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by mgraczyk 61 days ago
I've never seen an ad delivered through any of these things. On smartphones I mean the phone/OS itself

It would be very easy to deliver ads via electricity. The utility could require you watch an ad before using more
2 comments
ceejayoz 61 days ago
Or via your smart thermostat.

https://sense.com/consumer-blog/with-your-permission-utiliti...

(Morse code messages via your flickering lights would be a hilarious app, and I'm somewhat reluctant to mention it here before someone gets VC funding to actually try it.)

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recursive 61 days ago
> It would be very easy to deliver ads via electricity. The utility could require you watch an ad before using more.

That does not sound very easy to me. That sounds barely possible.

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mrguyorama 61 days ago
It's trivial

Lots of poor people have in residence electricity boxes that require prepayment for usage. In the olden days you put a coin in to turn on the power, but nowadays they have apps and digital payment solutions!

They might already have ads in those apps...

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recursive 61 days ago
This is all news to me. It seems like it would be tough to prevent people from just using the power that's going to that box.

I guess I'm out of touch, because I've never heard of anything like this. I've had my power turned off for non-payment before, but I had to talk to someone at the utility to get it switched back on.

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mrguyorama 61 days ago
I don't think I've ever actually seen one. I only know about this style of electricity utility because it was a part of a Mr Bean episode once.
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