Add link to freetelly.

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voussoir 2023-05-15 20:54:59 -07:00
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@ -484,7 +484,7 @@ The current state of so-called smart televisions is a horrifying glimpse into th
The tech-savvy TV buyers know that you should never, ever give your TV your wifi password, because it will use it to advertise to you. But get your tin foil [footnote_link] ready because soon that won't be good enough -- cellular providers offer [IoT data plans](att_iot.html) for around $1.00 per month, [or less](hologram_iot.html) when arranged in bulk. Your next TV could very well come with a cellular modem and a SIM card inside, essentially all the important guts of a cell phone, so that it can connect to the internet all by itself. The TV manufacturer would pay the monthly cost of the SIM and you'd never know it's there.
"But the advertisements subsidize the TV and make it cheaper for the consumer", you'll hear. Firstly, I think this is basically hogwash. If it's true at all, it will only be a temporary effect. The manufacturers picking up money on advertising can afford to drop the sticker price and take a loss on the TV itself to undercut the competitors. But once all the competitors follow suit and every television at your local big box store has advertising built in, we'll be back to square one in a new fresh layer of hell. Secondly, the whole [Moore's law](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore%27s_law) thing took place from the 1960s to the 2000s and demonstrated within one lifetime that electronics technology can become better and cheaper without every single transistor sending you spam mail. To say that letting your TV advertise to you has opened up new doors for affordable technology is myopic. This isn't the only way forward.
"But the advertisements subsidize the TV and make it cheaper for the consumer", you'll hear. Firstly, I think this is basically hogwash. If it's true at all, it will only be a temporary effect. The manufacturers picking up money on advertising can afford to drop the sticker price and [take a loss on the TV itself](freetelly.html) to undercut the competitors. But once all the competitors follow suit and every television at your local big box store has advertising built in, we'll be back to square one in a new fresh layer of hell. Secondly, the whole [Moore's law](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore%27s_law) thing took place from the 1960s to the 2000s and demonstrated within one lifetime that electronics technology can become better and cheaper without every single transistor sending you spam mail. To say that letting your TV advertise to you has opened up new doors for affordable technology is myopic. This isn't the only way forward.
[![Figure 8 from Sony's patent shows a man using a remote control to interact with an advertisement. The screen reads "throw pickle in burger to speed up commercial". After the man swings the remote to throw the pickle, the screen reads "make it your way".](make_it_your_way.png)](US8246454B2.pdf "SYSTEM FOR CONVERTING TELEVISION COMMERCIALS INTO INTERACTIVE NETWORKED VIDEO GAMES, Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC")