[notaustinpowers]

This literally happened to me on Friday. I was setting up a smart TV for my uncle and he just uses it for his Chromecast so I thought "whatever, I'm not going to connect this TV to his wifi."

Come to find out, the TV locks you out of EVERYTHING if you do not connect it to the internet. You see the homescreen but you aren't allowed to switch the input unless you connect to the wifi. Even after connecting to wifi, you only get access to FAST channels, and still have to register with a Samsung account before you get permission to change the input.

I don't think I had ever been more upset at a piece of tech in my life.

[nonrandomstring]

You're sure you read the instructions correctly? What's the make and model of that, please? I think people would like to know. That would certainly be illegal over here in Europe.

[jimjimjim]

TVs are the worst. Everything except OLED sets have been getting cheaper and cheaper and I'm certain these manufacturers aren't achieving this via production line optimizations. It starts with the connection to vacuum up the data, next comes overlay ads, in a few years it'll be subscription plans instead of a sticker price. and the general public will love it.

[Vrondi]

I had one like this (Toshiba), and I did the initial setup, then blocked it at my router from ever accessing the Internet again. Next TV purchase was a different brand (TCL) that didn't require such stupidity.

[Symbiote]

I would have returned it.

"It's for the basement room, no WiFi there" if the shop argues.

[soco]

My just installed Bosch washing machine says that some programs are only accessible in their app. I pondering whether to send it back or give in and block it at the router (although the app will be free to do its nonsense).