For any consumer electronics/software product, if you can make $X just selling the standalone product, you can generally make $X + $Y selling the same product and collecting data or presenting some advertising. I don't see how this math changes without legislation. People don't have the expertise or time to evaluate the risk of each vendor's privacy policies and the negative consequences of this kind of data collection are rarely immediate enough to cause a negative consumer reaction.

Right. The easier computers get to use, the lower the skill level of the average user. If Windows 95 had spied on the user like Windows 11 does an angry mob would've descended on Redmond with torches and pitchforks.

"Smart" TVs seem to fall into the same category. Manufacturers realized they can make much more money and hit a (much) lower price point by packaging telemetry and using/selling the data. Nowadays "dumb" TVs either aren't available or come at a premium.

> I suspect it's the same reason why Microsoft just doesn't sell a version of Windows without telemetry for a flat rate: there is just too much money on the table for tracking and selling your private data over the lifetime of the vehicle (or computer).

Do Windows Enterprise and Windows Server machines include telemetry? I would assume "no", in which case there you go.