I thought that's what I wanted too, but then I got the big 4k TV and in the end the "smart" features are really convenient. You don't have to control a separate

I thought that's what I wanted too, but then I got the big 4k TV and in the end the "smart" features are really convenient. You don't have to control a separate box to watch something. You don't have to cast from your phone. You don't have issues with an Apple TV show not casting to a Chromecast. You just click on it with the TV remote. And if you think you'll put up with it just to avoid connecting the TV, your family members won't. So I just blocked the ads via DNS. So far so good.