3 ms·

Why wouldn't you want it to be a computer? Then it can be connected to your devices AND also do the job itself in a situation where it's awkward to connect to a

by stravant 10mo ago

Why wouldn't you want it to be a computer? Then it can be connected to your devices AND also do the job itself in a situation where it's awkward to connect to a device. If already needs a computer in it to drive menus / modern display protocols. Having that computer be powerful enough to also decode content is barely an extra cost.

fulafel 10mo ago
A rooted piece of trashy IOT is trashy IOT. It's an acquired taste, the excitement of putting a black box insecure linux device on the home network to add to your home infra admin duties.
- pessimizer 10mo ago
  A rooted computer is the opposite of a black box. This makes no sense.
  - fulafel 10mo ago
    Rooting gets you additional means to reverse engineer the proprietary software system but doesn't automagically lighten the box. It's all relative of course, maybe you view anything you can Ghidra as not-black-box. (though this is kind of tangential to rooting - for a many/most devices you can get a hold of the blobs to reverse engineer without rooting anything)
- olyjohn 10mo ago
  If someone can get access to the TV on your local network, you're already in trouble.
wiether 10mo ago
For the same reason I don't want a self-heating mug.
- michaelsalim 10mo ago
  Why wouldn't you want that? Genuinely curious
  - boerseth 10mo ago
    Modularity and separation of concerns can extend into other domains than software. For me, it seems so much simpler to keep the two separate. You won't be forced to wash the heating element every time you wash the cup. Can't heat a different cup while the other is in the dishwasher, unless all your cups are self-heating. Normally, the only way for a cup to break is if it shatters, but with an inbuilt heater there's electronics that can break too. And should the cup shatter, now the heater is unusable too, or vice versa.
    - wiether 10mo ago
      Exactly! I have to have a kettle for other purpose (including heating water for other mugs than mine), and no self-heating mug is going to be as efficient as a kettle to heat water. Furthermore, I also put cold or room temperature liquids in my mug. With a self-heating one, I would be carrying the heating parts for absolutely no reason. Same goes for a TV. By keeping things separated, I can decide what I do which each device and manage their lifecycle separately. If the device reading video files is included in the TV, I can't plug it to another TV or a projector or even take it with me to use it elsewhere. While I've upgraded three times my video playing device to follow tech evolution, I've kept the same TV to plug them in.
      - saalweachter 10mo ago
        But like, a coffeemaker is a thing. You can make coffee with a kettle, but if you are making enough coffee often enough, it does make sense to bundle a second kettle into a dedicated coffeemaker, even if you are reducing the functionality of it by doing so.
        wiether 10mo ago
Itoldmyselfso 10mo ago
How about the abdysmal security Smart TVs either have right of the shelf or for certain after they are no longer kept up-to-date? I don't want to worry having my TV act either as botnet or spying device (many come with microphones and cameras nowadays). I rather purchase additional device that has decent security that I can attach to the TV if I need to.
lenkite 10mo ago
> Why wouldn't you want it to be a computer? Because I can then easily upgrade my computer without upgrading my TV.
- pessimizer 10mo ago
  Do you have to upgrade your computer when you upgrade your router? This entire subthread is not computer-literate. Your monitor contains a computer. A dumb display contains a computer. Your keyboard contains a computer. You can strip the software down on them so they do nothing but take commands and drive whatever electronics you have attached to them, but it will still be software on a computer. If there's a lot of RAM and a fat processor, like on a rooted smart TV, I might (but not necessarily) make it do a little more than that.
ryandrake 10mo ago
> Why wouldn't you want it to be a computer? The same reason I don't want anything else in my life to be a computer. A computer is one more component that can fail and take down the whole product. I want my computer to be a computer and that's it.

fulafel 10mo ago

A rooted piece of trashy IOT is trashy IOT. It's an acquired taste, the excitement of putting a black box insecure linux device on the home network to add to your home infra admin duties.

pessimizer 10mo ago
A rooted computer is the opposite of a black box. This makes no sense.
- fulafel 10mo ago
  Rooting gets you additional means to reverse engineer the proprietary software system but doesn't automagically lighten the box. It's all relative of course, maybe you view anything you can Ghidra as not-black-box. (though this is kind of tangential to rooting - for a many/most devices you can get a hold of the blobs to reverse engineer without rooting anything)
olyjohn 10mo ago
If someone can get access to the TV on your local network, you're already in trouble.

wiether 10mo ago

For the same reason I don't want a self-heating mug.

michaelsalim 10mo ago
Why wouldn't you want that? Genuinely curious
- boerseth 10mo ago
  Modularity and separation of concerns can extend into other domains than software. For me, it seems so much simpler to keep the two separate. You won't be forced to wash the heating element every time you wash the cup. Can't heat a different cup while the other is in the dishwasher, unless all your cups are self-heating. Normally, the only way for a cup to break is if it shatters, but with an inbuilt heater there's electronics that can break too. And should the cup shatter, now the heater is unusable too, or vice versa.
  - wiether 10mo ago
    Exactly! I have to have a kettle for other purpose (including heating water for other mugs than mine), and no self-heating mug is going to be as efficient as a kettle to heat water. Furthermore, I also put cold or room temperature liquids in my mug. With a self-heating one, I would be carrying the heating parts for absolutely no reason. Same goes for a TV. By keeping things separated, I can decide what I do which each device and manage their lifecycle separately. If the device reading video files is included in the TV, I can't plug it to another TV or a projector or even take it with me to use it elsewhere. While I've upgraded three times my video playing device to follow tech evolution, I've kept the same TV to plug them in.
    - saalweachter 10mo ago
      But like, a coffeemaker is a thing. You can make coffee with a kettle, but if you are making enough coffee often enough, it does make sense to bundle a second kettle into a dedicated coffeemaker, even if you are reducing the functionality of it by doing so.
      - wiether 10mo ago

Itoldmyselfso 10mo ago

How about the abdysmal security Smart TVs either have right of the shelf or for certain after they are no longer kept up-to-date? I don't want to worry having my TV act either as botnet or spying device (many come with microphones and cameras nowadays). I rather purchase additional device that has decent security that I can attach to the TV if I need to.

lenkite 10mo ago

> Why wouldn't you want it to be a computer? Because I can then easily upgrade my computer without upgrading my TV.

pessimizer 10mo ago
Do you have to upgrade your computer when you upgrade your router? This entire subthread is not computer-literate. Your monitor contains a computer. A dumb display contains a computer. Your keyboard contains a computer. You can strip the software down on them so they do nothing but take commands and drive whatever electronics you have attached to them, but it will still be software on a computer. If there's a lot of RAM and a fat processor, like on a rooted smart TV, I might (but not necessarily) make it do a little more than that.

ryandrake 10mo ago

> Why wouldn't you want it to be a computer? The same reason I don't want anything else in my life to be a computer. A computer is one more component that can fail and take down the whole product. I want my computer to be a computer and that's it.