We have two smart (or at least occasionally clever) TVs in the house. Neither of them was a fancy model because we got the first one while I was still badly underpaid and we got the second one while I still had the habits of the badly underpaid.1 One of them simply has a fixed set of apps in it'e ROM; upgrades are not possible, but then neither are certain classes of persistent attacks that require the attacker to make local changes.2 The other, the older one as it happens, has a loadable app system, but the manufacturer has stopped updating the existing apps or providing new ones.
Our daughter watches various shows on her tablet and on our TVs. Because they are smart TVs we're able to, for instance, bring up things on Netflix. We haven't felt the need to restrict her screen-time yet because (a) her pre-school is a screen-free zone and (b) she spends as much or more of her time at home engaged in play with physical toys as she does on screens. We figure as long as she is becoming adept at the real world we won't fret about her interest in the virtual world (though we do curate what apps she can have on her tablet).
Anyway. The kiddo has some new favorite shows that are on a platform that is new to us. Putting it on our laptops and her tablet is easy enough, but we can't get it on either TV because it wasn't a thing when they froze the available content.
Which is a problem.
I'm thinking that in the future I'll get a dumb TV well supplied with ports so that I can plug in a computer of some kind (be it a streaming stick, a raspberry pi, or some kind of mini IPX machine). so that we can upgrade the "smarts" for as long as the display is useful. Unless some manufacturer is making smart TVs based on an open platform. Anyone know? For that matter are their any streaming sticks built on open platforms?
1 Honestly I"m trying to hold onto certain of those habits even though our financial situation is rather improved. The trick it to figure out which of those habits are a good idea in general and which would be better replaced by buying a little further upscale.
2 If I had known this about it prior to buying I might have hesitated. But it was a deal of the day Woot just when we needed a larger TV, so the clock was ticking. It is, at least, a nice display.
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