• DigitalWebSlinger@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    To receive the free TV, Telly users must submit detailed demographic info (such as age, gender and address), as well as purchasing behaviors, brand preferences and viewing habits, and they must agree to let their data be used for serving targeted ads. Telly’s TVs include a sensor that detects how many people are in front of the screen at any given moment.

    So what’s the catch? Telly users must agree to several conditions under the company’s terms of service. If someone doesn’t abide by the TOS, Telly reserves the right to demand the TV be shipped back — otherwise, it will charge up to $1,000 to the credit card associated with a given account.

    Among the Telly TV requirements: You must “use the product as the primary television in your household”; you must keep the TV connected to the internet at all times; and you are not allowed to use any ad-blocking software. In addition, users may not make “physical modifications to the product or attach peripheral devices to the product not expressly approved by Telly,” the company says in its terms of service. “Any attempt to open the product’s enclosure will be deemed an unauthorized modification.”

    Why don’t we just invite big brother right into our living rooms, eh?

    Also, I guess you need approval to connect an Xbox, Playstation, or set-top box? What about my htpc?

    • fearout@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      That’s a weird mix between 15 million merits and 1984. Holy shit. Makes me feel kinda uneasy

    • circuitfarmer@lemmy.sdf.org
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      1 year ago

      If I’m blocking ads with e.g. a Pi Hole, does that violate this? In that case I’m not running ad blocking software on the unit itself. Can they realistically dictate what people do outside of the product?

      Edit: and for that matter, if my internet goes out but I still use my TV, am I then liable for my ISP’s outage?

      • redcalcium@c.calciumlabs.com
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        1 year ago

        Yes, using pihole would violate their ToS: https://www.freetelly.com/terms-of-service

        (a) Use the Product as the primary television in Your household;

        (b) Keep the Product connected to WiFi and internet; and

        (c ) Not use any software on Your WiFi network that with advertising blocking capability.

        (d) Not make physical modifications to the Product or attach peripheral devices to the Product not expressly approved by Telly. Any attempt to open the Product’s enclosure will be deemed an unauthorized modification.

        If we discover that You are not abiding by the requirements above or have disconnected the Product from an internet connection or WiFi for more than short periods each month, You will no longer be able to use the Service and You must return any Products in your possession to Telly. Failure to return Products to Telly will result in Telly charging the credit card on file. If you do abide by the Terms of Service, your credit card will not be charged.

        • Iceblade@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Hold on, let me just hang a curtain in front of the secondary screen.

          There, so much better :)

          • redcalcium@c.calciumlabs.com
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            1 year ago

            Did you miss the fact that this TV has a camera that can count the number of viewers and can detect obstruction? Obstructing the ad screen broke the ToS and when they detect it, they can cancel your account and demand you too send the tv back or get charged $1000. Oh, and it’s also have a microphone in addition to the camera, which will double the fun.

            • Iceblade@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              This is obviously tongue-in-cheek but I didn’t find anything on the TOS about obstructing the screen - a curtain isn’t software, nor is it a modification to the TV, and could possibly be hung in a way that doesn’t obstruct the sensor.

              They can change their ToS at any time, so this doesn’t really matter.

              • redcalcium@c.calciumlabs.com
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                1 year ago

                You’re right. Perhaps they count on their users to not obstruct the secondary screen because the smart tv features are controlled from the secondary smart screen, so you won’t be able to operate it if you obstruct the secondary screen.

        • durnt@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          solution, route your network through a VPN with advertising blocking. It isn’t your network that does the blocking

        • DigitalWebSlinger@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          The part about keeping it connected to internet also struck me - what happens if my internet goes down for hours? Or my power, which will take my internet with it?

        • hi_its_me@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Interesting that it specifically says WiFi network. I wonder if you could circumvent by having something on your physical network. Or maybe upstream from your own network

  • GRENADE_MAGNET@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    $249 for an Insignia 55” 4k tv at best buy right now. Come on people, sell some plasma, don’t buy contribute to this kind of thing.

  • ScottThePoolBoy@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    “The telescreen in 1984 was a device that could be dimmed, but it could not be shut off Completely.” We keep getting closer and closer.

    • redcalcium@c.calciumlabs.com
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      1 year ago

      This time it may actually work though. All they need to do is just showing you constant ads in the extra attached screen based on contents currently shown on the tv as well as your profile data (that you voluntarily submit during registration). They already got your credit card so if you violate their term and causing them to lose advertising money, they’ll just charge the tv cost to your CC (or send it to collection if the charge bounce).

      Also, internet advertising was not as advanced as today. These days those ads companies can figure out how to make money just by collecting your online and media consumption habits. Something as intrusive as a tv with capability to inspect what displayed on screen will certainly worth a lot of money to the advertisers. And this tv actually have a camera and microphone too! An ideal customer data mining device.

      • AbidanYre@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Maybe. But people don’t like ads any more now then they did back then.

        And I have a tough time believing they can squeeze the cost of a TV out of an individual through ads, but I guess we’ll see.

        • redcalcium@c.calciumlabs.com
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          1 year ago

          The TV cost would probably be paid off in a year with just $1 worth of ads per day. If they earn, say, $5/1000 impressions of ads (which is a bit on the low side for US citizens’ eyeballs), they’ll just need to show you 200 ads per day to earn $1 just from ad impressions. Assuming the TV is on about 8 hours per day, that’s just 1 ads every 2.5 minutes.

          They’ll probably show more ads than this, and have deals with smart tv app makers to install their apps in the smart tv, and collect and sell customer profile data in the ad market as well, so I think it’s not hard to imagine they can profit from the TV, as long as they run the service competently.

          • AbidanYre@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            8 hours a day is a lot of TV, though I guess they wouldn’t be aiming this at people with a regular 9-5 job. On the other hand, the folks in that demographic probably wouldn’t be as valuable to advertisers.

            1 commercial every 2.5 minutes also sounds awful, but between MythTV and Netflix I haven’t watched ads for a very long time now, so maybe my sense of timing is out of whack and I guess it was ~8 minutes of ads for a 30 minute show for a long time which isn’t too far off your proposed schedule.

            • redcalcium@c.calciumlabs.com
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              1 year ago

              Unlike regular TVs, this TV has a dedicated screen attached at the bottom that show nothing but ads, so it’s not comparable with showing ads in a show. They’ll be showing ads at the bottom of the show, constantly, like an ad banner in a website.

    • redditcunts@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Yeah a free TV but it has ads. The fucking humanity. Imagine being so privileged you can’t see the value in this.

  • redcalcium@c.calciumlabs.com
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    1 year ago

    From their website:

    Now, all smart TVs come with ads. But you still pay for the TV. All of that changes today. During the signup process we ask questions about you and your household to optimize your ad experience. Brands in turn, pay for the non-intrusive ad on the Smart Screen. That’s how you get Telly free. Plain and simple. It’s time you got cut in on the deal.

    They do have a point though. Is there any smart TV maker that don’t put ads on their TV?

    • irkli@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Never, ever, do we give smart tvs wifi access. It’s just a monitor for the Roku.

      Roku etc are bad enough. But I hate ads so much, that if paid options for no ads disappeared, I wouldn’t watch any of it.

        • Weirdfish@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Buy a commercial grade non-smart display and it won’t have any of that shit.

          It’s just a big monitor w inputs and no apps. Never connect it to a network.

          That said, I have been using Visio my last few personal displays, don’t use the built in apps, and run everything through my playstation. Haven’t had any issues.

  • Water1053@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I hate this idea, but I’d really like to get my hands on one of those second screens to play around with.

  • Quik2007@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    This will get funny once they try to ship it to Germany, because you’re legally allowed to do pretty much everything with your device - as long as it’s legally yours.

  • Nommer@sh.itjust.works
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    1 year ago

    Jesus Christ. Reading that article is terrifying. Is this the future we’re doomed with? Do people just not care?

  • dan@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    Well that’s a glimpse into a horrifying hellscape.

  • money_loo@1337lemmy.com
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    1 year ago

    Bro if I was still broke af I would see this as a win, even if it is a little Black Mirror-esque.

    *edit nm this shit is creepy I’d rather fix a tv I found on the side of the road than use this thing.

      • money_loo@1337lemmy.com
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        1 year ago

        Okay I read the article and it’s way more dystopian than a free tv in exchange for ads. This thing is pretty creepy.

        I didn’t realize it has like a camera counting the viewers and their participation, and that you had to use it exclusively as your main tv, and that you can’t even put stuff in front of the ad screen.

        Jesus Christ.

  • circuitfarmer@lemmy.sdf.org
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    1 year ago

    The fact that some people will ultimately go for this makes me sick. Not that the company doesn’t also make me sick, but come on. So many examples out there where voting with a wallet should shut stupid shit down, and boom! It sticks around.