I got a smart TV because the dumb ones were more expensive. But I'd never do that with a monitor. A monitor is not meant to be interacted with directly. Just display what the computer says to display. The computer is all that should be running software besides basic firmware for adjusting overall settings like brightness and contrast which computer OSes don't have enough information to do most of the time. But that's it.
this post was submitted on 25 Aug 2026
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Monitors should never be "smart". They have exactly one purpose and that is to display the video signal connected to them. If it starts displaying ads on top of that video signal, then it's unable to serve it's one purpose and it belongs in the dumpster.
The same could be said for TVs. "Why does the TV need apps if I'm just gonna connect an Apple TV box to it?"
Because someone thought that people would like a TV where the functionality of an Apple TV box is built in, so you wouldn't need one. And on paper, that indeed would be pretty neat.
Then inevitably, capitalism happened and enshittified that idea in a heartbeat.
I'd kind of like to have a monitor with an ambient light sensor that has the ability to adjust display brightness the way smartphones and some other devices often do.
There are a few projects for Linux that let one run a daemon and some kind of attached ambient light sensor, but I'd prefer it to operate regardless of whether or not the OS is running, like in the BIOS and bootloader and such.
Stage 1: You pay for it, it is the product
Stage 2: It is free, you are the product (enshittification)
Stage 3: You pay for it, you are the product (late-stage enshittification)
CEO: ...and some people think that's where it ends, but I'd like to show you something we've been working on for a while that our shareholders are super excited for and we think you'll come to tolerate, too. Introducing... Stage 4.
Stage 4: you pay to be the product directly; no profit-eating goods involved
Stage 5: We pipe money directly out of your savings account for nothing. Thanks for doing business with us!
Smart monitors are for dumb people.
The smartest thing my monitors ever need to do is to automatically select the active input.
That can be said for virtually all "smart" products. Technology is increasingly being weaponized against us, and no one seems to care.
There is a reason to connect a TV to the internet. there is not for a monitor.
Check this video from Gamer's Nexus. They don't even need an ethernet cable, they can just install ads/malware directly through Windows Update.
Windows installed that malware. The monitor has no way of installing anything on its own.
Nobody forces you to install the LG app. Nobody forces you to use windows either...
Does this affect people on modern platforms (Mac/Linux) or just Windows? This is the kind of thing that is making Windows get left behind.