7 ms·

To be fair, I personally no longer buy WiFi “smart” devices, but I don’t mind if my wife buys them. I get the dual benefit of having the “smart” when it works,

To be fair, I personally no longer buy WiFi “smart” devices, but I don’t mind if my wife buys them. I get the dual benefit of having the “smart” when it works, and pointing and laughing at her when it doesn’t, because I told her so.

_underfl0w_ 6y ago
This actually sounds like the perfect middle ground.
- mrpopo 6y ago
  Except it doesn't cut on the gigantic waste of electronic components that IoT is creating, and no one is talking about.
  - bamboozled 6y ago
    This is why I don't like "smart devices". They're the most likely thing to be obsolete in the shortest amount of time.
DavidSJ 6y ago
And on top of that, your TV manufacturer gets to spy on you. It’s win-win-win.
- ornornor 6y ago
  Nextdns is the best solution I found to this problem (they have a smart TVs blocklist) along with a firewall rule that blocks all port 53 traffic except to approved dns.
  - mtsr 6y ago
    Shame this stops working with the next firmware update that switches your TV to DNS-over-HTTPS. Because then, just like google ads switching to the main google.com domain, you will have to choose to block either every service from your tv manufacturer (including firmware security updates) or allow it all through. My next TV is going to be a dumb one with a bespoke HTPC...
- Semaphor 6y ago
  My old dumb tv is failing. After looking online, it seems the only dumb TVs left are in the US (Spectre and very little else) and not available in Germany. At least the spying is removed by not connecting it to the internet, though I still get the great full OS experience :/
  - goatinaboat 6y ago
    At least the spying is removed by not connecting it to the internet, though I still get the great full OS experience :/ I have a smart TV not connected to the internet, just a HDMI connection to another box. Then I learned that IP-over-HDMI is a thing! In the very near future this will be even more futile - the TV will have it’s own built-in cellular connection just for telemetry. Anyone who objects will be shouted down as a 5G conspiracy nut, but this is exactly what 5G is designed for.
    - mtsr 6y ago
      That’s horrible, I hadn’t even looked at it like that. But it will actually work better with 3/4G because 5Gs range is so short and it would be easy to block with just a little tinfoil.
      - Foivos 6y ago
        5G has a lot of bands. Most of them are close to the 3G/4G bands, so it should have the same signal as 3G/4G. Also, new IoT technologies use techniques allowing them to operate at a much weaker signal. But you can always just destroy the antenna.
    - realityking 6y ago
      > Then I learned that IP-over-HDMI is a thing! While it’s in the spec, I’m not aware of a single piece of consumer electronics that actually support it. The standard is an utter failure. In HDMI 2.1 the wires previously used for Ethernet-over-HDMI are now used for eARC making these two features mutually exclusive.
- jeanofthedead 6y ago
  I use Pi-hole (https://pi-hole.net https://pi-hole.net) to block my Roku TV from sending out analytics (and from displaying ads).
chordalkeyboard 6y ago
> I get the dual benefit of having the “smart” when it works, and pointing and laughing at her when it doesn’t, because I told her so. You must be a joy to have around the house.
alilsumpinditto 6y ago
to be fair, I'm actually too stupid to vacuum a carpet vs floor without it auto adjusting fo me, so just to play devil's advocate, my vacuum has worked wonders on sucking up the ight amount of floor baddies. I can also forgive the glass stuck on the floor on thanksgiving night because of all the help it's been 364 days of the year. edit: oh yeah my letterr "R" key is broken on my 2015 macbook po fom all my refreshing, so sorry fo the typos
- takeda 6y ago
  Why does it need to be connected to the Internet to do it?

_underfl0w_ 6y ago

This actually sounds like the perfect middle ground.

mrpopo 6y ago
Except it doesn't cut on the gigantic waste of electronic components that IoT is creating, and no one is talking about.
- bamboozled 6y ago
  This is why I don't like "smart devices". They're the most likely thing to be obsolete in the shortest amount of time.

DavidSJ 6y ago

And on top of that, your TV manufacturer gets to spy on you. It’s win-win-win.

ornornor 6y ago
Nextdns is the best solution I found to this problem (they have a smart TVs blocklist) along with a firewall rule that blocks all port 53 traffic except to approved dns.
- mtsr 6y ago
  Shame this stops working with the next firmware update that switches your TV to DNS-over-HTTPS. Because then, just like google ads switching to the main google.com domain, you will have to choose to block either every service from your tv manufacturer (including firmware security updates) or allow it all through. My next TV is going to be a dumb one with a bespoke HTPC...
Semaphor 6y ago
My old dumb tv is failing. After looking online, it seems the only dumb TVs left are in the US (Spectre and very little else) and not available in Germany. At least the spying is removed by not connecting it to the internet, though I still get the great full OS experience :/
- goatinaboat 6y ago
  At least the spying is removed by not connecting it to the internet, though I still get the great full OS experience :/ I have a smart TV not connected to the internet, just a HDMI connection to another box. Then I learned that IP-over-HDMI is a thing! In the very near future this will be even more futile - the TV will have it’s own built-in cellular connection just for telemetry. Anyone who objects will be shouted down as a 5G conspiracy nut, but this is exactly what 5G is designed for.
  - mtsr 6y ago
    That’s horrible, I hadn’t even looked at it like that. But it will actually work better with 3/4G because 5Gs range is so short and it would be easy to block with just a little tinfoil.
    - Foivos 6y ago
      5G has a lot of bands. Most of them are close to the 3G/4G bands, so it should have the same signal as 3G/4G. Also, new IoT technologies use techniques allowing them to operate at a much weaker signal. But you can always just destroy the antenna.
  - realityking 6y ago
    > Then I learned that IP-over-HDMI is a thing! While it’s in the spec, I’m not aware of a single piece of consumer electronics that actually support it. The standard is an utter failure. In HDMI 2.1 the wires previously used for Ethernet-over-HDMI are now used for eARC making these two features mutually exclusive.
jeanofthedead 6y ago
I use Pi-hole (https://pi-hole.net https://pi-hole.net) to block my Roku TV from sending out analytics (and from displaying ads).

chordalkeyboard 6y ago

> I get the dual benefit of having the “smart” when it works, and pointing and laughing at her when it doesn’t, because I told her so. You must be a joy to have around the house.

alilsumpinditto 6y ago

to be fair, I'm actually too stupid to vacuum a carpet vs floor without it auto adjusting fo me, so just to play devil's advocate, my vacuum has worked wonders on sucking up the ight amount of floor baddies. I can also forgive the glass stuck on the floor on thanksgiving night because of all the help it's been 364 days of the year. edit: oh yeah my letterr "R" key is broken on my 2015 macbook po fom all my refreshing, so sorry fo the typos

takeda 6y ago
Why does it need to be connected to the Internet to do it?