5 ms·

The ad industry underwrites the consumer tech market. That's why you can buy a SmartTV for like 100 bucks (or whatever, I haven't bought a tv in like 10 years

The ad industry underwrites the consumer tech market. That's why you can buy a SmartTV for like 100 bucks (or whatever, I haven't bought a tv in like 10 years knock-on-wood).

dietr1ch 8mo ago
My plan to buy a TV is to get one that can be kept offline, or one that can be made able to stay offline through flashing or dismantling into its very core elements. Dismantling it would probably ensure it's ugly af, but maybe if you try to go for one of those TV-in-a-frame things it might not look hideous.
- giancarlostoro 8mo ago
  Every smart TV I own can be kept offline; I just don't put it online ever. The issue is the software bloat makes turning them on unnecessarily slower.
  - stvltvs 8mo ago
    I don't trust that smart TVs won't use my neighbor's open Wifi or a mobile network to phone home.
    - giancarlostoro 8mo ago
      Time to make a wiki... How to open up your TV and yank out the wifi antenna out of it...
- deltoidmaximus 8mo ago
  Not sure how common it is now, but based on repair manuals my TV's wifi is provided by a standard m.2 wifi module and can be trivially removed. That wouldn't stop them from changing the TV's OS to nag or otherwise disable itself afterwards but the hardware change is about as trivial as it could be. Now why the disable wifi option isn't available on the TV when it appears in the user manual is another matter...
  - nobody9999 8mo ago
    >Not sure how common it is now, but based on repair manuals my TV's wifi is provided by a standard m.2 wifi module and can be trivially removed Or just do egress filtering[0] on your router and block the device from communicating with the Internet. No disassembly required. I block all access to/from my "smart" TV at my firewall/router and it works just fine. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egress_filtering https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egress_filtering
- mghackerlady 8mo ago
  Or you can either do what I do and buy an old TV. I have a nearly 20 year old plasma that looks great and isn't gonna listen in on me. If you absolutely need a higher resolution than 1080p or need an OLED display, you can buy them as "digital signage" (though, usually with a pretty high markup)

The ad industry underwrites the consumer tech market. That's why you can buy a SmartTV for like 100 bucks (or whatever, I haven't bought a tv in like 10 years knock-on-wood).

dietr1ch 8mo ago

My plan to buy a TV is to get one that can be kept offline, or one that can be made able to stay offline through flashing or dismantling into its very core elements. Dismantling it would probably ensure it's ugly af, but maybe if you try to go for one of those TV-in-a-frame things it might not look hideous.

giancarlostoro 8mo ago
Every smart TV I own can be kept offline; I just don't put it online ever. The issue is the software bloat makes turning them on unnecessarily slower.
- stvltvs 8mo ago
  I don't trust that smart TVs won't use my neighbor's open Wifi or a mobile network to phone home.
  - giancarlostoro 8mo ago
    Time to make a wiki... How to open up your TV and yank out the wifi antenna out of it...
deltoidmaximus 8mo ago
Not sure how common it is now, but based on repair manuals my TV's wifi is provided by a standard m.2 wifi module and can be trivially removed. That wouldn't stop them from changing the TV's OS to nag or otherwise disable itself afterwards but the hardware change is about as trivial as it could be. Now why the disable wifi option isn't available on the TV when it appears in the user manual is another matter...
- nobody9999 8mo ago
  >Not sure how common it is now, but based on repair manuals my TV's wifi is provided by a standard m.2 wifi module and can be trivially removed Or just do egress filtering[0] on your router and block the device from communicating with the Internet. No disassembly required. I block all access to/from my "smart" TV at my firewall/router and it works just fine. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egress_filtering https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egress_filtering
mghackerlady 8mo ago
Or you can either do what I do and buy an old TV. I have a nearly 20 year old plasma that looks great and isn't gonna listen in on me. If you absolutely need a higher resolution than 1080p or need an OLED display, you can buy them as "digital signage" (though, usually with a pretty high markup)