Terence EdenJan 6, 2024

People who rant about how terrible it is that you can't buy a non-Smart TV any more.

You know you don't have to plug the TV into the Internet, right?

I've got two. One acts as a big monitor for my laptop. The other one has a media player box & games console connected.

You're allowed to use a heavily subsidised device in a different manner from which it was intended.

Show threadMichael Ochs
@Edent I wish it was that simple. Some will only work after you connect them to the internet. Others literally try to find an open WiFi or anything they connect to and then claim they are offline and still send all your data.
Jan 7, 2024 at 3:13pmWeb
Show threadTerence EdenJan 7, 2024
@_mochs
Which ones specifically?
Show threadMichael OchsJan 8, 2024
@Edent I bought a Roku tv and during setup it asks for a WiFi and there’s simple no option to skip that step. At least none I could find and I definitely tried. A colleague says he sees his TV making attempts to connect to his WiFi. Don’t know the details or the brand there though. Basically I think if you don’t want your smart tv to connect to the internet you need to let it connect to your WiFi, then block its traffic. That’s not something most people know how to do.
Show threadTerence EdenJan 8, 2024
@_mochs
I'll concede that if you buy a device which advertises itself as primarily a streaming device and has a warning in its instruction manual that it can't be used without a connection then, yes, you have purchased something unsuitable.
Show threadMichael OchsJan 8, 2024
@Edent I am not talking about a Roku box. I’m talking about a Roku tv. And I would assume every tv running on Roku OS probably behaves the same.