from the dumb-tv-plus-external-box-FTW dept.
Submitted via IRC for Bytram
Netflix to disappear on older Samsung TVs
Samsung has announced that Netflix will no longer be supported on some of its older smart TVs.
From 1 December, the Netflix app will no longer work on some 2010 and 2011 models due to "technical limitations".
Seven older Roku streaming sticks will also no longer support Netflix from December, Roku told Digital Trends.
Netflix can be watched on smart TVs, set-top boxes, streaming media players and video consoles. Users can check if their devices are compatible here.
Samsung wrote on its support page: "Due to technical limitations, Netflix will no longer be supported on 2010 and 2011 TVs beginning on 1 December 2019.
"If you have one of the affected models, you may see a message on your TV indicating that Netflix will no longer be available on this device. You'll still be able to watch Netflix on your TV by connecting another device with Netflix on it."
(Score: 5, Funny) by MostCynical on Friday November 08 2019, @10:14AM (1 child)
"the older televisions don't tell us who is watching or take good enough video for us to track viewers"
anyone know if the newer ones stop working with a cover over the camera?
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 4, Funny) by DeathMonkey on Friday November 08 2019, @07:50PM
This is all fine.
There are no Samsungs from 2010 or 2011 that still actually work.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 08 2019, @10:32AM (7 children)
I just watched Netflix yesterday on my ordinary old dumb TV from 2005.
I don't think it's because of some viewer tracking conspiracy, but it's more likely just an example of why devices with too much integration and no user control of the software aren't a good idea. Phones quit getting updates after two years, so Samsung is actually doing better with their TVs. But I have a twenty year old PC that can run the latest version of Linux, and a ten year old PC that can run Windows 10. The difference is that Microsoft and Linus want me to use their software, whereas Samsung wants you to buy a new TV.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Only_Mortal on Friday November 08 2019, @10:48AM (1 child)
Well yes of course. Samsung are a hardware company not a software company.
(Score: 4, Informative) by FatPhil on Friday November 08 2019, @11:54AM
And a construction company, and a financial company, and a shipbuilding company.
Just not a software company.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 08 2019, @11:57AM (1 child)
Apple phones get updates for longer than that.
Android phones are closer to abandonware.
(Score: 2) by choose another one on Friday November 08 2019, @04:08PM
Yeah and generally (there have been exceptions) the Apple phones carry on working fine for years too - I have four year old 5S bought for one of the kids (all he wanted, the only phone he would ever want, he'd want no more presents for several years, he'd never need a gaming computer, and so on). It's still being updated and still works absolutely fine and survived two years of abuse from the kid absolutely fine.
After two years Apple wasn't cool enough anymore, so the kid moved to a Chinese Android with bigger screen better spec and more uptodate. Not sure if it's still getting updates, but it does appear to still work (less than half the age of the apple though), and the kid puts up with using it through spider-web of cracks on the screen which seems to be a teenage badge of honour thing.
So yeah, on the face of it, buy Apple. Except the Chinese Android was 1/3 (or less) the price of the Apple, so you can get a new one every year or so and still have change from the iPhone.
(Score: 0, Troll) by Ethanol-fueled on Friday November 08 2019, @05:03PM (2 children)
Vista ran slow as dog-shit, and I'm still convinced that its requirements were a ploy to get people to buy new hardware to handle it. It's forced obsolescence, not natural obsolescence. Google's app store tells me that Lyft won't work on my own phone, but I can sideload and older version of Lyft and have it work just fine. That will work until Lyft find a way to block older versions of the app, but that will discriminate against the "poor minorities with older phones" so we'll be okay for awhile since Lyft headquarters is in San Francisco amid increasing public awareness of Jewish tricks.
However, the type of people willing to buy a new TV for Netflix are the same type of people stupid enough to actually enjoy what's on Netflix: Baraq Hussein Soetoro's pet project for globohomo race-mixing propaganda advocating for the extinction of the White man.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday November 08 2019, @07:14PM
Yeah, but that was back then. Modern windows is able to do that, but on more powerful hardware. So it's clearly better.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 08 2019, @11:22PM
Stupid is what stupid says.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Zinho on Friday November 08 2019, @02:07PM (8 children)
I had that happen to a Samsung DVD player of mine a while back. The Netflix icon was still present on the menu of installed apps, but no longer functioned.
At the end of a two hour phone call to their support service, I finally talked to a manager who confirmed that: 1) the latest Samsung firmware update did break Netflix, 2) it would not be restored on this model in future updates, 3) I could not roll back to a past firmware revision, 4) I had no recourse from Samsung since the device was no longer under warranty, and 5) I should go buy a Roku or something to get my Netflix back. I instead replaced it with another DVD player from a competitor.
For me, this was the same level of rudeness to a customer as Sony pulling the option to run Other OS [wikipedia.org] on the Playstation 3. It looks like I was right to add Samsung to my electronics manufacturer blacklist, since they appear to be making of habit of removing features as an EOL strategy for their devices.
Advice for Samsung customers: turn off automatic updates to firmware, and refuse to install updates when they become available. Unless you know the update fixes something that is broken FOR YOU, you're better off not installing Samsung's new firmware revisions.
"Space Exploration is not endless circles in low earth orbit." -Buzz Aldrin
(Score: 3, Informative) by EEMac on Friday November 08 2019, @03:23PM (7 children)
I applaud your stance on this. If it's not connected to the internet, DON'T UPDATE IT unless there's some critical fix or feature you need.
Everyone has their stories. For me, it was:
Apple iPhone 4S: iOS update made it horribly slow and couldn't be uninstalled.
Kindle Touch: update removed the ability to load web pages from storage.
Kindle Voyage: update would have removed the progress bars from the book list. Sorry, I like to see how long books are and how much I've read.
Windows: Windows 7 had a good UI and worked pretty well. Windows 10 brings some nice new features, but updates keep fixing and breaking different things.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 08 2019, @03:39PM
That is my strategy with all non-free software and it has worked well.
Interesting that you mention the iPhone 4s. I updated to a version of ios 5 that had a jailbreak, then never updated again. I am using it right now and it is very responsive and usable. Only spy site javashit would run the browser out of memory, but a hosts file fixed that.
(Score: 4, Funny) by choose another one on Friday November 08 2019, @04:10PM (5 children)
Dead right - if these TVs weren't connected to the internet the Netflix on them would still be exactly as functional as the day they were born...
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Friday November 08 2019, @05:05PM (4 children)
And just how are people going to watch Netflix without an internet connection, Einstein?
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday November 08 2019, @07:12PM
The internet is not available in your area. To be notified when the internet becomes available in your area, please enter your email address here.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Friday November 08 2019, @08:31PM
By renting DVDs or BluRays from them, of course.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 2) by Osamabobama on Friday November 08 2019, @09:16PM
Obvious joke is obvious.
Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 08 2019, @11:26PM
Lern to reed, dipshit. He never said anything about watching Netflix, just that Netflix app would be exactly the same as the day the hardware was purchased if the device was never connected to the internet.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 08 2019, @02:30PM (1 child)
And nothing of value was lost.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Friday November 08 2019, @06:52PM
Netflix CEO defends decision to pull Patriot Act episode, says company isn’t in ‘truth to power business’ [theverge.com]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 1, Troll) by jasassin on Friday November 08 2019, @03:41PM (3 children)
I won't ever buy any Samsung products. Full disclosure, I'm typing this on a Tracfone Samsung Galaxy J7 SKY PRO ($20 + $15 for a month activation card). It hasn't been activated, as I use Google Voice, and keep the activation card in my car in case I need to call triple A.
jasassin@gmail.com GPG Key ID: 0xE6462C68A9A3DB5A
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Freeman on Friday November 08 2019, @04:25PM (1 child)
Personally, I really want me a Quantum Dot TV. It's the beginnings of this cool tech. https://www.technologyreview.com/s/405755/nanocrystal-displays/ [technologyreview.com] -> https://news.samsung.com/global/why-are-quantum-dot-displays-so-good [samsung.com]
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by jasassin on Sunday November 10 2019, @10:54PM
I don't know much about this technology, but as I was surfing about it I found this interesting comparison [cnet.com].
jasassin@gmail.com GPG Key ID: 0xE6462C68A9A3DB5A
(Score: 3, Informative) by DannyB on Friday November 08 2019, @07:11PM
I once had multiple generations of Samsung android phones and was happy with them. Up through the Galaxy S5.
Once I used a Google phone (Nexus 6P, then later Pixel 3 XL), I just don't see how Samsung could ever lure me back. Or any other phone manufacturer.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Friday November 08 2019, @04:21PM (1 child)
It's not the internet of things, it's the Internet of Total User Subjugation. It's the wet dream of all corporations, forced obsolescence, through lack of service support.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday November 08 2019, @07:09PM
Marketers and Drug Dealers call it Total User Engagement.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday November 08 2019, @04:44PM (9 children)
The "technical limitations" are that the computer in the so called "smart" TV is too obsolete for Netflix to want to continue supporting it.
Some of the oldest RoKu's also get notices that Netflix won't be supported. And no doubt, for the same reason.
I prefer a Dumb TV with a separate "smart" box. The smart box becomes obsolete much faster than that TV. And for the same reason I think the iMacs with integrated display/computer are stupid, but even more stupid, for the same reason. Even more stupid because the combined device is worth a lot more money. That nice monitor would be useful much longer than the integrated Mac inside it. I am left wondering if you can use such an integrated monitor/pc as only a monitor and leave the Mac part of it turned off? I doubt it. But I'd be happy to be corrected.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by http on Friday November 08 2019, @05:50PM (8 children)
What new feature is Netflix rolling out that cannot be done on the old hardware/software combination?
I browse at -1 when I have mod points. It's unsettling.
(Score: 3, Informative) by D2 on Friday November 08 2019, @06:42PM
Likely streaming code, and counter-piracy code within those codecs. You're worth less than $9 a month to them. Them not plugging stream-capture holes is a risk to IP contracts worth millions. Their apps across all these different devices and codebases are also advancing. Think of it like SSL versions up through TLS1.2: At some point, rework of old code has no ROI, but the old TV's supported streams are all dead / deprecated.
Chances are that when someone managed to get a support agent on the phone, that was why 'no, we're not going to help you roll back to a previous version' was heard. Someone from engineer to support to customer didn't understand it wouldn't matter if they did roll back, if Netflix refused to stream in a codec that could be trivially pirated.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday November 08 2019, @07:07PM (6 children)
Interactive movies? Bandersnatch?
Different codecs or DRM?
Some kind of ad platform? Or pre-rolls?
Or maybe they just don't consider certain old platforms worth developing for simply on a profitability basis. They're probably more difficult to develop for while simultaneously having a much smaller number of Netflix customers using them. So it might be nothing more than a simple economic decision. The several hundred people on ${ancient-platform} that is hard to develop and maintain cost as much or more than development work on the platforms that millions of Netflix customers are using. Do the math.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by EvilSS on Friday November 08 2019, @07:43PM (1 child)
I don't see them doing that anytime soon. It would be platform suicide if they did.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday November 08 2019, @08:30PM
I agree.
Years ago when there was a huge uproar over them possibly getting rid of sub-accounts, I wrote them impassioned letter. One of the topics was: DO NOT ever have advertising. Advertising destroys every medium it ever touches. I pointed out the same examples I have used here on SN.
Raise your prices if necessary. But do not have ads. That would be a deal killer.
Paying and having ads is what leads to what happened to Cable TV.
Choose only one:
1. Free with ads (sucks, won't watch)
2. Paid without ads (maybe worth paying for)
I pointed out this is a watershed decision for Netflix. The choice here leads to two very different ending places.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 3, Informative) by maxwell demon on Friday November 08 2019, @08:35PM (3 children)
Ancient platform? 2011 was merely 8 years ago!
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 3, Touché) by DannyB on Friday November 08 2019, @08:37PM (2 children)
Do you have any idea of the sheer number of JavaScript "frameworks" that have come and gone since 2011?
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 4, Funny) by Osamabobama on Friday November 08 2019, @09:33PM (1 child)
I didn't have any idea, so I tried to look it up. I got confused.
I still have no idea, but I care less than I did after reading your comment.
Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday November 11 2019, @03:35PM
For a few years in there, it was a new flavor of the week framework.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Saturday November 09 2019, @12:11AM
How'm I gonna watch "Raising Dion" now?
Washington DC delenda est.