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If You Thought Ads in Apple Maps Was Bad, Samsung is Putting Ads on $1,900+ Refrigerators

Silentwave said:
it has no purpose other than to improve their profit margins.
Any subsidy on the cost of the fridge will be a temporary PR move. En-crud-ification is inevitable.
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Price transparency will always be best if the companies were to offer it - an option with (or without) ads would be best in this situation so that people can make an informed decision

That being said, refrigerator/appliance sales operate in a very hyper-competitive marketplace whereby any particular option (in this case - advertising) will cease to exist in a relatively short period of time if the demand for that feature is nonexistent

Most businesses operate in very competitive industries, some don’t - the competitiveness of any industry is solely influenced by the ‘barrier to entry’ for new companies looking to get into that particular marketplace

If there is enough ‘excess profits’ in any particular marketplace, it is safe to assume that new entrants will be economically incentivized to enter that particular market relatively quickly thereby fostering increased innovation & lower prices

One exclusion to this economic theory is the ‘barrier to entry’ that is not influenced by market conditions is regulation (think taxis) an example being NYC yellow cabs which had an artificial limit imposed on the total number of cabs - because this ‘limit’ was not determined by the free market, it was well below the equilibrium amount for the number of taxis needed in order to meet demand, this resulting in a supply/demand imbalance in the market, enabling excess profits and poor service

This barrier to entry was eventually overcome with future available technology (being smartphones) resulting in the rise of Uber/Lyft (founded in 2009) only 2 years after the iPhone

It does not take very long for entrepreneurs to discover available opportunities (such as Uber) the 2 barriers to entry here were regulation (on the supply) as well as the technology not being available (in the decades preceding smartphones, when NYC cabs reigned)

In any hyper-competitive marketplace (such as appliances) there will be an industry-wide ‘margin’ just above the wholesale cost to produce the product and any companies operating outside of that range of pricing (wholesale cost + margin) will need to justify that difference to consumers via means of either perceived brand recognition or exclusivity in the feature set offered (that differentiate that particular model from the others)

If they fail to do this, the market (itself) will function as intended and render that product obsolete (via limited demand) eventually removing it from the market or forcing the company to lower the price (to meet consumer demand)

Advertising (via means of technology) has proven to be one way that companies can better compete on price - Uber now makes $1 billion/year in advertising revenue. If companies can derive additional revenue from new sources, they can better compete on pricing. When companies can better compete on pricing, they allow themselves a differentiating factor in the marketplace - allowing their product to stand out and potentially increase their market share & revenue

The longer ANY company takes to make needed changes (in pricing) the longer that industry’s market share (and revenue) will flow to the other companies in that market (think BlackBerry/iPhone)

The less revenue any company receives over that timeframe will have a dramatic compounding effect on the future R&D budget that the company can expend on R&D investment (to allow themselves to better compete) as well as reduced shareholder returns - reduced returns to shareholders will lead to lower future investment (from those shareholders)

Companies can only remain competitive long term with continued and sustained capital. That capital is derived from both companywide profits (as well as future shareholder investment) both of which serve the function of allowing for continued investment in R&D - of which is needed to complete long-term in ANY marketplace
 
Not too sure how a Samsung REFRIGERATOR with possible ads on its screen is relevant to Apple Maps.
Google Maps is relevant to Apple Maps. Waze too (still Google's).
Google did a good job in terms of app usability with "sponsored" listings showing up.
Personally I do not like ads: I used to have a premium Spotify account which kept increasing and increasing in cost so I terminated it and went on the free, ad-supported account. The whole experience is really bad, with interruptions so frequent that it became impossible to use so I dropped it and went back to listen to my CDs.
In case anyone makes a fridge with a screen and push ads on it, they will be making it for other people: I am not a buyer for that kind of product.
 
I don't have a problem with ads in the maps app. However I would never buy a refrigerator that displayed ads let alone one that connects to the internet.
 
Justin Cymbal said:
People will always complain but you don’t have to connect your refrigerator to the internet…

You can always connect it to a separate home network (that is not connected to the Internet)

Some people would rather have the advertising included - to potentially reduce the cost of the fridge itself
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That’s great and all. But the fridge is not at a reduced cost. And people are getting this added after they have purchased without prior knowledge.
 
I remember when technology was directed at enhancing user experience, I buy those products. I actively avoid products which market to me or use me as a product for companies that wish to market to me.

I’m running out of options, however most high end brands still understand. Samsung has never understood why technology which overlaps with privacy may not enhance user experience.

PS: free items are welcome to advertise, paid items are not.
 
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Justin Cymbal said:
People will always complain but you don’t have to connect your refrigerator to the internet…

You can always connect it to a separate home network (that is not connected to the Internet)

Some people would rather have the advertising included - to potentially reduce the cost of the fridge itself
Click to expand...
I find this kinda pointless in the sense that IoT devices need to be online. If you connect it to a network that isn't connected to the internet then that probably doesn't really give much functionality. Smart features likely relay through Samsung's online services. In that case just keep it offline.

If your device needs to go online, a separate network with NextDNS, Pihole, etc. should be used to block analytics, tracking, etc.
 
This 100% guarantees that I will not ever buy a Samsung fridge with a screen or if I have no choice it will have no internet connection.I already keep my TVs off the internet (I use an Apple TV to deliver programming and network content to my TVs) to prevent advertising getting to me so I am not about to allow my fridge to do the same. The idea is totally ludicrous.
 
I feel like if you paid money to have another screen in your life, this one stuck into your refrigerator door, you sort of deserve this.
 
Well, one can easily ignore the refrigerator display, but I would not like more distraction while driving.

Once again, we will need to see how Apple implement it. If it is just for prioritising search results within Maps (you pay more, you get higher up on the search results list), this is not so bad. If things start popping out in our faces while we drive, though, this will not be good at all.
 
I had a Samsung French style double door fridge…the nice one with the tv tablet screen. It was great for a few years and it was absolute garbage after that! Beyond expensive to repair and that’s IF you can find someone willing to work on it. With that said, it did have some small ads already on the included TV channels installed on the Samsung fridge. They were weird channels that played like 10 minute shows, they had a GI Joe channel, a K-Pop channel, and a sci-fi channel from what I remember. The way they did it wasn’t bad…you’d get to watch the whole episode uninterrupted and then it would play an ad for a minute or so, then start the next episode.
 
In the world of shareholder-owned corporates, companies will try everything to gain more revenue, cut costs and grow profits. They have to achieve this every quarter.
A quarter where the growth-rate of the profits relative to 1 year ago has decreased is deemed a bad quarter….

To me, adding adds to Apple Maps or items like a refrigerator is scratching the bottom of the barrel to try to adhere to continuous profit-growth. Sad really.
 
narenh said:
Just remember that the only reason this is happening is because bad executives are in charge of these companies, and there are absolutely no systemic incentives for them to behave this way. All we need to do is replace the bad executives with good executives and all the ads will go away and everything will go back to the way it was!
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It’s nothing to do with bad executives just like any company it’s about finding ways to make more money
 
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JonneyGee said:
I don’t care about having a screen, but a smart fridge has a lot of nice perks.

  • Notification for unexpected temperature changes (i.e. something broke)
  • Notification for a door left open
  • Turn the ice maker on/off from your phone
  • Notification when it’s time to change the filter
  • Control and check the temp from your phone
It’s useful for things like that.
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Why would anyone need a smart fridge when it’s just to store food in it
Why do you need a fridge to tell you things you should know already
This is silly
 
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In the uk they would struggle with this due to the trades description act, unless advertised at the point of sale.

There is a point where connected devices get silly. Who needs a smart toothbrush/fridge/washing machine etc
 
Ads should just be made illegal anywhere. They are a kind of brain wash that is very dangerous. Every brand can have a website and social media channels where it can show its products. A good product should be able to be successful without ads. Ads are just there because companies want to sell products that are NOT good.
 
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I go on a lot of late evening walks in my neighborhood to decompress. 9 times out of 10 the night before trash day, the appliances at the curb are Samsung. Just in the past two weeks Samsung Fridge and then the other day Samsung dishwasher. Earlier this summer my brother-in-law had to replace his Samsung fridge and Samsung Stove within a week of each other. They bought them both about five years ago when they remodeled their kitchen. Then you got ads? Just don’t, avoid them like the plague. Unfortunately so many people see them and think “Oh, they make decent phones.” Not realizing it’s an entirely different business unit.

We had a circa 1999 Whirlpool washing machine that we bought refurbished in 2012 for about $200 and it died this year. Tried to repair but it had so many issues going on down there as well as rust. Ton of research and the internet was fairly unanimous to avoid Samsung. Ended up with another Whirlpool. Not the top option but well rated and a good price. Specifically went with the model with no WiFi or smart screens. Just buttons and dials, baby. My only concerns are that it seems to like scan my laundry and determine the height of the water or something, and the lid locks. Idk why so many of them have locking lids? I figure by the time it breaks my house will be paid off and I can buy a high-end Speed Queen that will probably outlive me and my future grandkids can use in their first apartment.
 
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