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> Why can't I buy just the panel that shows the image You can, they sell "just dumb panels" for commercial signage applications. They cost way more. Smart TVs
by kalleboo 7y ago
> Why can't I buy just the panel that shows the image
You can, they sell "just dumb panels" for commercial signage applications. They cost way more. Smart TVs selling your eyeballs and your data make them cheaper than dumb panels. And since most consumers buy on price, they also get the advantage of scale. So they're more expensive and they do less, their only market is a handful of privacy geeks who aren't going to just not connect it to the internet - a tiny market.
https://www.businessinsider.com/smart-tv-data-collection-advertising-2019-1 https://www.businessinsider.com/smart-tv-data-collection-adv...
> A January interview on The Verge's podcast with Vizio's chief technology officer, Bill Baxter, did a great job illuminating how this works.
> "This is a cutthroat industry," Baxter said. "It's a 6% margin industry. The greater strategy is I really don't need to make money off of the TV. I need to cover my cost."
> "It's not just about data collection. It's about post-purchase monetization of the TV."
> "You sell some movies, you sell some TV shows, you sell some ads, you know," he said. "It's not really that different than the Verge website."
- StavrosK 7y agoOh, interesting. I guess I'll just keep never connecting the TV to wifi, then.
- targonca 7y agoGood luck with that. It will simply connect to a neighbouring open WiFi and transmit your data anyway :)
- dddddaviddddd 7y agoMaybe remove the wifi card or antennas?
- StavrosK 7y agoNah, thank God for the GDPR.
- tremendo 7y agoWhat data? If the TV isn't online, then why would you enter any data on it? I guess you could always connect a Roku and then give your data to Roku, or a Chromecast since Google already has your data, or a FireTV stick, since Amazon already has your data. Well, at least Samsung/LG/Sony/Vizio/etc don't, reduce a little bit the attack surface.
- targonca 7y agoWhat data? - you ask. Let's see: - audio recordings (smart TVs have microphones) - photos of your living room (smart TVs have cameras) - still images of TV content - SSIDs of neighbouring WiFi routers for geolocation - data from scanning nearby smart devices Bluetooth - daily/weekly usage data - data from scanning USB devices plugged into the TV (e.g. list of filenames from your pendrive / USB HDD)
- tremendo 7y agoStill, if TV isn't online, you don't give it access to your network, that doesn't go anywhere.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]