[dvratil]

With pi-hole, you can also block telemetry from smart devices (TVs, dish washers and stuff), and if you run it on a VPN that your phone is connected to, you can also block ads and tracking in phone apps.

As mentioned in the article, pi-hole complements a browser ad block, doesn't replace it.

[timbit42]

I just don't connect those devices to any internet.

[ThrowawayTestr]

Some people like to watch YouTube on their TV

[jstanley]

I watch YouTube on my TV. Using Firefox, with uBlock Origin. We have a laptop plugged into the TV, with a bluetooth keyboard. It is a vastly superior experience to any smart TV I have ever seen.

[dividedcomet]

And also more than most people want to have setup in the living room. My wife would rather have ads on YouTube occasionally than an ugly computer plugged in all the time. It’s also more difficult to deal with than a remote you can work one handed.

[akimbostrawman]

Small PCs and drawers exist and i would rather have a whole damn server rack than 30 seconds to 3 minute ads every 5-10 minutes / video. It's worse than TV...and no im not gonna give google money for a continually worse experience despite paying.

[godelski]

You can get a pi and tuck it behind the TV. Then get a mouse that's styled like a remote. There's also plenty of OSs designed to look like a proper smart TV OS

[jstanley]

It's not ugly, it's hidden inside the cabinet that the TV stands on.

[timeinput]

I'm with you entirely, and that is how I interact with youtube.

My wife likes to cast youtube videos from her phone to the TV, so the experience is nearly the same to her on her phone as it is watching on TV. Maybe if she only used the PC interface she wouldn't mind, but she likes to search / scan / scroll youtube on her phone, and cast the bits she's going to actually watch.

She was very frustrated by having to find the video she wanted to watch on her phone on the PC using the some what finicky mouse touch pad to get the cursor to open the web browser, navigate to youtube, enter the title in the search box (possibly) scroll to find the video, and then a couple more steps getting it playing full screen.

I'm happy we have options to block ads that aren't uBlock Origin in firefox, even though that works great, and better than other options.

[calvano915]

Using my ShieldTV, I've very much enjoyed SmartTube for ad-free YouTube viewing. It performs very well and is constantly updated when YT pushes new blocking techniques.

[Mashimo]

Do you honestly not understand why some people don't want that setup?

[jstanley]

No, the objections are stupid. Not only is the Firefox experience vastly superior to any smart TV app, but you can have easy and effective ad blocking on top.

My best guess at why people don't want to do this is that we're conditioned not to do anything that isn't advertised to us, and nobody is running adverts telling you to hook a laptop up to your TV for a superior smart TV experience.

[Mashimo]

No need to tell me the advantages, I get it.

But I also get why people just want to sit on the couch, find a nice video on the phone and with the press of a button want to see it on the TV. No computer boot time, no updates, no writing on the keyboard while laying down.

I get that you can buy a fanless pc, install linux with unattended-upgrades and you have something more powerful. But most people don't know how or don't want to go through that hassle.

[godelski]

You don't connect your phone to the internet?

[akimbostrawman]

Smartphone doesn't inherently mean telemetry and ads.

https://grapheneos.org/

https://f-droid.org/

[godelski]

Well I can't control other peoples' devices and I do have friends over occasionally lol