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Amazon Sidewalk

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Re: Amazon Sidewalk

#571

Post by pupdogg »

ilikepi wrote: post #556
Gorbzel wrote: post #485

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No no no, stick to your vision!! ½ of these comments asking for AirPlay, the other ½ asking for Android TV or wtf Google is calling it these days. Next someone will want Roku, while someone else wants Amazon, and we’re right back to where we started. The purity of your idea is in the dumb TV. Don’t put a Raspberry Pi on the back, don’t build a mini-ATX PC in. 5 HDMI ports. Power. That’s it. People can bring their own…

Exactly. There are probably two groups of people in this thread who are interested in the pitch: * people who want a completely dumb display with a bunch of inputs, as you say * people who want a display with some smarts but that is "open", can be "hacked", etc I totally understand the desire to have more things to hack, but there are already numerous little boxes, pucks, sticks, etc to scratch that itch. What's real…

To be clear, I am ALL for this group below:

* people who want a completely dumb display with a bunch of inputs

This leaves the option to hack it with whatever input device the user sees fit.

Re: Amazon Sidewalk

#572

Post by [deleted] »

zschuessler wrote: post #445
pupdogg wrote: post #363

If anyone is interested, I wouldn't mind collaborating to create a privacy oriented SmartTV or PC for devs or simply an industrial grade dumb TV. I have experience designing and building 70" industrial displays that utilize Samsung LCD panels. These "industrial" panels are normally twice the price of consumer grade ones but are designed to operate 24/7 with a MTBF of 100k hours (approx. 11 years) and are usually twic…

I don't know if this falls in your vision or not, probably not, but I'll say I would pay top-dollar for an Android TV that was veritably privacy focused. I purchased a Sony TV that runs Android and adore it. I initially purchased it because it was a no-nonsense take on Android with high-rated privacy support. Sadly, over the past year they have begun introducing ads, promotions, and privacy policy readjustments that…

[deleted]

Re: Amazon Sidewalk

#573

Post by Loughla »

josefresco wrote: post #341
Loughla wrote: post #264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

100%. We just got a sceptre from walmart. Stupid big for the price, great picture, and did I mention the low price. Oh, and not one smart feature; just television with various inputs. I haven't TV shopped in literal decades. It astounded me that there was (a) a market for more advertising on your television via smart features, and (b) seemingly low-end models are the only ones that are available as 'dumb'. Other manu…

Low end TVs also skimp on HDMI ports. I didn't think of this, purchased a cheap LG (with only 2) and then had to buy an HDMI hub. Obviously still cheaper than paying $2-400 more on the TV itself, but next I'm I'll count the ports.

Fun fact - I got the sceptre because it listed 3 HDMI ports. Opened it up, and it has 4. No idea why the difference.

Re: Amazon Sidewalk

#574

Post by pupdogg »

yumraj wrote: post #536
pupdogg wrote: post #363

If anyone is interested, I wouldn't mind collaborating to create a privacy oriented SmartTV or PC for devs or simply an industrial grade dumb TV. I have experience designing and building 70" industrial displays that utilize Samsung LCD panels. These "industrial" panels are normally twice the price of consumer grade ones but are designed to operate 24/7 with a MTBF of 100k hours (approx. 11 years) and are usually twic…

1) you should have some contact info in your profile so that people can actually contact you. 2) I'll suggest you setup a website with info regarding this with more details and so on, again so that people can get in touch with you, you can measure interest and perhaps even build a few one off TVs for some people to kick start. Rest will follow..

my apologies. i thought my email was visible in my profile. i updated the about section. thx

Re: Amazon Sidewalk

#576

Post by dtrickett »

"Customers with a Sidewalk Bridge (today, many Echo devices, Ring Floodlight Cams and Ring Spotlight Cams) can contribute a small portion of their internet bandwidth, which is pooled together to create a shared network that benefits all Sidewalk-enabled devices in a community."

If only this logic applied elsewhere

(Citizens) with a (paying job) can contribute a small portion of their (paycheck), which is pooled together to create a shared (infrastructure) that benefits all (citizens) in a community.

Re: Amazon Sidewalk

#577

Post by gonehome »

pupdogg wrote: post #571
ilikepi wrote: post #556

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. There are probably two groups of people in this thread who are interested in the pitch: * people who want a completely dumb display with a bunch of inputs, as you say * people who want a display with some smarts but that is "open", can be "hacked", etc I totally understand the desire to have more things to hack, but there are already numerous little boxes, pucks, sticks, etc to scratch that itch. What's real…

To be clear, I am ALL for this group below: * people who want a completely dumb display with a bunch of inputs This leaves the option to hack it with whatever input device the user sees fit.

I like the idea of one cable to an external box of many inputs that lives in the tv stand.

It separates out the input box from the display (makes it easier to plug things into) and allows just one cable to come from the TV. You can also have a lot more ports this way (8 HDMI?)

Samsung has a TV that implements something like this (of course it has all the rest of the smart crap too that you could nix).

Also this makes it easy to potentially have upgradeable/future input boxes with new ports without having to modify the display.

It's still 'dumb', but I think breaking out the inputs is a better design.

Re: Amazon Sidewalk

#578

Post by Simulacra »

This reminded me too much of the time Comcast tried to turn customer routers into public wifi APs. Amazon creeps me out enough, Sidewalk is something I quickly disabled.

Re: Amazon Sidewalk

#579

Post by amyjess »

choeger wrote: post #60
squarefoot wrote: post #50

So, if I buy a so called Smart-TV (not because I like it but because traditional ones are getting harder to find) but don't set up it on my home network so it can't phone home, it could scan around anyway and find other open devices more than willing to participate in my personal data exfiltration? If the Amazon project succeeds, I would expect in a few months most home devices manufacturers, to partner to implement…

This. That move is just one step further in removing control. They now have sealed devices that can have who knows what functions but are confined to the network. Next step is to have a concealed upstream. After that they will somehow get a legal mandate to force such devices on you (like the EU did with cars). Maybe they will use smoke detectors or "emergency" services. In the end, this is exactly like in 1984.

The fact that you can say this without being hauled off to Room 101 and tortured until you recant proves that this is in fact not exactly like 1984.

Re: Amazon Sidewalk

#580

Post by TingPing »

pvorb wrote: post #488
macjohnmcc wrote: post #481

Modern televisions have made me wish they were just dumb (as possible) monitors with no software interface. Just select the input, power, volume, brightness etc those things no Roku or other smarts.

So you want a PC monitor with a remote, right? I've always wondered why this doesn't exist.

My benq monitor came with a remote. They exist.
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