As a person who still has a cathode ray tv (that survived a 90s earthquake even tho it landed on its screen) and is bigger than the flat screens I can afford. I wonder if the "smart tv" means they felt the need to upgrade the parents tv bc it bothered them. People want to know how I watch streaming video. Truth is I don't. They cannot grasp this. Nor do they like that I own dvds and borrow them from the library. But what if I want to watch Brand New Thing Now at my parents house? Not having the smart TV bothered them in some level. My nieces and nephs cannot understand my tv when they visit. We end up not watching tv... Which is weird for them.