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Roku TV bricked until agreeing to new terms of service (programming.dev)

submitted 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) by DaleGribble88@programming.dev to c/technology@lemmy.world

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See title - very frustrating. There is no way to continue to use the TV without agreeing to the terms. I couldn't use different inputs, or even go to settings from the home screen and disconnect from the internet to disable their services. If I don't agree to their terms, then I don't get access to their new products. That sucks, but fine - I don't use their services except for the TV itself, and honestly, I'd rather by a dumb TV with a streaming box anyway, but I can't find those anymore.

Anyway, the new terms are about waiving your right to a class action lawsuit. It's weird to me because I'd never considered filing a class action lawsuit against Roku until this. They shouldn't be able to hold my physical device hostage until I agree to new terms that I didn't agree at the time of purchase or initial setup.

I wish Roku TVs weren't cheap walmart brand sh*t. Someone with some actual money might sue them and sort this out...

EDIT: Shout out to @testfactor@lemmy.world for recommending the brand "Sceptre" when buying my next (dumb) TV.

EDIT2: Shout out to @0110010001100010@lemmy.world for recommending LG smart TVs as a dumb-TV stand in. They apparently do require an agreement at startup, which is certainly NOT ideal, but the setup can be completed without an internet connection and it remembers input selection on powerup. So, once you have it setup, you're good to rock and roll.

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[–] atrielienz@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Hasn't worked like that in the US for a couple decades. I remember early 2000's there was a push to go digital and a lot of people with older TV's that didn't have coax or similar were given dongles by the government so they could make tv signals all digital. No more aerials on TVs.

https://www.nielsen.com/insights/2009/the-switch-from-analog-to-digital-tv/#:~:text=SUMMARY%3A%20On%20June%2012%2C%202009,signals%20must%20be%20transmitted%20digitally.

[–] anotherandrew@lemmy.mixdown.ca 3 points 8 months ago

My new (2023) Philips Roku TV has an antenna input and receives OTA digital channels just fine.

[–] TunaLobster@lemmy.world 1 points 8 months ago

No clue what you're talking about. I've got an SMA connector on the back of my TV. The did government subsidized conversation boxes. It worked about the same as a VCR. Tune the TV to a specific channel and then use the convertor as the tuner. That by no means caused TVs no to longer than SMA connectors. That was due to TV manufacturers also having their fingers in streaming services. Gotta love that vertical integration!