4 ms·

Simple solution for the smart TV for now: don't connect it to your network. At this point I'm not aware of any TVs that come with cellular radios. That said,

Simple solution for the smart TV for now: don't connect it to your network. At this point I'm not aware of any TVs that come with cellular radios. That said, I recently returned a soundbar after discovering it couldn't be used without app-based onboarding. Ridiculous.

mrweasel 6y ago
TV are a perfect example as to way I believe the free market has failed. Normally you’d expect one or two TV makers to have noticed a growing concern regarding smart-tvs and started to cater to that part of the market. I understand that those of us who would pay a premium for a dumb TV are a minority, but it seems like there’s enough of us to justify at least a few models. The assumption that I would want to control everything from my phone is getting out of hand.
- neolog 6y ago
  You can get a 'commercial display' but they're pretty expensive.
  - mrweasel 6y ago
    Yeah, I looked at those last time I replaced my TV. You also need to be able to locate a reseller who will sell to private individuals, which can be difficult in some location.
  - danparsonson 6y ago
    I suspect the real problem there is that consumer devices are sold at or below cost and the data they send home makes up for the lost revenue.
  - PeterisP 6y ago
    The parent poster was explicitly mentioning those willing to pay a premium. If people aren't willing to pay a premium for a niche product, that's explicitly telling the market that this niche shouldn't exist as a separate niche and the cheaper mass-market solution will do just fine.
- mdpopescu 6y ago
  I have no idea why you believe TV makers won't handle this market. Here's a list of non-smart TVs on the local equivalent of Amazon[1], which includes this 75" 4K Samsung TV[2]. [1] https://www.emag.ro/televizoare/filter/tip-tv-f9181,non-smart-tv-v-8180384/c https://www.emag.ro/televizoare/filter/tip-tv-f9181,non-smar... [2] https://www.emag.ro/televizor-samsung-75-189-cm-75ru7099-4k-ultra-hd-tv-negru-clasa-a-ue75ru7099u/pd/DWHJ55BBM/ https://www.emag.ro/televizor-samsung-75-189-cm-75ru7099-4k-...
  - mrweasel 6y ago
    Because you literally cannot buy those TV here. I didn't check all of them, but the Samsung one seemed like a good candidate, it's not for sale in Denmark apparently. Maybe you could special order it. But you're right, apparently the TV makers aren't the issue, the stores are. I love that "non-smart-tv" is a category on that Romanian site.
- Spivak 6y ago
  It's one of those cases where government intervention really would be to the benefit of everyone. If data collection and advertising through TVs or set-top devices was made illegal (or I guess opt-in) then suddenly the pressure on panel manufacturers would be off because they know that their competition can't pad their margins with it either.
- AshamedCaptain 6y ago
  The free market just does not work. There is a reason I had a "free software" revelation long ago when I realized that every time there is a single metric that does not appear in traditional consumer benchmarks most consumer devices will outright fail at that metric, even if would only take a couple software-developer hours to fix it. E.g. time to switch from one HDMI source to the next one. I have a projector where that clocks at an insane 15 seconds. Every single interruption of the HDMI signal results in at least 15 seconds of delay before the projector can show anything other than a black screen. It's just great when you are trying to setup the laptop for a presentation. The number of times I have cursed the entiry family of the designer of that projector's firmware, only to realize most commercial projectors are like that...
KozmoNau7 6y ago
If you don't mind voiding the warranty, open up the TV and find the WLAN and/or cellular modem, and snip off the antenna/break the PCB trace used as an antenna. In some cases it's probably attached with a tiny coax connector that you can disconnect. No antenna, no signal. Just make sure to get a TV that doesn't need online activation to function.
- Arrath 6y ago
  I'm just waiting for them to start routing the remote control signals over the same modems. Want complete privacy? Congrats you can't use the remote either!
mackrevinack 6y ago
ive heard numerous times on here about tv's searching for nearby open networks and using them to upload, so a long as your neighbors practice good security you might be ok
qwertox 6y ago
Now play with the thought that your Samsung TV sees no internet, but notices your Samsung phone over BLE. A couple of commands later your TV uses your phone as an entry point to the internet.

mrweasel 6y ago

TV are a perfect example as to way I believe the free market has failed. Normally you’d expect one or two TV makers to have noticed a growing concern regarding smart-tvs and started to cater to that part of the market. I understand that those of us who would pay a premium for a dumb TV are a minority, but it seems like there’s enough of us to justify at least a few models. The assumption that I would want to control everything from my phone is getting out of hand.

neolog 6y ago
You can get a 'commercial display' but they're pretty expensive.
- mrweasel 6y ago
  Yeah, I looked at those last time I replaced my TV. You also need to be able to locate a reseller who will sell to private individuals, which can be difficult in some location.
- danparsonson 6y ago
  I suspect the real problem there is that consumer devices are sold at or below cost and the data they send home makes up for the lost revenue.
- PeterisP 6y ago
  The parent poster was explicitly mentioning those willing to pay a premium. If people aren't willing to pay a premium for a niche product, that's explicitly telling the market that this niche shouldn't exist as a separate niche and the cheaper mass-market solution will do just fine.
mdpopescu 6y ago
I have no idea why you believe TV makers won't handle this market. Here's a list of non-smart TVs on the local equivalent of Amazon[1], which includes this 75" 4K Samsung TV[2]. [1] https://www.emag.ro/televizoare/filter/tip-tv-f9181,non-smart-tv-v-8180384/c https://www.emag.ro/televizoare/filter/tip-tv-f9181,non-smar... [2] https://www.emag.ro/televizor-samsung-75-189-cm-75ru7099-4k-ultra-hd-tv-negru-clasa-a-ue75ru7099u/pd/DWHJ55BBM/ https://www.emag.ro/televizor-samsung-75-189-cm-75ru7099-4k-...
- mrweasel 6y ago
  Because you literally cannot buy those TV here. I didn't check all of them, but the Samsung one seemed like a good candidate, it's not for sale in Denmark apparently. Maybe you could special order it. But you're right, apparently the TV makers aren't the issue, the stores are. I love that "non-smart-tv" is a category on that Romanian site.
Spivak 6y ago
It's one of those cases where government intervention really would be to the benefit of everyone. If data collection and advertising through TVs or set-top devices was made illegal (or I guess opt-in) then suddenly the pressure on panel manufacturers would be off because they know that their competition can't pad their margins with it either.
AshamedCaptain 6y ago
The free market just does not work. There is a reason I had a "free software" revelation long ago when I realized that every time there is a single metric that does not appear in traditional consumer benchmarks most consumer devices will outright fail at that metric, even if would only take a couple software-developer hours to fix it. E.g. time to switch from one HDMI source to the next one. I have a projector where that clocks at an insane 15 seconds. Every single interruption of the HDMI signal results in at least 15 seconds of delay before the projector can show anything other than a black screen. It's just great when you are trying to setup the laptop for a presentation. The number of times I have cursed the entiry family of the designer of that projector's firmware, only to realize most commercial projectors are like that...

KozmoNau7 6y ago

If you don't mind voiding the warranty, open up the TV and find the WLAN and/or cellular modem, and snip off the antenna/break the PCB trace used as an antenna. In some cases it's probably attached with a tiny coax connector that you can disconnect. No antenna, no signal. Just make sure to get a TV that doesn't need online activation to function.

Arrath 6y ago
I'm just waiting for them to start routing the remote control signals over the same modems. Want complete privacy? Congrats you can't use the remote either!

mackrevinack 6y ago

ive heard numerous times on here about tv's searching for nearby open networks and using them to upload, so a long as your neighbors practice good security you might be ok

qwertox 6y ago

Now play with the thought that your Samsung TV sees no internet, but notices your Samsung phone over BLE. A couple of commands later your TV uses your phone as an entry point to the internet.