I also fear we will have to install faraday mesh in our walls when these things start arriving with their own internet connection to collect your data and show you ads.

So in theory future devices like Roku

This is your reminder that the Roku company is currently in the process of being purchased by Fox News. No, I'm not joking.

They could but why would they? Roku sells data on you already and has limited things to gain from teaming up on the off chance you’re using a second source for content. Apple sells on the basis of privacy for a higher price and if they’re getting into that game like Roku they’d just spy themselves and not help a competitor on the chance a consumer has blocked it.

If anything Roku and others being able to say “we have data on people TV makers don’t” increases their own value proposition.

The real risk IMO is on device analysis and built in cellular modems sending this data. That and things like Amazon sidewalk meaning your neighbor’s Alexa device passes it on for a fee. That and just refusing to work without internet of course.

We already saw LG load malware via windows when connected.

This was 100% a Windows driver issue as opposed to a TV issue. And I could see possibly Roku doing this, but not Apple. Apple being Unix based precludes the type of driver loading that Windows is susceptible to.

Same goes for Linux. Just use Linux.

unfortunately, the store often eats the cost as a lower-priced open box.

If they’re using bluetooth and wifi, we better find and remove those components too.

Removing the Bluetooth/wifi module maybe more difficult. For cost cutting reasons, these controllers are built into the logic boards now, but disconnecting the bluetooth/wifi antennas inside the TV is trivially easy. They are simple push-on mechanical connectors. No wire cutting needed. Gently grab the gold/silver metal part pull straight up from the board.

I just googled "lcd TV logic board" and this was one of the first images I found. I put a red square around the antenna connectors.

My friend, we don't need to speculate. The industry gives us all the info we need.

https://www.prnewswire.com/...

https://worldscreen.com/...

Right now, it's about consolidating power at the TV operating system level. Make the TV replace devices like a Roku box and you get all that data. 61% of US households use the TV as their main streaming device. So that's about 82 million households. Some stats get as high as 70%

https://www.aidigital.com/blog/connected-tv-stats

So connected TV use is growing at a huge rate.

It's a hard number to get, but I've seen estimates that smart tvs are subsidized by about $200 per unit based on a value of $120 per viewer per year on days collection when they're connected. Average about 2 people per household and a 3 year lifespan of the TV, and that's $720-$200, so $500 net profit from data sales on average per unit. So already that's close to $40-$50 billion in data sales alone across the smart TV market in the US. Without adding in hidden bells and whistles to collect more data.

But the gap the industry sees isn't people wisely not connecting their TVs. It's that there's so many connected devices! They want the TV to just replace some of them.

https://www.mediapost.com/...

And it's working. Simply causing TV OS bloat to try and get ahead of human laziness and undercut Roku is the goal. With huge gains to be made without spending a penny on things like embedded sims cards and cellular service for 40 million TVs sold annually in the US to collect data on a group that's already shifting patterns to the TV as the primary device. Why bother? It's wasted money for most units sold. If companies just sold cheap, subsidized TVs that demanded they must be connected to work, then that's the easiest, cheapest, highest profit angle to play.

There are models that will try out unencrypted wifi AP just to phone home. No extra equipment needed and unfortunately the chances of finding an open AP are pretty good in the middle of the city.

But you use the Internet? I doubt that. Even torrent sites have some.

to me the reason I don't want a mouse is I need to move it on some surface for it to work, and even then it's handling is much less accurate than at the desk, and its a chore to target that little button on the screen. from this point keyboard based navigation would work better, in apps that implement it well. I can imagine using a keyboard, but most other people I know would not accept that, because it's too big.

so far the best option I heard is a normal TV remote but with a keypad and trackpad on the back. but do those work with IR, are the signals of these buttons standardized?

It is clear until that point, but how do you set up full control with that? afaik by default nothing listens to the input events generated by the IR receiver

my solution is smart TV with restricted VLAN. then it can use jellyfin or whatever I feel like. but I can't recommend that to the average joe, who does not even have any network equipment capable of restricting a port to a VLAN.

Seriously. any recommendation that does not solve this problem is at most a tech demo. remote control, preferably without the fragile smartphone. and no airmouse, that's terrible even on my LG TV. hardware side it's simple, get an USB IR receiver, or use the HDMI-CEC signals coming from the TV. but there is nothing to tie it into the linux desktop.