No, I'd go with (4) people would prefer not to have it, but companies know that they can monitize the data they collect[0] and thus are willing to offer a discount that's large enough to get people (who may or may not know about the data collection) to buy the smart™ version.
[0]: https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/talkingtech/2019/02/21/w...
I think the gimmickry exists as a facade to give them a reason to slap enough electronics in a device to be able to harvest data, and to piggyback off the user's internet for "updates". If you're going to put a microphone in a fridge, people are going to want to know why, so you need some kind of gimmick that allegedly uses it so you don't have to admit it's mostly there for data harvesting.
They are cheaper (in dollars), which does appeal to consumers. Manufacturers sell the data and discount the merchandise.
Tangential, but I'm curious what the margins on stuff like smart-fridges are. It seems like competition would drive us to a point where smart appliances are sold for at or below cost, with profits coming from selling data. It's crazy to me that LG or Maytag could become a data vendor that just so happens to sell appliances, because the data has to come from somewhere.
* Buy the cheap hardware at wholesale prices
* Strip the surveillance tech and/or re-flash the firmware
* Sell the "dumb" product for the same price as the "smart" one
In this case, the "smart" vendor would likely lose money if they're selling below cost. So the only difficulty would be a legal one... I'm not sure if it's legal to buy a product, modify it, and then re-sell it.
Doing this as a sale, for electronics, you'd probably fall afoul of certification problems (e.g. whatever boxes Underwriters Lab had ticked wouldn't apply to the modified version). There would be branding issues. And regardless of whether it turned out to be legal, you'd 100% draw a lawsuit from the original manufacturer.
If it were to work out at all, this would probably have to be done in a way that (legally at least) the customer is not buying the device modified from you. They would have to purchase the device first, then bring it to you to modify, for which you charge a fee. Even then you'd probably still get sued.
Not a lawyer, though, so this is just speculation based on following tech over the years.
It's both practically unfeasable for the average consumer, and a legal risk for whoever manages to do it.
So in my case the smart gimmick really is the feature I want.
Unfortunately I price my weight data very differently than they do, so unless they pay me multiple tens of thousands of dollars I would not agree for it to send the data it collect.
Unfortunately there is no such smart scale.
So I would add to your list a 5) paying with actual money for smart appliances that don't snitch
(Not that it detracts from your point about the market).
It's funny how open source started as "the manufacturer is too lazy to support my use case" and now is becoming "the manufacturer is too greedy / cannot be trusted"
Only caveat is that you need to use the app for initial setup and of course this assumes there isn't any kind of undisclosed antenna nonsense.
It’s a crowded marketplace, and the only way to eke out margin is better quality and/or features. For TVs, people in general give no shits about panel quality/color/etc, and volume shipment of better stuff is costly. But people love features, and bolting on software enhances margins at no or low cost.
Cooking gear is the same.
Due to this, I have my own specifications (not fully written, although I did write a lot of it), which are much simpler than HDMI. (It has digital video (with no inherent picture size limit, although implementations would be limited), analog audio, and an optional IMIDI (which is a two way command stream; it is safe to avoid connecting it). The IMIDI can be used for captions as well as for control, and can also be used with IR, as well as with the special IMIDI port.) (These would be fully free, although there may be trademark licenses (perhaps to avoid many of the problems that HDMI and others have) but no other restrictions.)
Just get that. If you care about the panel a lot then you'll have to pay more, I think refresh rates are out of the question
And, because of people like him, anti-privacy micro steps are continuously made, and Overton windows slowly but continually shifts... until one moment when he/they start to care, but then it's too late. And then they're usually greatly surprised and astonished that "that's allowed?!".
Yeah, it is, buddy, it is. Because you "just didn't care that much". Now you have to live with consequences that the rest of who "did care" have lived (and fought) with since the [metaphorical] beginning.
The market decides, right? What is actually happening here?
1. Most people actually like this overdone gimmickry?
2. Most people think they will like it, buy it and then get sick of it? Thus people like me, who seek out the ungimmicked product, are not a significant market force?
3. Most people would prefer not to have it, but due to a free market failure, the ungimmicked product just isn't available any more?
The gimmicks are everywhere. We have a basic "Instant Pot" pressure cooker. It has just the right amount of electronic smarts. A few button presses to cook a roast to completion in about an hour, and walk away. It beeps when it's done. With later models you see an almost obsessive drive to load them up with more features, few of which anyone will ever use.