we live in hell
I don’t even understand the pitch? you have the disc playing, in your hands, your ownership, no buffering, no subscription required. and they’re saying…hey do you want a worse experience?
Yep, most of them won’t complain if you just never connect them to Wi-Fi during setup.
There’s a pretty good chance they’ll get around it- if they aren’t already.
Samsung TV? You have a Samsung phone? There’s an easy way to jump the air gap.
Neighbor has a TV connected to the Internet? Send data to that TV and pretend you’re not connected to anything so the user doesn’t catch on.
Amazon already built it: https://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Sidewalk
I have never had any smart TV complain (yet) that I have never once connected wifi. I am guessing there would be lawsuits, that a physical device requiring internet and requiring you to connect it just to function, would get sued in a class action of some kind. I use other connection systems via HDMI to transcode media, and even people who still want TV do not need to connect the TV itself to wifi, since it should all come over through HDMI ideally (or DP or whatever cables it may be.)
You’re going to love this free tv then. It’s free, and people has began receiving this tv since the last 3 months or so. In exchange for receiving this free tv, you’ll have to make some sacrifice:
- The tv must be connected to internet at all times within 5 days of receiving it. You aren’t allowed to disconnect it (except due to brief internet outages)
- There is a second screen on the bottom with camera that display ads. You aren’t allowed to obscure the second screen to hide ads.
- No modification allowed. You can’t disconnect the second screen.
- You aren’t allowed to block ads, even with pihole.
Breaking the ToS means your credit card would get charged $1000. Very fun TV.
This may not be a popular opinion, but I personally see no issue with this if the terms of service and use are made clear and transparent before you order the device. Would I personally recommend or use the product? Hell no, but people having an informed choice, and choosing to accept these terms is perfectly fine imo.
