That doesn’t sound very practical? What’s to say that the only thing the device will do while connected is get the guide? Even if that is all your current Tablo does, there is no guarantee that behavior wouldn’t change in the future. They may render the device inoperable unless it has an internet connection. They may may even mention it in the Terms of Use clause : ) I purchased a smart thermostat, not because I wanted to turn up the heat from a remote location, but simply to use it over WiFi in my home and for the programmability. After installing the device, it would not function unless I gave it access to the internet. Same goes with some of my smart phone apps. I have an tracker blocker on my phone and some apps won’t function when their trackers are blocked. I’m not paranoid. It’s just that the consumer data collection industry has surpassed the oil industry in terms of revenue, and I’m not making a dime from it.
Just something to consider. My post was for informational purposes. Readers can do their own research.
I though one of the main reasons an HDMI model was developed was to allow both home and RV users to continue to watch and record TV without the internet. Being required to have internet defeats that capability.
I have a fairly new and expensive TV and it’s never been connected to the internet.
I may have misspoke. I have the Tablo that uses the Roku as the front end UI. I think the HDMI version you’re referring to is a different product. I can’t speak to the reason why the HDMI model came about. I only know that I’ve been following this consumer data collection industry in its various forms and it’s incredibly eyeopening the they way seemingly harmless and unrelated data is collected and correlated. It seems that ATSC 3.0 will become yet another way to feed that industry, unless consumers act and speak out, though I have my doubt on that considering consumers were not able to save net neutrality.
The people that are collecting the data are interested in one thing - how many people are watching the programs. It does two things:
Allows them to price the advertising, the more people that watch, the higher the advertising spots.
Allows them to make decisions on what programming to air. They tend to get rid of programs that aren’t high in viewership, and replace them with programming that will give them higher viewship.
They don’t track specific users - they are looking at aggregate data. Anything that is “connected” does this. Cable TV, Satellite TV and streaming programs do it.
As far as “net neutrality”, I don’t see how ATSC 3.0 will have any affect on it…
From all that I have read, the biggest advantages to the broadcasters will be the number of channels they can put on a frequency, the amount of bandwidth on that frequency (both are related), and the improved reception. They will also have the ability to scramble premium content, and offer “pay services” for specific channels they choose (i.e. the ability to broadcast channels like ESPN or pay per view events like cable does).
I think you are underestimating what they collect and who they will be selling/buying data from. ATSC 3.0 will include targeted ads. They may not know with 100% accuracy who is watching the TV but they will know who lives there along with a wealth of data they buy from data mining companies. You should look yourself up on one of the paid services to get an idea of what they have access to.
I’ve read that in various places and have not quite figured out how they send targeted ads. Would seem if advertisers are paying more for time based on users views, the ads would have to go to those unknown users to be effective.
Just saying.
If your device is connected to the internet they have your devices geolocation data. It could be as simple as the zipcode. embedded in the actual transmission could be HTML5 which would replace the existing advertising with ones just for you.
Or it could be as simple as the HTML5 replaces national advertising with some that applies to your DMA.
Will ATSC 3.0 be able to turn on my Webcam and collect video of me sitting naked in my la-z-boy drinking beer and eating pizza? Now that would be real entertainment.
Unless you login to their services (i.e. like a streaming service), they only know you as an anonymous user. They may know that you are in a geographic area based on your IP address (there are reverse lookup services, but they are not extremely accurate), but they do know who can receive their signal.
So, people like me watching an ATSC 3.0 station, they would know that I am in the “Austin, TX area”, but not my actual address. Reverse IP lookup doesn’t give accurate lookups either, it would be listed as “Austin, TX area” - possibly with the ISP that owns the IP address.
They don’t know my name, they don’t know my address, they don’t know my phone number and they don’t know my email address, unless I login and give them that information. They don’t know my age, my gender or anything else about me…
Targeted ads are somewhat misleading - again, unless you login and give them the information.
You have to look at ATSC 3.0 more like you would a streaming channel. The primary content comes over the air and some secondary content comes over the internet. There are targeted ads that cost more and less targeted ads that would cost less. If you don’t have your internet connected or if they haven’t connected the device to a profile the less targeted ads will likely appear. I suspect we will see a mix of advertising including banner ads and active engagement possibly during the show. For instance they may ask you to vote on a topic or they may ask you a question to confirm you saw an ad. There have been tests of actually changing product placement although I don’t know how those went. You potentially could watch a show and see Pepsi one time and Coke the next. You may even see a local brand.
You make the assumption they haven’t already got that info from somewhere else. Your IP address doesn’t likely change much and it’s already associated with multiple user accounts. Even your ISP is likely selling your info and if I remember correctly Texas is one of the states actually selling drivers license data.
People that have user accounts are not going to “sell their information” to a 3rd party. For example, Facebook does offer “targeted advertising”, where there are several opportunities.
A company can select “users that are 45-54 years old living in Oregon”, and every time a person who sees that ad clicks on it, the company pays for that click. Facebook never discloses the information. The only way the company would see it is if the user would fill out credentials on their website.
The second main way is for a company to upload to facebook a list of email addresses or phone numbers, which Facebook matches, and then targets those users with ads. The matches aren’t given to the company, and the only way for the company to find out user information is if they fill out credentials for their website.
Facebook would NEVER give out that information - it is too valuable. They literally make billions from this practice.
Facebook also targets users with ads based on them being logged into Facebook, and cookies stored on their hard drive from other sites (i.e. you visit BestBuy, you start seeing BestBuy ads).
Reality is almost all of your data is publicly available in different lists. But they can’t tie your personal information to an IP address while you are watching TV, unless you login.
Login in to what. The HTML5 is embedded in the OTA broadcast and is a client request to a remote server. So they have you MAC, IP address, ISP provider, current device location, and channel being watched.
My point was they don’t have an individual’s name, physical address, email, phone or any other personal information unless a person creates a user account and use their login while active. Normal broadcast TV (not the pay per view or premium broadcasts which require a login because you have to pay for it) will not have anything personal…
Of course, because this is taking “forever” and still isn’t really ironed out completely, just about the time when we think we need to look at ATSC 3.0 (presuming most the mess is handled to our satisfaction), we’ll probably be looking at ATSC 4.0
Which is to say, UHD 4K Blu-ray media is to ATSC 3.0 as DVD/std.Blu-ray media is to ATSC 1.0. I’m predicting that level of “success”.
I’m spoiled by great OTA reception of all major networks in my city. Personally I don’t see the appeal of ATSC 3.0 until the broadcasters either a) begin sending true 4K content, or b) provide free channels not available over ATSC 1. Has this happened anywhere yet?
Google data brokers. Here are a couple to get you started.
“It’s worth noting that the local state laws have very particular definitions to decide what accounts as “personal information”. An individual’s photograph or computerized image, social security number, driver identification number, name, and address are not considered private.”
