The push is that all devices will end up connected as commodity manufacturers continue to search for 'value-add' services (even if that value is dubious). In a few years, I wouldn't be surprised if 'smart TVs' were the only ones available. Security also becomes an afterthought as companies rush to get products in the market. This is mainly because the components used to build software rarely take account of security/privacy themselves so it has to be considered by the developers -- who are rarely trained to handle it.
One approach to this is to build new tools and components that incorporate security & privacy by design. Discarding elements that are not required for a particular use case is also beneficial as there's less a hacker can do if they do manage to get in.
These approaches are captured in ideas behind unikernels, such as MirageOS [1], which themselves can be part of a larger stack [2]. I work on both of these and we even put together a contest (Bitcoin Piñata) to incentive a search for weak spots (and a bit of fun) [3]. I honestly think that only new software stacks or government regulations can fix these issues. Given mass-surveillance, I don't hold out much hope for the latter.
I'm evangelising the term "value-subtracted" for things which make money for the vendor at the expense of the user. Lenovo is just the latest, biggest example of this.
- "In a few years, I wouldn't be surprised if 'smart TVs' were the only ones available. "
To your point: when I purchased a new TV last year, the only available "non-Smart" models were of generally inferior quality to the Smart models, from picture quality to physical design. I ended up purchasing one simply because it was the best TV at its price point—I had no interest in the "Smart" features.
My TV isn't even "smart" but it has a USB port used for doing system updates (there's been exactly one in years.) I did some very basic investigation on the firmware update and could see it had busybox. It got me thinking. I'd settle for a TV where the firmware could be replaced.
Looking forward to the day I can start calling televisions "telescreens" as they "anonymously" record their environment (unless, of course, the NSA gives Samsung a blanket warrant).
One approach to this is to build new tools and components that incorporate security & privacy by design. Discarding elements that are not required for a particular use case is also beneficial as there's less a hacker can do if they do manage to get in.
These approaches are captured in ideas behind unikernels, such as MirageOS [1], which themselves can be part of a larger stack [2]. I work on both of these and we even put together a contest (Bitcoin Piñata) to incentive a search for weak spots (and a bit of fun) [3]. I honestly think that only new software stacks or government regulations can fix these issues. Given mass-surveillance, I don't hold out much hope for the latter.
[1] http://mirage.io
[2] http://amirchaudhry.com/brewing-miso-to-serve-nymote/
[3] http://amirchaudhry.com/bitcoin-pinata/ and https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9027743