i mean, i get his point. but most of these smart devices need an internet connection for any of their smart stuff to work. so long as you don’t give it your wifi pass, or wire it in, it’s just going to be a dumb device.
i have a newer LG TV i use with my PC. it’s just wired to my PC. at some point i connected it to internet to see how the IP Channel stuff worked on it. it would let me watch stuff for about 10 minutes before it prompted to download an app. that shit got disconnected quick. never again.
all this ‘smart’ stuff needs to be granted access to your network to serve ads and recommend apps. don’t connect it.
It won’t break out of the blue, don’t use the features and if it works out of the box it will continue working without updates and worst case if something is problematic you plug it, update and unplug it.
TVs aren’t mechanical devices like a washer where they switched metal parts to plastic to save a couple of dollars here and there.
Heck, you can even just buy a PC monitor or a projector if you’re just against smart stuff!
First of all, you’re still paying for all those features you don’t need, that’s bad.
Second, these “smart” features almost always slow down the devices, so even simple tasks get sluggish.
Finally, electronics absolutely do break, and the more of it you’re having, the likelier it is for something to break. Memory and CPUs can overheat, capacitor can (and do) leak, especially in very thin TVs that’s a common problem, and solder joints can break.
some ‘smart’ ones need the internet just to do a ‘setup’ when its first turned on.