Does Your Smart TV Have an Ulterior Motive?

“I suggested a rather unbelievable possibility. Since then, I’ve come to believe that possibility – however unbelievable – is now more a probability.” – Elijah Price, “Unbreakable,” Touchstone Pictures, 2000

Buying Vizio early this year for $2.3B has got to be one of the smartest investments the company has made in the history of investments.

Oh sure, they’ll still sell you a Samsung, LG, Sony, Panasonic or any other breed and they’ll even sell you a separate streaming box if you want. 

But they are going to make a very compelling (low, low price) to buy a smart Vizio set.

Smart Buy – Walmart recently made a smart acquisition this year by buying Vizio, a leading smart TV manufacturer. The set provides direct access into consumers home to sell ads and … other stuff.  Check the price and we’re pretty sure that the company that racked up more than $420B last year will make it hard to resist.

The Vizio buy is what’s referred to in the business as a long-term strategic acquisition.

If they lose a little money on your purchase, no problem because they’ll make it all up and more on the backend.

Actually, all of the smart 4K, 8K OLED/QLED set manufacturers could shave their prices for the same reason.

The set(s) are appealingly smart because they let you instantly connect to the internet.  Just plug in the HDMI-2 cable (usually) to your wired or wireless connection and BAM! you’re ready to stream all the content you subscribe to.

Okay, it’s not quite that dumbed down, but it’s pretty easy.

And …

Yes, there’s always an “and” and a “but”. 

For Walmart, they have a direct pipe into your home set so they “could” feed you ads on stuff they want you to buy.

Or more likely, they are now able to sell ads to suppliers/companies who want to reach you while you’re being entertained (assuming you’re watching content on an AVOD or FAST channel).

Yeah, even easier than that.

It’s pretty much the same if you buy an Amazon Fire TV, a Samsung, an LG or any other smart TV.

There’s nothing really wrong with that because like every company, they’re in the business of selling folks stuff.

Check the definition of business in the dictionary.

Smart TVs have a lot of advantages–just ask the salesperson.

Plug it in along with the appropriate internet connection and you can quickly use it with the apps someone paid them to install … some good, some suck.

Instantly you’ll have access to Netflix, YouTube, most of the major streaming services and “others.” Don’t worry if your entertainment stuff isn’t there, you can go online and download the app – video entertainment, gaming, music, etc.

Nearly all of the smart sets include ACR (automatic content recognition) to track what you’re watching and other personal/family information so they can show you relevant ads.

No, that isn’t what they tell you when you buy one because it’s all about making it quick and easy for you to watch what you want, when you want to watch it.

Selection Help – Streaming services monitor subscriber activity in order to develop/acquire content that will be of interest to subscribers. Their research engines also offer show/movie suggestions based on subscriber viewing habits to eliminate … frustration. 

All of those smarts are there just to keep track of your streaming services and your viewing habits so they can almost instantly offer up all of the services also provide … shows/movies based on your entertainment habits.

According to Strategy Analytics, Hub Research and virtually every other market research firm, folks buy a smart TV rather than one of those old-fashioned dumb sets because the dumb sets are just like your computer monitor … they don’t do a thing until you add a box.

Growing Popularity – Smart TVs offer owners simplified connections and entertainment recommendations so their popularity soars.  Of course, they also provide added … benefits. 

They’re “great” and smart … honest.

They provide instant access to wi-fi or ethernet internet connectivity without extra cables/devices. They provide access to all of the popular streaming services and can be used to browse the web.

They’re loaded with multimedia/gaming capabilities and can be personalized to your taste, complete with smart assistants and/or voice control.

Because of their built-in functionality and efficiency, 88 percent of the sets purchased this year were smart TVs.

And if you’re hellbent on having a smart home, it will connect with your other smart devices/systems so your refrigerator can tell you when the milk is sour/eggs are bad. It can also change your thermostat instead of making you get off the couch to adjust it by hand or turn off the bathroom light you forgot to take care of between commercials. 

Boy, you’re so 21^st century!

Okay, so there are a few downsides.

Watching You – While consumers buy smart TVs for great home viewing entertainment, they often overlook the fact that the retailer and manufacturer can also monitor your viewing activity and even check in with your smart home devices. 

The smart TV manufacturer/retailer keep track of your home entertainment habits so they can drop in ads of products/services you’ll probably be interested in because as we mentioned, they sorta kinda monitor…everything.

To do all that smart stuff they have to have limited computing power and an operating system – Samsung – Tizen OS, Vizio – SmartCast, LG -WebOS and others.

Smart Options – While there are a lot of great smart TV options, there are even more smart TV OS options and they all have their pros/cons.

Don’t confuse these with your MacOS or Windows OS which you use every day to do computerish type of stuff. You know, create, file/store, backup, and use a wide variety of products to protect you and your data.

But the same isn’t true of the EU Security Council, the US FBI and most security organizations around the globe that have issued warnings about the risks of smart TVs.

Now in fairness, all streaming services keep track of what you watch, when you watch it and how long so they can create, add and recommend films/shows you might be interested in watching to keep you connected with them.

Yes, ad-supported and FAST services also use the info to show you a few (usually less than four minutes an hour) ads you could be/hopefully are interested in.

But are you also interested in sharing that information with the folks who want to sell you more hardware for the home or your local retailer?

They’re also “a little slow” about issuing updates, and software patches so your set becomes vulnerable!

Bet you liked the idea of having an integrated camera and microphone in your set, didn’t you?  They’re great for family video chats, telling your TV what show, movie you want to watch or game you want to play.

And as long as you don’t think about it much, you don’t have to worry about the manufacturer or some hacker checking in.

Separate Device – Discerning home viewers may prefer a device (box) that is separate from their Smart TV with a more robust OS, more apps and yes, better security.

Fortunately, there’s an option to all the smarts because the screen view and price are still fantastic.

The Amazon Fire TV stick lets you use Alexa to pick the show/movie you want; and for Apple aficionados, there’s Apple TV to use with your iPhone, iPad or Siri.

That way, when you fall in love with a newer, brighter, bigger screen next year (you know, you will), you won’t have to learn a whole new and improved manufacturer access device or gawd forbid … do without.

Upgrading Entertainment – Moving from one smart TV to another doesn’t mean you’ll end up returning to the old channel selection activity but you will probably lose all of your preferences and your capabilities will change.

Not to worry, just keep your streaming device along with all of its settings and preferences you’ve developed on your “old” great screen and move over to your new fantastic screen.

None of your data or personalization is lost.

Just plug your streaming device into the HDMI port, bypass all of their smart access to your home and enjoy.

Good Business – Smart TVs provide retailers and home appliance manufacturers with direct access to viewing information about you, your family and more.

It will recognize your voice, your smartphone, iPad, whatever and it won’t tell Walmart or the home appliance manufacturer anything about what you have in your home. 

Of course, if they decide to give you the big, beautiful set in return for the “privilege” of delivering you personalized ads and checking in with your appliances, you may want to reconsider.

Fine with us.

We’re pretty sure you’ll never regret the decision and agree with Elijah Price in Unbreakable when he said, “I’m going to be very, very sad if this doesn’t work out the way I think.”

Of course, if your refrigerator or stove or toaster is getting a littler dodgy, they’ll have a good recommendation for you even before you know it.

Friends are helpful like that.

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