How about we stop accepting sub optimal solutions made of bodged together diverse components like some cyberpunk dystopia and actually demand better products that work the way we want?

You shouldn't need to "not connect your TV to the internet". It should work the way you want.

He's asking you to demonstrate your credentials. You claim you modified proprietary OSes, bypasses secure bootloaders with blown e-fuses, unpotted CPUs to access debug connections, bypassed subscription requirements on services, and hacked mandatory network connections to work offline? Demonstrate it. That's the kind of thing that people who are capable of post all over the internet proudly with evidence of how it was done.

Got a link for us?

Option? I bought a Samsung TV (Frame, a small model, not intended for good viewing, but for being out of the way on the wall) for the attic only 9 months ago and ... it did that by default out of the box...

The manufacturers really don't care if 5 of their customers modify their TV. Consumer ambivalence will mean manufacturers won't change, largely because sheeple have come to accept the current experience as the norm.

99.9% of normal customers wouldn't make it past the first 4 words of this Slashdot headline without scrolling on to the next article.

That's a roundabout way of saying "I don't care about TV". A great many people definitely find the idea of using a 20 year old "low resolution" display that can't instantly burn the netflix logo into your eyes in HDR1000 quality a "waste of time".

I don't watch TV much either, but I know plenty of people who do, and the resolution of your setup alone, let alone the age and capabilities of the display makes it a non-starter for many who actually enjoy watching movies at home.

It better experience changes or your 20 year old plasma technology will permanently burn in whatever it is you watch most of.

Oh I know what you mean. My point was EA was bad before, but the style of buyout of EA basically precludes any idea of innovation in the future. Previously it was just management direction driving it, now it's investor demands and debt fulfilment requirements.

There are dumb TVs still being made.

That you don't even know that shows you are not a serious customer for such a product.

You can just click "Skip" when it asks you to connect to the Internet.

You can stop it, but most people can't or won't.

They don't need to block 100% of debloating.

99.9% is good enough.

The only ads I see are for video content like new movies or TV shows, and I don't mind those.

PG&E in California incentivizes me to reduce my power consumption from 2 to 7 pm, and gives me cheap off-peak electricity from 2 to 4 am, when I charge my EV.

I've been on this program for 11 years. It works well for me.

Some of the worst mass murderers in history have also been dictators, but the two are not necessarily found together. Most dictators have been strict authoritarians, but without massive civilian casualties. And there are many examples in history of (non-authoritarian) democracies at war that have inflicted high caualties on their enemies.

TL/DR: someone can be a dictator without being a mass murderer.

There's an open source workaround that de-clouds SoundTouch devices https://st-reborn.de/

That one reddit user will be fine unless he was stupid enough to throw out his "bricks" (what a strange term to use for a device that still functions without the cloud crap).

Yes and no. They are definitely a lifestyle target company, but they do throw some significant technical capability into that. But it's a tradeoff, always has been. In terms of absolute audio quality they are pretty rubbish, but in terms of invisible audio that integrates into cafe, studio, living room, etc. they aren't actually that bad.

And their noise cancelling on headsets is best in class (it's a shame their sound quality doesn't match).

I wouldn't ever recommend their hifi systems though unless your wife forces it on you.

This already exists and works well. Except as usual the abolitionists blow it out of proportion. I have a remote signal in my AC unit that can be activated by my power company. All it does is change and lock in place the temperature setting by a couple of degrees. That's the reality. You may notice it's slightly warmer or cooler than normal and before you question it you see dollars rolling in, because at present this is fucking lucrative.

Literally everyone I know has the same plan and they all agree you'd be insane not to do it.

No. Ignorant. Clearly.