Slashdot Mirror
Ask Slashdot: Why Do You Want a 'Smart TV'?
Reader kheldan questions the need for a Smart TV (edited for clarity): Yesterday we read about how Samsung is planning on 'upgrading' the firmware in its smart TVs so that it could inject ads into your video streams. This raises the question yet again: Why do you even need a 'smart TV' in the first place? We live in an age where media-center computers and DVRs are ubiquitous, and all your TV really needs to be is a high-def monitor to connect to these devices. Even many smartphones have HDMI connectivity, and a Raspberry Pi is inexpensive and can play 1080 content at full framerate. None of these devices are terribly expensive anymore, and the price jump from a non-smart TV to a smart TV makes it difficult to justify the expense. Also, remember previous articles posted on the subject of surveillance many of these smart TVs have been found guilty of. So I put it to you, denizens of Slashdot: Why does anyone really want a 'smart TV'?
I just bought a new TV over the weekend, so I have recent experience with shopping. When it comes to large screen 1080p or 4k monitors, I didn't see any in the stores that weren't "smart" in one way or another.
That said - I have no use at all for those features excepting one... The set I bought can act as a Chromecast receiver (and it does so marvelously, I might add). I won't use any of the other apps on it since I already have other devices that run those apps and more perfectly well, but I am definitely happy with the ability to wirelessly cast to it because none of my existing devices had that capability.
Consumers want a Roku/Fire/Mythbox/AppleTV-like function that lets them play video on their TV with a convenient UI. They don't especially want a smart TV, although boy wouldn't it be nice if we could eliminate a box... dream on.
However TV makers, long under the knife of commodity bottom diving, would like to get a piece of the higher margin smart-device business. It is they who are forcing their lousy smartTV functions on us. We all know better: they are very slow, they end up being unsupported after a year, they rarely support all the apps that a user may want, and it takes 60s for your TV to "boot up" as a result of the cruft. They are forcing this crap on us in the hopes that we'll find it "good enough". It's not making them any money, so I expect it will eventually be dropped, I don't know anyone who bought a TV because of its "smart" functionality.
As of right now, Netflix only plays in 4k directly on a smart TV or a few authorized media devices but no mention of a self made computer.
I want a TV that specifically does NOT have those "smart" features.
Putting a EULA-requiring TV with a camera, microphone and internet connection in the bedroom. What could possibly go wrong?
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"You are not remembered for doing what is expected of you." - Atul Chitnis
As usual, The Pirate Bay and Kickass Torrents have Netflix shows in 4k. Their DRM only serves to drive away paying customers.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
I believe the Roku 4 supports Netflix at 4K. I suspect the Tivo Bolt does as well.
Evolution: love it or leave it
Slashdot is obviously challenging us with a trick question. The correct answer is "You don't. You want to buy a dumb TV and let the "smart" reside in the boxes you attach to it, boxes that perform much better and can be more easily and cheaply upgraded in the future."
Of course, Samsung and the TV industry masturbate to the idea of TV's being regularly upgraded like cellphones. They got addicted to all that phat cash they made when people moved from SD to HDTV and so now they're throwing everything at the wall to keep us constantly upgrading. It's why they're pushing so hard on 4K, even though you would need a HUGE screen (or be sitting VERY close to it) to even tell the difference between regular 1080p and 4K. Only idiots think they need a 42" 4K TV when the huge screen at their local movie theater is only 2K.
SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.