A group of television owners is pushing back against the software, advertising and data collection built into modern smart TVs, choosing instead to keep screens offline or use them only as displays for separate devices. Their complaints highlight a widening gap between manufacturers' all-in-one entertainment systems and viewers who want a television to perform a smaller, more predictable set of functions.
Smart TVs began reaching the market in the late 2000s, combining conventional screens with operating systems, streaming apps and media players. Those functions are now common even in low-cost models. Tom Parsons, TV and audiovisual editor at What Hi-Fi?, said inexpensive sets can feel slow from the outset and may become less responsive after several years as software demands increase.
For some users, recurring updates and subscription prompts are as frustrating as sluggish performance. An Illinois viewer with a computer-science background described destroying one set after it downloaded a third update in three days. He said he had wanted only to watch broadcasts, play DVDs and stream from his own computer, rather than manage new services and features.
Other owners are adopting less dramatic workarounds. A Connecticut couple keeps its television disconnected from Wi-Fi and uses an Apple TV box for streaming. The approach separates the screen from the software used to deliver programs and can reduce the television maker's direct access to viewing data. A Welsh household similarly sought a non-smart replacement and now relies on a Sky box, accepting a higher purchase price in exchange for limiting connected features.
Privacy is a major part of the resistance. Parsons said televisions increasingly contain sensors, including microphones, which can make consumers uneasy about how manufacturers use their information. Owners interviewed by The Guardian also objected to prominent advertising and the sense that their living rooms had become another surface for subscription marketing. Their concern is not necessarily a rejection of streaming; several continue to use external boxes or online video while keeping the television itself offline.
Buying a genuinely non-smart consumer television has become difficult. Parsons said commercial signage monitors are available but may not match the picture performance and features of sets designed for homes. An Australian buyer reported searching for weeks before finding a dusty 40-inch model with no internet connection.
The options could narrow further if broadcasters move away from terrestrial signals. Australia has consulted the public about future access to free-to-air television, including a scenario centered on streaming and on-demand apps. The United Kingdom has also outlined a possible transition from digital terrestrial television to broadband-delivered services no earlier than 2034.
Those policy discussions do not determine how much data a television must collect, but they show why the distinction between a screen and a connected service matters. Consumers who prefer separate, replaceable streaming hardware can still create a simpler setup today. Their growing difficulty finding a plain television, however, suggests that connectivity is becoming a default product requirement rather than an optional feature.
