As I have finally decided to ditch my Blackberry in favour of an Android phone, I was considering a Note 4 (our IT security won't allow a more recent model), but am now leaning towards a Nexus, in part because of this debacle.
Your life is merely a data mine. You are a microdot on a node on the grid. Every second of every day you are browsed, profiled, targeted and tracked by a whole host of devices and services, all to improve your life and bring you a better "experience." The internet and your mobile phone have made you a slave to the hive. The algorythms are spreading like a pandemic, the invasion is nearly complete. Resistance is futile.
Who the fuck wants to use voice activated stuff unless, through disability, it is absolutely necessary? It seems crazy. It certainly doesn't appeal to me at all.
The smart interface on my new Samsung is really simple to navigate and a joy to use. I get around the privacy thing by simply not logging in to any of the apps and not using voice activation.
Your voice commands have to be digitized, go to remote servers and their actions sent back again by their very design; it's not the TV spying on you and sending your conversations to Samsung.
There is a question what the provider does with this data, but it may well be using it to improve the service.
Jimski wrote: Who the fuck wants to use voice activated stuff unless, through disability, it is absolutely necessary? It seems crazy. It certainly doesn't appeal to me at all.
It's very useful in certain contexts. If you're alone in an office, for example, or in the car.
Also, if I'm cooking, it's a lot easier to shout "OK Google, set timer forty minutes" at my Android phone, as opposed to faffing about going through the menus.
Your voice commands have to be digitized, go to remote servers and their actions sent back again by their very design; it's not the TV spying on you and sending your conversations to Samsung.
There is a question what the provider does with this data, but it may well be using it to improve the service.
As always with these things, it's the communication that's the main problem. The privacy notice from Samsung seemed to be calculated to cause maximum outrage (especially the unspecified "third party" part). Companies that are gathering and using data like this just need to be upfront about exactly what they're doing with it (and indeed for certain types of data they have a legal obligation to do so). Obviously they want to cover their bases by phrasing it as broadly as possible, but that's exactly what gets people worked up.
Also, it really shouldn't have caught them by surprise. There was a similar kerfuffle over LG's voice recognition last year.
I'm not worried - I have a Scottish accent, and when you have one of those trying to get any voice recognition software to interpret what you're saying is a catastrophe wrapped in a clusterfuck.
blameless wrote: I'm not worried - I have a Scottish accent, and when you have one of those trying to get any voice recognition software to interpret what you're saying is a catastrophe wrapped in a clusterfuck.
That's true actually.
Three of us were once playing with Siri on an iPhone — me (Lancashire), my then-girlfriend (Glasgow) and her male friend (Denmark).
Siri had no problem at all until it had to cope with Glaswegian.
Toby Gymshorts wrote: The smart interface on my new Samsung is really simple to navigate and a joy to use. I get around the privacy thing by simply not logging in to any of the apps and not using voice activation.
Simple when you think about it.
Lucky man.
Does that ease of use extend to the web browser? Mine is beyond belief in terms of clunkiness.
The smart interface on my new Samsung is really simple to navigate and a joy to use. I get around the privacy thing by simply not logging in to any of the apps and not using voice activation.
Simple when you think about it.
Lucky man.
Does that ease of use extend to the web browser? Mine is beyond belief in terms of clunkiness.
I'll be honest, I haven't tried it. Web browsing on TV is done with my tablet, via Screen Mirroring. It's much easier.
Comment