While the common concern is that they have poor security, that's not my concern. What I don't want is for my refrigerator to let my grocery store know that I'm out of milk.
When I'm out of milk, I'll go to the grocery store to pick some up myself - then pay cash.
Seems like Stalmans' model is the only viable solution: As long as the user don't control the device, the manufacturers will be allowed to make the device talk to whoever and whenever they want to
Just look at the current TV market for how pervasive these things can get.
once there, we are doom
That's just the short term problem while 802.11 chips are the cheap device preferred by hardware manufacturers. This will get a lot harder to block when the LTE/WiMAX/HSPA/etc chips become cheaper and the device manufacturers start negotiating deals with the network owners for cheap low-priority batch-job rates. Your TV can store what you've been watching as long as necessary, and upload whenever the cellular network is quiet. Precedent for embedding a cellular radio already exists with "onstar".
I seriously doubt anybody checks that their electronic devices aren't uploading personal data at 3:27AM once or twice a week.
it will happen anywhere, even if you wouldn't have any "devices" in your home, the "devices" present around, outside of your control, will learn enough about you, and the Big Pizza will buy those predictions to make sure that once you decide to have pizza it is already at your doorsteps waiting. Of course, the same machinery will be used to place police officer right where and when you decide to speed a bit over the limit. They will know you better than you know yourself.
Some devices (e.g. a phone or pizza ordering app) require a network connection because that is fundamentally what the device is intended to do: giving you access to a telecommunication network. A phone or pizza ordering app without immediate network access is generally useless.
On the other hand, a TV only needs to receive a video signal to function properly. If you take away the network, the TV is still useful (it can show traditional broadcast-only video, it can show locally-generated stuff (dvd/video game console), or whatever. You might be able to add additional utility to the TV with a network (automatic guide downloads, for example). Adding the network also brings with it the usual risks associated with being on the internet.
Some may find that trading risk for features is useful. A cell phone can have a lot of utility. The problem is when people start adding network chips to products as part of this "internet of things", without considering if the utility outweighs the risks. Unfortunately, there is moral hazard in this assessment: what is good for the end user ("not being spied upon") is in conflict with the business that sees profit in data mining what used to be the end user's private activities.