VerbTELEVISIONS ARE JUST SCREENS
they dont need to be smart
make them dumb
make everything dumb immediately
they dont need to be smart
make them dumb
make everything dumb immediately
Mister Moo 🐮@SarraceniaWilds I've never allowed a television to connect to the internet and I never will.
Dan GoodinSo y'all do without streaming then? What do you watch?
The 500 Hats of LambdaCalculus@dangoodin @MisterMoo @SarraceniaWilds DVDs and Blu-Rays, VHS tapes and LaserDiscs. Or build a Plex or Jellyfin server and make a Kodi or OSMC box, connect the two, and build your own library.
Need media? Reject modernity; embrace tradition! 
@LambdaCalculus @MisterMoo @SarraceniaWilds
So many things wrong with what y'all are advising:
Do you use debit cards? if so, marketers are scooping up tons more data than from your purchases than they are from streaming.
Telling folks that the only way they can be safe on online is to do with without major platforms that provide tons more viewing choices is not a good way to go. It makes security unnecessarily hard and depriving.
There was a time when DVDs and completely booked the traditional means. Shaming people for using smart TVs is unnecessarily alarmist and not at all constructive.
@dangoodin @MisterMoo @SarraceniaWilds Hey, you asked what we would do without streaming. I gave you an answer. Jumping down my throat and calling me alarmist is not constructive to this conversation. If you don't like my answer, you can simply mute me and walk away and not carry this further.
No one is twisting your arm to do what we do. If you want to use a smart TV, go ahead. That's your prerogative; I ain't your parent to tell you what to do.
I personally do not want a smart TV. If I need a device for streaming, I would rather just buy a separate device for that, like a Roku or something. That way, if I really *don't* want any streaming at all, it's as easy as unplug the Roku and back in the box it goes. Even now, my Roku's major usage is just for Plex and a couple of additional bits like the SomaFM channel and New Ellijay's streaming TV channel. But if people ask for alternative means, then we should be able to share with them some alternative means of watching stuff. If people also want to watch physical media, who are we to tell them no?
Long and short, lay off people who present an alternative to the mainstream.
@LambdaCalculus @MisterMoo @SarraceniaWilds
Please re-read my reply. No one called you alarmist. It's the advice in this thread that is alarmist. Big difference.
In what universe is it dangerous to hook a smartTV to the Internet, but using a Roku is safe?
https://daringfireball.net/linked/2021/02/18/roku-privacy
Thinking Roku is safer than a smart TV is completely unfounded and a good example why the advice y'all are giving is antithetical to true security and privacy.
Bob K Mertz 
@dangoodin
A separate device is easier to kill. You need your TV for everything ahs therefore everything is captured.... Playing console games, Blu-Ray, etc is all captured by your TV. Even more so it's a lot cheaper to replace an external Roku is they start going batshit crazy with ads whereas it's not a trivial thing to buy a new TV.
So yes, there is a HUGE difference between having an external device connected to the internet versus the primary device (TV).
@LambdaCalculus @MisterMoo @SarraceniaWilds
Von Xylofon@bobkmertz @dangoodin @LambdaCalculus @MisterMoo @SarraceniaWilds You can use a smart TV disconnected perfectly fine. Did that for a year with a Kodi box before putting the TV online also. It worked like any other TV would, and I don't see how it can use the captured stuff when it's not online.
@vonxylofon
Agreed.... The only thing in the back of my mind is whether it looks for open wifi or is pre-populated with keys for things like Xfinity routers. But yes, never connecting it *should* be the same and what I said does still applym
@dangoodin @LambdaCalculus @MisterMoo @SarraceniaWilds
Agreed.... The only thing in the back of my mind is whether it looks for open wifi or is pre-populated with keys for things like Xfinity routers. But yes, never connecting it *should* be the same and what I said does still applym
@dangoodin @LambdaCalculus @MisterMoo @SarraceniaWilds
@bobkmertz @dangoodin @LambdaCalculus @MisterMoo @SarraceniaWilds True, but that's true of any device with a PCB. I have no real way of seeing it has or hasn't got an antenna or an extra processor that does shady stuff. It's all based on trust.