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> You cannot have what you ask for, even if it is possible to make it,^1 but you can have more gadgets that surveil your life without alerting you to the surveillance.

What does this have to do with bendable displays?

There's no mention of surveillance tech, there's no technical reason cloud connectivity needs to be involved (unlike, say, a "smart speaker"), and there's no reason to believe these displays will only be available on the market in a "cloud connection required or it won't function" way.

> Like the internet-connected "smart speaker" with an always-on microphone, these "belong" everywhere.

I don't follow. Are you saying bendable displays will be pushed "everywhere" in the way "smart TVs" are -- eg, to the point there is no such thing as a non-bendable display? Or that these will all be cloud-connected and in such high demand that it's a way to push surveillance tech?

Why wouldn't these follow the path that looks something like 3D TVs, curved TVs, or curved monitors? (The latter of which is the only that really survived, but in a niche market).

The answer is super clear:

These large bendable screens belong on desks where you may both do work up close at high pixel count (4K-5K, not 1440p) and game at 4K 60hz, 120hz, or 240hz, and sometimes watch TV from across the room.

Note: Most ultrawide or curved panels are not work resolutions, they are 1440p so cheaper gaming cards can drive them at reasonable framerates. But for PS5 and XSX and PC w/ RTX 3090, you want the 4K, and that cuts your options down.

There were only a couple panels on the market available before this announcement that were the pixels and color and game capabilities to do a reasonable blend of all 3 activities, both were LG, and this article incidentally are also LG.

For a Mac user with Thunderbolt / USB-C ports only, consider LG 40WP95C-W 40” UltraWide Curved WUHD (5120 x 2160) 5K2K Nano IPS Display, DCI-P3 98% (Typ.) with HDR10, Thunderbolt 4 with 96W PD, 3-Side Virtually Borderless Design Tilt/Height/Swivel Stand. It essentially has a $400 TB4 dock built in.

For folks with HDMI (newest Macs, Windows), consider the LG C2 42” if will mostly be TV only sometimes work or gaming. But if working and gaming at the desk, consider these, as 40” is too big to sit close to and work or game unless curved, while from across a (small) room you want it flat to e.g. have the news on.

> No one asked for this, but it is "the latest technology", so just get it.

I for one asked for "smart speakers", bought two and the RPi kit that came from Google.

You seem to be arguing that providing monetizable data to the service provider is hidden and the most relevant part of the exchange. I'd disagree on both fronts: it's not all black or white and actually improving someone's life matters, a lot.

It's way more relevant that a small kid can orally ask what's a "gold fish" and get an explaination than the consequence that aquarium stuff get suggested in the youtube results.

It's always a tradeoff, and overly focusing on the monetized part on a day to day basis only leads to madness.

Maybe it'd be better if that small kid asked you what a goldfish is and you could answer them. I do not want my child to be educated by computers. Asking my dad things about nature, the world and history as a small kid have resulted in conversations that I still cherish to this day. And no formulaic robot response can ever do that justice. In my memories the best responses were when he nudged me to find the answer with questions in return.

Everyone has different opinions about education. I want my kid to know how to look for things, and not be bound by asking an adult for every question that pops in mind. Knowing what kind of answers come the different tools they have and what to rely on is also valuable.

We still got dozens of questions a day if that’s where you fear lies.

> The price is ostensibly zero.

Forgive me for stating the obvious, but while much of your post is agreeable, but the products behind Patreon, Thumbtack, or whatever aren't "free," despite the $0 app download. They offer services to which their apps are merely gateways. Meanwhile, for the last twenty years, venture-backed startups have deferred revenue and given away free services in pursuit of growth.

Your complaint is equivalent to accusing bakeries of giving away smells and glass windows. There are serious surveillance issues endemic to the internet, but this isn't the smoking gun.

>Whether it improves your life is irrelevant.

I mean it does, you can buy a smart speaker but if it doesn't provide value then it goes into a box eventually. Then no data and no advertising. So people do find value in them as they keep getting sold. Maybe you don't.

At some point it will become difficult to buy speakers without smart features, as it has already with TVs. Sometimes you can avoid activating those features but sometimes you have to turn them on in order to use the device. This is a net loss for consumers imo.

These replies were hilarious. Not suprisingly, someone caused the HN title to be changed. The original HN title matched the one provided by the Ars editor(s): "Here comes the bendable TVs and monitors that no one asked for."