I am going to miss the mute and power buttons when they take them away.
Edit: I guess this post is free advertising for these shitters, so I will describe what I previously linked.
There is this TV you can get for free but it has a ads on screen constantly and it has a camera pointed at you to record your reactions to ads and to ensure you don't cover up the ad portion of the screen.
Isn't it time to stop being polite and start relentlessly mocking anyone who voluntarily buys this shit?
People encourage this as "I got the device for cheaper, so it's you who's wrong." you can't stop morons with logic or mockery, you need laws restricting companies. It's something the US has big trouble with and that's not supposed to be bashing.
Up until a few years ago, I honestly thought that the best thing we could do with stupid people (conspiracy theorists, flat earthers, fundies, etc...) was to bring back public shaming. Make them so damn embarassed to believe what they that do that they just shut the fuck up about it for fear of mockery. As a result, at least their children might see them as being the backwards ones and we nip that shit in the bud in a generation or two instead of each new generation seemingly witnessing their parent's idiotic beliefs being seemingly validated in public by being treated with any validity at all.
But then MAGA arrived, and I realized that many of these people simply have no shame, so ruthlessly mocking them won't work.
Ah, taking inspiration from late 1940's literature, I see. Smart!
You can mute, but the ad will pause until you unmute.
Which makes the button almost completely useless.
That would mean the "unintrusive ad screen" isn't unintrusive, if the ads shown in it also play sound.
I wouldn't have known about it if not for this post.
Now this post feels like an ad.
Sorry, I didn't mean to advertise, I'll edit the link and the product name from my post.
Nah I think it's ok since it provides context
But thanks for editing anyway
Same but I signed up for it
ROFL
In their reservation terms of service:
"Telly takes the privacy of its users very seriously. For the current Telly Product Privacy Policy please visit [INSERT LINK TO UPDATED TELLY PRODUCT PRIVACY POLICY]."
I laughed so much at that, it's just perfect.
There were several isps that did this years ago... A banner at bottom is of your screen showing ads, free internet. They all went bankrupt I think.
Considering you can buy a decent TV for a few hundred dollars these days, I don't see it going much differently for this company either.
Oh man the memories! My parents used NetZero
You can still get 10 free hours a month on their dialup. Over 10 hours and you have to pay for their super ultra extreme dialup.
"McDonald's!" \o/
Drink the confirmation can now.
I understood this reference
I am more interested in the technology used inside the TV.
Yeah but if you can get the same or even better tech in a dumb tv, why wouldn't you get that?
I would, I just want to know how the tech. I don't want to use it.
It's "free" which means you're paying for it a different way than money. If you don't want the ads then don't get the "free" TV.
Yeah. I'm completely behind the complaints people have with a lot of modern world problems in this regard.
But in this case, they're very clear. They are making hardware available at no monetary cost. Therefore, you MUST know they're monetizing you somehow, and this is the somehow.
Having said that, yes, the description does seem like the dystopian tellyscreens in nineteen-eighty-four. But they were mandatory for everyone, which is the main difference.
Actually looking through the site. I don't really see how they're going to make enough money on this.
I cannot see anywhere on their site that suggests the camera will be watching you (and there's probably laws against that, even in the USA!) and the FAQ specifically says the camera has a cover and only an app using the camera will make that open, and you have to accept the permission.
Also, it seems they play the ads on a separate screen. Which suggests there won't be sound either. So they don't even expect you to be paying attention to the ads, because it seems they won't block content for them.
I expect there might be an initial interest in advertisers. But if they don't see a decent conversion rate, I cannot imagine they will keep paying enough to cover the TV for ads.
Also, what happens when one of these breaks, they replace it for free? I'd imagine they would need to because otherwise the hardware they paid for is no longer generating revenue.
This sounds like a late April fool. :P
Having said that, yes, the description does seem like the dystopian tellyscreens in nineteen-eighty-four. But they were mandatory for everyone, which is the main difference.
This is actually closer to Brave New World than Nineteen Eighty-Four. In the former, citizens voluntarily buy huge TVs to adorn their living room walls because their whole society is built around pleasure-seeking and entertainment. These displays are then used by the powers that be to distract and pacify the population, prevent critical thinking and reduce political unrest.
Isn't that the world of Max Headroom?
I signed up for one.
Fuck it. Free TV. I can probably disable the ad screen somehow (even just covering it but leave the camera uncovered) Certainly would be fun to see if it can be hacked.
"The smartest TV [..]"
I'm already out. Give me your dumbest.
Exactly, what's the use of a smart TV when I have a game console capable of streaming everything a "Smart TV" can AND playing games/browsing the Web?
9/10 times people use a fire stick or cable box to watch TV anyway, all I need is volume, input selection, and power.
The use of a smart TV is to make manufacturers money by selling your personal data to advertisers as part of their post purchase monetisation strategy. Literally admitted by Vizio's CEO (who are really following other brands).
https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2024/04/06/how-a-texas-oil-billionaire-hit-a-gusher-in-hotels/?sh=5e162c95c610
You need that "smart" stuff to make smaller resolutions look good on a 4k TV.
Upscaling takes processing power, so adding in the smart functions doesn't really need anything else.
Without the upscaling, it's often a waste to buy a 4k TV because very few sources are in 4k. You'd be getting the same picture quality as 1080
Look into a hospitality tv. Just dummy tv monitor.
What's stopping me from buying a smart TV and never taking it online?
Been doing it with mine for 3 years mostly. Jack-in just long enough to update firmware and software then disconnect