Last week, a company called Free Telly came out with a once-in-a-lifetime offer: They are going to give away half a million 55-inch HDTVs for free in 2023!
Say what?
So what’s the catch? This novel TV has two screens: the main viewing screen, and then a second full-width but smaller screen below that will stream information like news and weather, but more importantly, interactive advertisements from which viewers can order merchandise or meals. And the content may be related to what is being viewed on the main screen. They also have the ability to collect a ton of user data via their privacy policy. And the TVs have a microphone and camera supposedly for voice commands and video calling.
Now a company like this is not going to willy-nilly send out 55-inch televisions with no strings attached. In fact, they have a detailed terms and conditions statement with a couple of interesting qualifications.
*MOUSE PRINT:
Many people have bigger or better TVs as their primary television and are not going to want to put this one in its place.
If you don’t play by the rules, you have to return the TV or you will be charged for it via the credit card you are required to provide.
*MOUSE PRINT:
Interestingly, the terms and conditions statement changed on its launch day last week. The previous version for beta testers spelled out the penalty for not returning the TV.
*MOUSE PRINT:
Here are some more details about their plans.
Will this be a big financial success or go the way of MoviePass?
yea i think i will stick with my old tv. works fine, no internet and does not spy on me. as for this new Telly, i would stick a piece of black paper over bottom half of tv and block out ads and camera. not in rules you cannot do that.
This is horrifying.
You said it best. Horrifying. I think only stupid people will go for it. And I’m often proven wrong.
Well the company says that more than 100,000 have signed up to get a free TV set.
Not sure anyone of them was reading the fine print for this free TV.
If the spot where the ad is to go is covered up are they going to take the TV away or charge you 500 bucks.
That may be a fully fair price for all that you get for free if you follow the rules.
I really think this idea will last around a year and then go under.
This is privacy invasive tv. No sane person will bring this to his home. As of now, I have one tv and I use it to play video games (PS5 & XSX). I don’t do any streaming service or cable. Just games!
I wonder if they track my behavior, will they charge me $500 since they cannot gather any data from from my viewing behavior.
This screams Moviepass to me. I don’t see how they could already have advertisers lined up for this, at least not enough to support it. They also claim it’s a $1,000 TV which would mean they’d need to be making $1/day/TV for 3 years before even breaking even on the cost of the TV>
Hard pass!
I hope it fails. I see that failure to return products to Telly will result in Telly charging the credit card on file ANY amount they want, NOT the amount of $500.00 in the latest terms. So, if someone is bamboozled by this, as some will probably be, they’ll either be a data mine for Telly or if they don’t comply and do not return the product, be charged whatever Telly wants! I can buy a new 55″ 4K TV without all their spyware for about $250, so they can keep their product.
NOTHING is free! When will people ever learn?
This T.V. is the most intrusive device I have read about so far. The corporate world will stop at nothing to invade your privacy and collect data on you and members of your household. I would hazard a guess that the microphone and video camera are for more than voice commands and video conferencing.
U Block Origin is blocking their website where they offer the TV. So they are not even waiting until you get product before they start tracking you.
I can see where this offer would appeal to some people in some circumstances. (Not me.) At least they’re being reasonably up front about what the deal is. Which is better than a whole lot of bigger name companies who track you, spy on you, and monetize you, all without your knowledge or consent. Just an an example, is Telly overall worse than the Amazon Dot or Echo devices (which are also subsidized)? But, I appreciate Mouse Print for the info on Telly.
The Terms and Conditions statement has several errors: It incorrectly capitalizes “Your” and “Product.”
It reads: “Not use any software on Your WiFi network ***that with*** advertising blocking capability.” [emphasis added; “with” should be “has.”]
I do not trust companies that have typos in their documents or ads.
Since it’s not specified, I bet you’d have to pay the return shipping cost, which would be a lot for an item like that.
Someone that wanted to play hardball with them could register a Citi Virtual Number with them that has a max charge amount of $1.
I hope some people listen to your advice.