Google does, far, far, far worse. They're all about ads. That's Google's #1 business and how they make most of their money. I don't have a problem with that either. It's no secret, I just don't give Google any Data and have nothing to do with Google+.
I just thought I'd correct you on something here.
You say: "I just don't give Google and Data", but unless you take extreme measures, google is tracking nearly everything you do online, including visiting AppleInsider. Have you looked at the source for this very page you're reading right now? google analytics, google tags, google ads, google google google.
Merely visiting AppleInsider, whether or not you're logged in, is feeding data directly to google. Where you are located, what kind of computer you use, what time(s) you tend to read each and every web site you visit, etc., etc. And because those small bits of code are on millions of web sites, you are indeed tracked from site to site, along with your purchases, your Likes, your posts or comments, everything. It's difficult these days to find sites that don't have google tracking code. They're far from the only ones tracking you, they're just the most ubiquitous.
So while some people don't care about this, you seem to at least care a little. So you should know the reality of what's happening as you cruise through life online. Every crumb and tidbit is being vacuumed up by dataminers.
Step in right direction but I want Steve Jobs' vision; a universe of television where channels are served in the order of content most interesting to the viewer based on genre specific preference profiles and their viewing histories.
This is wrong. How do people discover new and different content if all they are ever fed is the stuff that they have previously watched. It's the same reason why they bought beats to help people discover new curated stuff, stuff that's indirectly related. If I eat enough chocolate I get sick of it!!!!
Bingo! This is why I stuck with analog cable for as long as possible. Long after they badgered, cajoled and attempted to bribe us out. We stuck it out until they killed it.
As you say, the digital STBs keep track of everything you're doing on your TV, what you're watching, what you search for, what times you watch TV, everything. If everyone understood this there would be a lot more pushback and/or push for transparency/disclosure of exactly what data is gathered and what is done with it.
We keep the cable box turned on 24/7/365, so it looks like it's in constant use, but the reality is we watch almost zero broadcast/cable TV. Maybe 1-2 hours/week, if that, and nothing with any regularity.
First the reason the Cable guy had to go digital they could not provide HD on Analog for all the channel which are HD today. Digital is the only way to have enough bandwidth to provide HD content.
ALso, even the analog STB monitored what you were watching, grant it is far less data then Digital STB but they still knew what you were watch since there was what is know as out of band digital return path to the operator. Most of this was to verify that you were only watching what you were paying for. So they have been doing limited data collection on you.
First the reason the Cable guy had to go digital they could not provide HD on Analog for all the channel which are HD today. Digital is the only way to have enough bandwidth to provide HD content.
ALso, even the analog STB monitored what you were watching, grant it is far less data then Digital STB but they still knew what you were watch since there was what is know as out of band digital return path to the operator. Most of this was to verify that you were only watching what you were paying for. So they have been doing limited data collection on you.
If I remember correctly the old STBs would send, and receive messages to, and from the provider in the form of a FM signal via the coax. One of the first ways people would steal cable was to install a FM filter, and put the STB into test mode which temporarily opened up all the channels, and since it was unable to receive the signal instructing it as to which channels to keep on it would keep them all on for at least a day.
Comments
I just thought I'd correct you on something here.
You say: "I just don't give Google and Data", but unless you take extreme measures, google is tracking nearly everything you do online, including visiting AppleInsider. Have you looked at the source for this very page you're reading right now? google analytics, google tags, google ads, google google google.
Merely visiting AppleInsider, whether or not you're logged in, is feeding data directly to google. Where you are located, what kind of computer you use, what time(s) you tend to read each and every web site you visit, etc., etc. And because those small bits of code are on millions of web sites, you are indeed tracked from site to site, along with your purchases, your Likes, your posts or comments, everything. It's difficult these days to find sites that don't have google tracking code. They're far from the only ones tracking you, they're just the most ubiquitous.
So while some people don't care about this, you seem to at least care a little. So you should know the reality of what's happening as you cruise through life online. Every crumb and tidbit is being vacuumed up by dataminers.
This is wrong. How do people discover new and different content if all they are ever fed is the stuff that they have previously watched. It's the same reason why they bought beats to help people discover new curated stuff, stuff that's indirectly related. If I eat enough chocolate I get sick of it!!!!
First the reason the Cable guy had to go digital they could not provide HD on Analog for all the channel which are HD today. Digital is the only way to have enough bandwidth to provide HD content.
ALso, even the analog STB monitored what you were watching, grant it is far less data then Digital STB but they still knew what you were watch since there was what is know as out of band digital return path to the operator. Most of this was to verify that you were only watching what you were paying for. So they have been doing limited data collection on you.
If I remember correctly the old STBs would send, and receive messages to, and from the provider in the form of a FM signal via the coax. One of the first ways people would steal cable was to install a FM filter, and put the STB into test mode which temporarily opened up all the channels, and since it was unable to receive the signal instructing it as to which channels to keep on it would keep them all on for at least a day.