refrigerator, how about not buying a refrigerator with a screen built in, it's not necessary.

It's a bit trite, but also true -- a significant portion of reddit is totally made up. It's worse than it was a few years ago, but I have no way whatsoever to measure it. Occasionally I bump into youtube videos which are just narrations of reddit posts which tell some interesting or controversial story. They all really sound fabricated. There's no way for me to know with certainty, but I think extreme skepticism is the safer assumption for any large reddit.

Just because someone suggested a possible scenario could happen and it then did happen isn't all that suspicious to me.

It’s not genuine. The fridge doesn’t show full-screen ads, the original Reddit post and image of the ‘Carol’ ad is staged. At best, this is a parable about the slippery slope our ad-ridden society is sliding down.

https://9to5google.com/samsung-smart-fridge-ads-how-to-turn-...

Update 11/14: Samsung has commented on the image posted to Reddit, noting that the ad format shown on the smart fridge display is not one that would appear over the cover screen. Any ad shown would be limited to the cover screen widget, which displays news, weather, and calendar events. Those slides rotate every 10 seconds or so, and an ad is looped in around every 40 seconds.

It appears that the ad shown in the Reddit photo is of the fridge’s Samsung Internet app. Through that, an ad seems to have shown up organically through a third-party website.

Samsung notes that full-screen ads do not appear as part of these recent software updates, and users shouldn’t expect to see ads that take up the entire display.

‘Shown up organically’ seems like a very generous interpretation to me - it seems far more likely that someone viewed it deliberately for the purposes of staging the photo.

> "is this genuine?"

It's an unsourced paragraph of text posted anonymously to Reddit by a 4-day-old throwaway account.

And yet, here we are.

Remember these incidents, when you see them. This is HN/social media's default degree of critical thinking applied to exciting stories that validate readers' prior beliefs. (To think, HN thinks you need $100 billion supercomputers generating frame-perfect artificial videos to effectively deceive everyone. Nope; free Reddit account, and 5 minutes with a PC keyboard).

Seeing how it actually looks like: https://i.redd.it/bhlz9ioh121g1.jpeg

I find it plausible at least.

You really think someone would do that? Just go on the internet and tell lies?

I've seen a photo floating around on Twitter at least: https://x.com/KlonnyPin_Gosch/status/1997179871467094177

No idea if it's not photoshopped though.

Been there and absolutely can see this happening, it is sometimes a prodromal symptom called a 'sign of reference' [1].

I recall during my first psychosis episode thinking a TNT logistics van contained a bomb and was being used as a terrorist vehicle to blow up a building (or maybe at the time I think it could have been targeting myself directly).

Also, in that same episode, the train stations in Sydney were being plastered on every possible space and surface with high contrast white on blue posters that said "HEY TOSSER!" [2]; it was an anti littering ad campaign bringing some levity to the situation. My mind was overwhelmed by both its alerting nature and the fact that everywhere I would turn I'd see a poster, and in my infirmity it felt like someone was pointing a finger an inch from my forehead arresting me to say I should stop being a tosser in the derogatory (Australian slang) sense (though my mind was contending with the many multiple meanings).

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideas_and_delusions_of_referen...

[2]: https://imgur.com/a/wyVDNN4

On one hand you're correct, but on the other hand Carol is a very common name and this is a very reasonable reaction. I'm split, and I think this is plausible enough to take seriously.

this seems reasonable to me, i don't have schizophrenia but i'm pretty sure i'd start stabbing a fridge if I ever saw it give me an advertisement

Rage bait marketing as some call it:

https://x.com/tbpn/status/1996352945710117030 / https://archive.fo/lTFWl

https://x.com/loganforsyth_/status/1995966653461623049

You are way off: it's just about money. For a long time, making appliances was an ok business, making good stuff, selling them, factories running, employment, margins ok, ... and there was progress/innovation to do.

Now that there is not much to update or innovate with, and companies have already squeezed workers in Bengladesh to the max, the only current innovation and additional money source are "connected" and "ads".

I borrowed from the library last month. It was thought provoking and I think it's aimed at younger people than myself.

"Didn't you have ads in the 20th century?"

"Well, sure, but not in our dreams. Only on TV and radio. And in magazines and movies and at ball games, on buses and milk cartons and T-shirts and bananas and written on the sky. But not in dreams. No, sir-ee!"

Another example: r/AskHistorians is so heavily moderated almost every comment gets deleted.

Their standards of quality are very high. It's not a sub to push your views or argue, it's a sub for historians or people who can back an answer with academic references. So most comments and answers will get modded.

It's oddly refreshing. No flamewars, no junk comments, no "everybody knows the reason X did Y is Z" because that won't be accepted by the mods.

It's not perfect, but it's good enough.

It's a legal advice subreddit; they tend to have stricter moderation because their primary goal is to get the OP an answer to their question or advice on how to consult a legal professional about their issue. Posts like the one linked here tend to be a magnet for people more interested in the drama than the actual legal principles, so they end up being a wasteland of removed comments.

[deleted]

Absolutely- I can't understand why it still has such a loyal base considering how low the quality is- I see more insightful discussion on facebook half the time

Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they are not after you.

He was right that people would make up fake scenarios on a social media platform for karma points about a device that nobody needs to buy?

Sometimes you don’t need a Stallman to be right.

Stallman didn’t even conceive of this threat. Would it be any better if it was an open source dystopian mind-control machine?

Society, in a sense, is highly dependent on trustworthy interactions. Credit, ownership transfers, banking, etc. all depend on trust. If we go back to only being able to trust in-person interactions, we'll be stepping back to a financial system from over 100 years ago.

Because of this, I believe that solutions will be developed. Nothing is 100% fool-proof, but the government depends on a solution being found.

Because their old fridge died and they need a new one now, and this is all that's in stock.

Because they didn't buy the fridge, their landlord did.

Because the fridge is installed at a workplace, or community centre, or other location at which the individual has no effective choice.

Because there are no new fridges with other desired features which don't have screens.

Because, at some future date, absent legislation or crushing litigation, no non-screen, ad-free fridges exist.

Substitute for "fridge" and "ads" any of number of other consumer / general appliances: stoves, washing machines, dishwashers, phones, televisions, thermostats, doorbells, petrol pumps, etc., or features: cameras, microphones, speakers, iris scanners, thumbprint readers, facial recognition, etc., etc.

I recently tried this for a new TV - buying a regular “non-smart” TV without the internet features without being “AI-enabled” (whatever the fuck that means).

It wasn’t possible - there was literally no TV available that didn’t have a small computer built in to connect to the internet and send all my usage data somewhere.

I probably have to find a second hand one somewhere or just continue to live without one.

Not saying that it’s the same with fridges - but who knows a few years down the line it might be…

While you still can..

I searched for this comment for a long time, it should be the first one.

It does not need neither screens nor chips, one knob mounted to thermo relay is self-descriptive.

> “I’ll sue you,” the door said as the first screw fell out. Joe Chip said, “I’ve never been sued by a door. But I guess I can live through it.”

From Ubik

Better tip the smart door, never know what’ll happen if there’s a fire someday.

Speaking of, better tip the toaster.

They probably do not care if they're not legally liable.

if you read the entire reddit thread, OPs sisters name actually was Carol. That's why it wigged her out so much and triggered her schizophrenia to kick in I suppose.

There's an old joke that a tech enthusiast will have "smart" everything in their house, while someone who works in tech keeps a shotgun in case their 10 year old laser printer makes a funny noise...

The real fun one - most rental places, the landlord buys/provides the fridge.

the end of HN when every comment is parroting the same thing

>implying HN was ever good

whoa, that's a really neat and cool fact. I never knew this.

for the curious, https://www.healthcentral.com/condition/schizophrenia/blindn...

What is the probability of being born blind?

What is the probability of having schizophrenia?

What is the probability of both?

What is the probability of both + having resources to have it diagnosed?

Wonder why (I don't wonder why)

I remember when borderline/schizoid fren saw some stuff made by one of the first generative models released to the public, Deep Dream.

I hadda smack that laptop shut, my fren froze catatonic from looking at those dog-shaped landscapes

Given the situation occurred in the UK, I doubt it.

It also falls apart over when more and more products become "smart" to the point where you can't really even buy one without things like this, like TVs now or cars for that matter. I'm dreading the day where I end up forced to watch an ad before starting my car.

I do think some kind of ethics training/education/licensing/organization is long overdue for software devs.

It's the smug superiority too many "tech smart" people have.

"Why would you buy HP? Everyone knows that it stands for Horrible Product."

"Serves you right for getting a TV with built in Netflix, everyone knows that it's a backdoor to botnet!"

I don't think it's apologetics for dogpoop corporate behavior, directly. But it has that effect because those of us with knowledge enjoy being smart asses or belittling those whose ignorance rewards trends we disagree with.

People should be able to go into a store and buy a thing without researching how evil it has become in the decade or two since the last time they did. Or move into a house pre-furnished. That is a failure of legislatures, not of average Joe.

Real consequences from higher up... for ads on a fridge? Corporate execs only care about money. Engineers aren't going to get themselves fired every time someone asks for a feature they don't agree with. Government? We don't need more nanny laws.

What we need is for people to think for themselves. The powers that be aren't going to save you from all the bad things. Call out the bad things to educate people, and vote with your wallet.

> You'd get people barrelling down the highway with broken suspension, bald tyres or worse.

You have this in most of the US, and people rail against any attempt to bring it in because they're frightened that garages will not give them their cars back if they think it's got something wrong with it.

I've seen people driving cars in the US that you wouldn't even be able to get a scrapyard to take in the UK, they'd tell you to just sweep it into a bag and put it in the recycling.