Beep boop - this is a robot. A new show has been posted to TWiT…
What are your thoughts about today’s show? We’d love to hear from you!
One problem for BlueSky is that it’s still invite-only. I know they’re doing that to increase capacity without making it a bad experience for people, but until it’s open to all, there’s not much point in using it in so far as the reason we all used Twitter is that we all used it so you can put something out there and everyone who cares to follow you can see it.
If you want a TV that isn’t smart, then you can always buy an external monitor with audio output. It would mean that you go back to the early 2000s in terms of size, but wouldn’t it be worth it? Refusing to upgrade your TV because you don’t want a smart TV is, in my opinion, dumb, given that just because you’ve bought a “smart” TV doesn’t mean you have to use the “smart” functionality. If you don’t give the TV internet access, then it’s just a regular TV,
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Came here to post this. The “smart” TV that my parents bought for their kitchen is getting dumber by the minute, constantly dropping connection and the UI is slow as molasses. I’m replacing it this Christmas with a basic Dell Ultrasharp panel and an Nvidia Shield.
I hear you on the “just don’t use the features” point, but the problem is that manufacturers are stuffing all basic functionality under that crummy Linux implementation that will inevitably degrade and become a point of frustration. I don’t want to have to interact with an ARM SoC just to change the source input or the volume!
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What?!?! 
So you don’t want to have to code something like:
use RandomTVBrandAPI
void selectInput(String inputNameToSelect)
{
List[TVSource] possibleInputs = TVAPI.getPossibleInputs()
for (input in possibleInputs)
{
if (input.name contains inputNameToSelect)
{
TVAPI.setTVSource(input)
}
}
}
selectInput("HDMI1")
Only kidding of course, but it could be a whole new dimension in nerdiness
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tbh, if these systems were that liberal with their API’s I’d probably be ok with it!
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My Sony Android TV stopped getting security updates after about a year, which is unacceptable. Since then, it hasn’t but been connected to the network and is just a dumb TV.
Since then, it has been through 2 FireTVs and is now attached to an Apple TV.
I will never buy another expensive consumer electronic device based on its “smarts”, I will buy the best non-smart device or the best device that will still work, when not networked, and attach cheap, replaceable smart bits as necessary.
A TV should have a life of at least 10 years, but manufacturers won’t support the smart side for probably even half of its lifetime, so it makes no sense to buy it for its smarts.
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My main Panasonic TV, which is Mozilla Firefox OS, is still getting updates after 4 years. Apps are quick and work well, so use them, plus it’s much more family-friendly than trying to get people to use different remotes, switch HDMI inputs etc.
Got a very cheap TV upstairs that’s awful. Slow, buggy, all the apps are out of date. So that’s got a Fire TV connected.
I suppose that, if you’re just using it with an Apple TV, so not plugging an aerial into the back of it, I can see your point but if the “crummy Linux implementation” doesn’t have a network connection I’m not sure why that matters, If I am missing something, then I apologise
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I’ll stress that this is only my opinion, but I believe that low-grade consumer software (with exceptions) is perishable. Over time it degrades and causes input latencies, mysterious errors, and generally unwanted behavior. This can be due to poor coding, cheap hardware choices, etc. Maybe there are exceptions in the TV space, but given the state of IoT I’d rather not find out.
In summary, why introduce complexities when none are desired?
My Sony TV has been offline for over half a decade now and the satellite reception and the HDMI inputs still work without any delays.
The FireTV and FireTV Stick 4K both slowed down and the 4K even ran out of space, not playing back any video, because the Prime app had taken over 95% of the storage space and wouldn’t allow the OS to clear its cache!
The Apple TV 4K seems to be working fine.
BUT, the difference is, the Sony stopped getting updates in 2015/16 and hasn’t been on the network since then, but it still works fine as a TV. The FireTV and the Apple TV both work with the Sony remote control, so no need to swap, and when these “cheap” bits stop working properly, they can be easily replaced.
I’d rather have to replace the FireTV or Apple TV for 30€ or 199€ respectively every 5 years or so than to replace the 1,500€ TV every 18 months, because it doesn’t get any more security updates.