Moreover, they correctly understand what the TV industry works so hard to obscure. It's computers all the way down. If you're gonna slap a computer on my screen, then let me use it as a general purpose computer. If, however, you insist on putting a computer on my screen that I hate, then make it easy for me to avoid it.
And of course, we know why they don't do this -- the low cost of the TV is subsidized by the data they sell to others gained by spying on you.
> They want "just a screen" precisely so that they can use whatever they want on it, including filemanagers if they wish.
Yep - and if the screen is "just a screen" (i.e. has no file manager or other media-interfacing functionality on it), there there will need to be some _other_ computer in the stack of "computers all the way down" to provide the media-interface. For me, Kodi does that job perfectly well, but it doesn't work well for everyone.
> the low cost of the TV is subsidized by the data they sell to others gained by spying on you.
Yes, this is an uncontroversial statement of a distasteful truth.
Lack of a built in file manager on any device is an excellent indicator of "how bad the manufacturer is trying to reduce your freedom."