I don't get how that gets through the usual meetings and there's no sense of "people won't like this, they will associate our products with obtrusive ads".
Ever turned on a Samsung TV?
We only saw that attitude towards COVID because it affected people for a relatively short amount of time, and majority of them suffered relatively minor symptoms.
People not caring about others isn't exactly noteworthy. People not caring about themselves is different.
Government regulation is the only way to stop this.
There is no such thing, every big corporation adds greedier and greedier practices over time.
So such competitors exist. I can't imagine that they will cease to exist.
Our Miele dishwasher... no internet connection.
Our GE range / stove wants an internet connection and a phone app to use it's broiler features (I think). They're actually gated behind internet connectivity. We do without it.
Our home thermostat was installed with wi-fi everything... Which we promptly disconnected when the installers left. The same for the irrigation system. We want to use the device to control it, not have to connect to some server on the internet to manage our heat, A/C, or watering schedule.
Don't get me started on looking for "dumb phones" for our child.
One, I don't think people mind it too much. By too much, I mean two things: actually stating that they don't give a damn (even though they are just as susceptible), or grumbling about ads, but still doing nothing against them.
Two, price is everything. People put up with ads ever for a pittance. They listen to an ad every 15 minutes for hours a day, just to not pay $5 for the ad-free tier. That is how low this barrier is.
So ads not not much a problem PR-wise. You'd think, you'd hope, but it isn't.
Sadly, I can imagine it easily. I've been in a few such meetings across a few past jobs, and often found myself the ONLY advocate for sanity. Counter arguments were often usage count goals or "our userbase is sticky and switching costs are high. It'll be OK, quit worrying." One leader honestly said "KPIs - up now, blowback - after i switch teams"