As long as you keep it from connecting to the internet. The moment a Roku TV connects and updates, the HDMI inputs are locked out, and you are forced to sign up for a Roku account, give an email address, agree to terms, etc. It was possible to skip the "add payment method" though, or least it was this time last year.

This was available to YouTubers prior to Google ingesting it. My URL still works now, and I definitely don't have the minimum subscriber count.

I agree with your general points about AC and refrigerators, but comparison results may vary greatly depending on cable box (model, firmware, cable provider, and even hard drive brand/model inside), and other factors like climate. For example, in the Northeast my AC runs much less. The Motorola DVR I recently returned was drawing 60 watts constantly - even when switched off the Kill-a-watt showed no change, as the hard drive never spins down.

Except that they never did standardize. The closest to standardization was probably mid-90's vehicles, when you could at least count on a car maker to have 1 type of connector across all models, and that harness contained standard power and speaker connections. It was still necessary to get the other gender plug for it, and match/connect wires to the aftermarket brand harness included with your aftermarket stereo. It has only degraded from there.

Some aftermarket stereo misadventure examples:
Got a GM vehicle from the last decade? Want that aftermarket radio to turn on/off with the ignition key? Don't want to lose the warning chimes? You need this $100 module and harness that taps into the class 2 serial bus and provides the missing "ignition switched" power wire and speaker for chimes. (Or before that was available, you could buy a bizarre harness that moved your factory radio to the trunk to retain OEM chimes)

Opted for that "premium" factory stereo on that Nissan? No harness available that retains factory amp. You can either cut the amp out and redo all the speaker wiring, or try to be clever and build your own harness with RCA line-level plugs to connect to the factory amp, only to discover that the factory amp inputs are not standard line-level or "speaker level" so you get noise/pops unless you spend another $40 on ground loop isolators.

Or how about a recent vehicle that has modern USB and Bluetooth features on the base stereo? (I'm going to pick on Subaru here) Sure you can still get a harness plug for the basics, but all other connections (overhead mic, USB/aux jacks in console, steering wheel buttons) have no standardization, even between other models from the same maker. (mic has goofy amp circuit on the mic - cannot reuse for aftermarket, USB/aux jack harness - one guy made a business out of custom harnesses like this, steering wheel buttons - need a aftermarket interface module) It quickly turns into several hundred dollars in harnesses, modules, dash mounting kits, etc just to get an aftermarket stereo installed, with difficulty beyond what an average do-it-yourself'er can handle.

Or then there's the stereos integrated with HVAC controls. 3 of the 4 vehicles a considered recently had this. Good luck going aftermarket on those.

I did the same thing 2 weeks ago. I was customer of Verizon for 13 years, paying about $44 a month for a dumb-phone with 450 voice minutes, 250 text messages, no data. That was with my 20% discount via my employer (not Verizon, but a partner). Purchased a Virgin Mobile (Sprint network) HTC Evo V (aka 3D) for $300, and the bill comes to $37 per month including all taxes/fees. Virgin was able to port my number, which only took an hour. Aside from the up-front cost of the phone (and $300 is very reasonable when most subsidized phones are still $200) I am very satisfied being able to reduce my monthly expense instead of getting gouged when I get a new phone from Verizon.

It must be carrier dependent. I have a 3+ year old non-smart phone, through Verizon. No data plan. I specifically had them block data usage, to prevent inadvertent charges due to bumped shortcut keys. Even though data is blocked, it can send/receive MMS just fine, including those sent from friends/family with smartphones.

I've been using DD-WRT on a Linksys WRT54GL router with success for years. The bandwidth usage charts work well, and you can backup the stats to local file. I have no stability issues that some here are reporting.

My cable ISP cut me off in 2001, when my roomate got a worm/bot infection due to bad P2P settings. I understand the good intentions, but it then became difficult to reach the right person who could reinstate service once I convinced them my network was clean.

My $0.02 and experience on this...
Several years ago, I refused an update to a 2003 Nissan. To sum it up, the engine could stall due to a poorly-made crank position sensor (CPS). Nissan determined it was cheaper to issue a firmware update than replace the all of the sensors. The update lets the PCM cope with bad CPS signals, so that it does not stall, but other side effects (tach stops working, etc) remain because the root cause (CPS) went unaddressed. I declined the update, as I had already taken the initiative to replace the bad CPS with the updated sensor myself. It resolved all issues.

Fast forward a couple years. Due to other mechanical design/manufacturing defects the engine failed (QR25DE - prone to pre-cat failure and power-valve screw ingestion, causing scoured cylinder walls then ring failure) @ 59K miles. The vehicle was well-cared for, unmodified, etc. When it came time to make a warranty claim, several dealers flat-out refused to help me, many citing the unaddressed firmware update.

That might not have been legal, moral, or business-smart (retain me as customer) but point is - if you care about your warranty, refusing an update is opening the door for future hassle, should something (even unrelated, like my issue) happen. Apparently being an informed/educated/opinionated owner isn't an advantage.

I agree - abandoning their bread and butter product is not wise. At the same time, good riddance - I never had good luck with non-Intel (or non-AMD) chipsets being stable.