Seeing how much they’ve advanced over recent years I can’t imagine whatever that guy was working on would actually impress anyone today.

I just set up a rule on my firewall to disallow outgoing web traffic from my TV so I can still control it over the wifi. Then if I want to sell it I haven’t broken any functionality.

You can do anything…

Not trying to change your mind on giving money to internet grifters but having a cell phone is pretty much a basic tool of survival these days even if you’re destitute. Phones more than a couple years old are basically e-waste and cost nothing or are donated/trashed all the time. Even a WiFi only phone can be the best tool someone has to find shelter, food and get important weather updates.