My main TV is a smart TV solely because if you want a decent 4K panel now you’re essentially doomed to it, but it permanently lives in “Monitor Mode” or whatever the manufacturer has decided to call it this time around - all it needs to do is take the input from my AV receiver and display it, so luckily I don’t ever get bothered by any of the UI apparently being packed with ads and streaming services and other such nonsense that I hear a lot of people complain about with smart TVs unless someone accidentally sits on the remote and launches something
The only button I ever need to press on the TV remote is the power button, so it feels very superfluous to requirements sometimes - the AV receiver handles all my input switching and audio fiddling.
I keep telling myself one of these days I’ll get round to buying a nice universal remote just to cut down on the clutter, but I’ve lived with it for about a decade at this point so what’s a little while longer.
I must have been either have born in the wrong year or I’m possessed by a 25 year old spirit.
I’m 60 years old. I have 2 “smart” TVs (65” and a 55”), a Roku Ultra for the 55”, an Apple TV 4K for the 65”, a Samsung laptop, a miniPC, an iPad Pro M4, and a Samsung Galaxy S23 cell phone. I subscribe to several streamers and I have quite a few favorite TV shows I keep up with. As well as movies and music via streamers.
Although I’m sure this can differ between countries. But governments and companies no longer need to forcibly get people’s data now when they can get people willingly buy it and bring it to their home instead. And eventually there will be a data breach in any of these companies and criminals will get data which could have been avoided. And while usage can be controlled there are a lot of things behind the scenes out of your control, much like Windows OS.
In general I dislike these wi-fi connected devices if it doesn’t need to be, I won’t prevent others from buying them but there is a whole lot of data gathered by many of them. I prefer life simple and without batteries if possible, precisely why I buy wired audio equipment rather than wireless, either the battery will fail eventually, or the bluetooth version is uses will be unsupported, or the app is discontinued, all of which creates more e-waste.
I don’t think that’s really a problem. Being interested in technology and having tech around you is fine. It’s how you use it and how much does it affect you that is the problem here, not the fact that you have 2 Smart TVs in your own house and you use Netflix to watch stuff.
I think there are 2 types of Digital Minimalism. The kind that @Canoe espouses to…
And the kind I do. Unitizing technology, social media, TV, gadgets, and the like in such a way that they enrich my life as opposed to being a detriment to my life.
There’s certainly an in-between to this that I believe others would think of.
And that is limiting themselves to 1 social media account, 1 instant messenger, 1-2 email providers, 1 smartphone and/or tablet, no TVs (especially “smart” ones) in the bedroom, etc.
The idea here is to be frugal. Only add/get something if you actually NEED it, and whether it is critical to life in the modern world or just for entertainment doesn’t matter.
Individuals decide what they need, but there’s a thin line between need and FOMO.
When it comes to both my laptops, NextDNS and LeechBlock NG (a browser add-on) work just fine.
When it comes to my smartphone, Samsung is a digital minimalist paradise – thanks to “Modes and Routines” you can dumb it down as much as you want. I only log out from my dumbphone mode just to do lessons on Duolingo and check if someone hasn’t sent me anything on Messenger or Instagram.
Social media? I log in to Facebook every Friday, apart from that it’s blocked.
I don’t watch TV or any streaming services (Spotify shouldn’t count). I read books traditional way.
My car is a 9-year-old Toyota.
