Why are people still connecting their TVs to the internet?

I thought this is already common wisdom for people in tech for decades to NEVER connect your TV to the internet, not even once.

How is this my fault as customer? This a predatory practice in tech.

I work in automotive, the hoops you have to jump through in order to push a SW update are enormous. One of the first rules is: if the owner of the vehicle does not consent to an OTA update, you're out of luck.

The industry is obviously unable to self-regulate, so it is time for an external regulator, e.g. the EU, to jump in and mandate that SW updates cannot be applied without explicit consent and an explicit explanation of what is being changed. Of course, security updates must be maintained separately from feature updates like this.

As a consumer, I always want the latter, rarely do I want the former. My device, my choice.

Well, you get better UX with native remote. I can always make add an external dongle unless it's bricked

it's pretty tempting when it's one of the few ways to watch 4k netflix and the likes