But that's not true since you CAN buy a Spectre brand non-smart TV (which the only qualm listed in this thread is audio quality, not picture importantly) and you can buy commercial TV's meant for Hospitals and Office displays, etc.

One option is cheaper (Spectre) and one option is more expensive (commercial), but you can, in fact, obtain a non-smart TV today and they listed 0 options for them.

You absolutely can, as noted elsewhere in this (and about 25 other HN threads).

In any case, if the question is "recommend a dumb TV to me" the answer should include at least one dumb TV, even if the editor wants to note that they aren't as good as his favorite TV.

This article is like if someone asked for a recommendation on a new bike, and the answer was "cars are faster, buy a car and pretend it's a bike"

Hmm, maybe more like “recommend me a manual transmission vehicle” and the answer you get back is why you really want an automatic, and here are some nice models you can buy that are all automatic.

Infuriating in either case.

I don't understand why that's so difficult for people? Just don't connect it to the internet. It's going to magically show you ads or track you without internet.