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And this is why I have avoided buying a smart TV for almost ten years now. A TV is a consumer product. I should not have to open it up and modify the fucking ha

And this is why I have avoided buying a smart TV for almost ten years now. A TV is a consumer product. I should not have to open it up and modify the fucking hardware just to make it work how I want.

BoorishBears 4y ago
You didn't buy a smart TV for ten years because of a (frankly unlikely) hypothetical? I've bought smart TVs, not connected them to WiFi, and that was the end of it. You can hear whispers about all kinds of sneaky things like refusing to work, but some of the best TVs out right now are LG smart TVs that will function completely identically to a dumb TV if you don't connect them to the internet.
- czx4f4bd 4y ago
  No, this is just one of many reasons I haven't yet bought a smart TV. I probably will give in this year, but only because I can finally afford something much larger than what I have today. Here's the thing: At the end of the day, a smart TV has capabilities that I don't need or want, including to change how it functions without warning or consent. However unlikely the possibility is, a smart TV still has the capability to connect to an open network, phone home, and start doing shit I don't want, which means I have to trust it to not do that. On the other hand, my old dumb TV has none of those capabilities, so I can trust it precisely because I don't need to trust it. I know it can't do anything except display what it receives on its inputs. Therefore, any time I've considered replacing my TV with a newer one, I've always weighed predictability against uncertainty and opted in favor of the predictability of what I own. Maybe that's overly paranoid of me, but at the end of the day, I just haven't wanted a new TV as much as I've wanted something I can trust.
  - Melatonic 4y ago
    You can always just buy a large "monitor" or many commercial TV's that do not have all the tracking crap. Or buy an older used TV
  - asdff 4y ago
    I can also vouch for LG not doing anythign scummy. Do you even have open wifi near your TV? I don't, all the dozens of neighborhood routers are all password protected by default from the telecom. You'd have to intentionally make an open network these days, unlike 15 years ago when the situation was the opposite.
    - czx4f4bd 4y ago
      I live in an apartment complex with a lot of neighbors and a fair amount of churn, so I have actually seen open networks nearby. I also can't be sure that someone won't move in and create a new one.
      - brewdad 4y ago
        As I sit in the kitchen of my standalone SFH, I can see 7 wifi networks that are not mine. 2 of them are open. #anecdata
    - pixl97 4y ago
      >You'd have to intentionally make an open network these days, So any 2 bit hacker wannabe in an apartment complex? I mean if I was a teenager in the wifi days I would have been playing games like that.
      - asdff 4y ago
        What are you odds for living near a 2 bit hacker wannabe? Plus if they were actually malicious, I'm sure there's worse things that are more effective they could do than making your TV update its firmware without your consent.

And this is why I have avoided buying a smart TV for almost ten years now. A TV is a consumer product. I should not have to open it up and modify the fucking hardware just to make it work how I want.

BoorishBears 4y ago

You didn't buy a smart TV for ten years because of a (frankly unlikely) hypothetical? I've bought smart TVs, not connected them to WiFi, and that was the end of it. You can hear whispers about all kinds of sneaky things like refusing to work, but some of the best TVs out right now are LG smart TVs that will function completely identically to a dumb TV if you don't connect them to the internet.

czx4f4bd 4y ago
No, this is just one of many reasons I haven't yet bought a smart TV. I probably will give in this year, but only because I can finally afford something much larger than what I have today. Here's the thing: At the end of the day, a smart TV has capabilities that I don't need or want, including to change how it functions without warning or consent. However unlikely the possibility is, a smart TV still has the capability to connect to an open network, phone home, and start doing shit I don't want, which means I have to trust it to not do that. On the other hand, my old dumb TV has none of those capabilities, so I can trust it precisely because I don't need to trust it. I know it can't do anything except display what it receives on its inputs. Therefore, any time I've considered replacing my TV with a newer one, I've always weighed predictability against uncertainty and opted in favor of the predictability of what I own. Maybe that's overly paranoid of me, but at the end of the day, I just haven't wanted a new TV as much as I've wanted something I can trust.
- Melatonic 4y ago
  You can always just buy a large "monitor" or many commercial TV's that do not have all the tracking crap. Or buy an older used TV
- asdff 4y ago
  I can also vouch for LG not doing anythign scummy. Do you even have open wifi near your TV? I don't, all the dozens of neighborhood routers are all password protected by default from the telecom. You'd have to intentionally make an open network these days, unlike 15 years ago when the situation was the opposite.
  - czx4f4bd 4y ago
    I live in an apartment complex with a lot of neighbors and a fair amount of churn, so I have actually seen open networks nearby. I also can't be sure that someone won't move in and create a new one.
    - brewdad 4y ago
      As I sit in the kitchen of my standalone SFH, I can see 7 wifi networks that are not mine. 2 of them are open. #anecdata
  - pixl97 4y ago
    >You'd have to intentionally make an open network these days, So any 2 bit hacker wannabe in an apartment complex? I mean if I was a teenager in the wifi days I would have been playing games like that.
    - asdff 4y ago
      What are you odds for living near a 2 bit hacker wannabe? Plus if they were actually malicious, I'm sure there's worse things that are more effective they could do than making your TV update its firmware without your consent.