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Comment by lrvick | Hacker News Reader

It is a screen. You plug an HDMI cable into your source device and another into the TV. Job done.

Are there really that many people technical enough to know what an HDMI cable is without also knowing all TVs are subsidized by spyware with no security protections?

Why would anyone connect a screen to the internet in the first place?

Like, if suddenly computer monitors started asking for wifi credentials would everyone just compulsively punch them in just to see ads and give the manufacturers lots of data just because?

I must be fundamentally disconnected from how consumers think about technology.

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> Why would anyone technical ever connect a TV to the internet in the first place?

You must be...

> I must be fundamentally disconnected from how consumers think about technology.'

Right.

why would i want to have a second box to play my content when i can have it all in one. HDMI cables can only be so long before they get in the way. connecting the TV to a fileserver via wifi is awfully convenient. i also want to play stuff from my phone or my laptop (which is to far away to connect via cable), not to forget that streaming services require internet too.

so yeah, i totally want a wireless TV screen that is able to connect with all the devices in my house. but it's kind of difficult to achieve that without letting the TV access the internet. (not all home routers do not support blocking internet access to specific devices, and most people would not know that's how to do it)

TVs have streaming services, those need internet to function.

What else does anyone (average consumer) use their TV for? I don’t want a separate device to plug in and remote just to stream things.

> What else does anyone (average consumer) use their TV for?

Xbox/Playstation and free over-the-air channels. Great for major & regional sporting events - free ABC/NBC/CBS/FOX - tends to have less of a delay as well (for me anyway)

Pretty sure consoles have all the streaming apps too

Isn't that what a streaming stick is for? Who needs those complex TV remotes anyway. I've been running on Roku remotes for years and haven't missed anything. Even TiVo remotes are too complex.

Streaming sticks also collect your data. Roku does ACR unless you opt out.

Sure but some are just regular computers that run windows, easily converted to Linux.

Which streaming sticks are regular computers that run Windows?

If you mess with the firmware or try to build your own, you’ll not be able to play the higher quality formats because of DRM software.

They shouldn't though honestly. TVs should go back to basically being dumb monitors and the smart features should just come with a box. They can even sell the box as a bundle

But surely you know the TV will have ads, and spyware and screenshots you every few seconds to send to manufactures, and in some cases even has microphones involved?

The apps built into the screen literally meet the definition of trojans which any casual search on most brands would tell you.

All avoidable by plugging in an $20 dedicated source device for streaming or whatever.

Is saving the $20 really worth it?

> But surely you know

No? It's hardly written in the advertising copy for the TV, is it.

This is a technical website with technical users. You are failing to put yourself in the shoes of non-technical, ordinary users who just want to watch Netflix.

> All avoidable

If you know that you should avoid it but people don't.

> No? It's hardly written in the advertising copy for the TV, is it.

Which just proves almost no one does 5 minutes of online research before blindly believing whatever a device says about itself.

Those sorts are unfortunately in for a very bad time over the next few years.

A nutritionist, a dermatologist, a plumber could all say the same about many of the things we do or don't do day to day. There's only so many free "5 minutes" people have in a day.

I have researched second opinions from professionals on dermatology, nutrition, and plumbing, and reviews on the ones I do hire.

A bunch of 5 minute segments of gut check research avoids a ton of pain in life.

Everyone connecting these TVs to the internet, has access to the internet to tell them not to do that.

Obviously though, the TV makers are at fault. I just am baffled how so many still fall for this.

> Everyone connecting these TVs to the internet has access to the internet to tell them not to do that.

> I just am baffled how so many still fall for this.

Because you're assuming everybody else is you, cares about the same things as you, does the same things as you, and has the same priorities as you.

You're astonished the world isn't you, and that is a vastly more astonishing take than people-just-wanna-watch-Netflix.

Genuine question - are there any $20 streaming sticks that don't put their own advertisements in?

A Pi Zero running an SD card image built for streaming. Plenty of them. Take your pick.

All TVs offer extra functionality like connecting to Netflix, Disney+, HBO etc. It obviates the need for an extra device like Roku or Apple TV.

So most consumers are willing to knowingly give up privacy, security, and freedom just to save 20 bucks on a hdmi streaming device?

I have no words for how depressing that is.

Then again most consumers use Bytedance, Meta, Google, and Apple products so I guess I should not be too surprised.

> So most consumers are willing to knowingly

"Knowingly". No, they don't know. You seem to think that because you know, then so must everybody else.

I have no words for how depressing that way of thinking is.

Why would anyone not take 5 minutes to research a major purchase? They have Internet access!

I mean obviously I expect Grandma not to know, but anyone that knows enough to connect to the internet knows how to use a search engine.

Corpos get away with blatant factory malware and security negligence because consumers are so predictably unwilling to research anything beyond what their social media algorithm of choice shows them as they scroll.

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