For those of you contemplating ways of covering up the ads:
This is the same airline that beat the shit out of that doctor because the airline overbooked the flight. For your own safety, do not cross this airline.
This should count as violation of human rights. You're chained to the seat for hours and have no other option than look at this screen or force your eyes closed. Holy shit, people should get really mad. Flashing ads on a screen you don't look at directly are still very annoying, even if you look on your phone.
Targeted, individualized, advertising should be illegal. This will gut a lot of the motivations for the privacy invasions and data harvesting. This is how advertising worked for thousands of years. I think it could continue to be just fine.
The amount of resources humanity is spending on targeted advertising is extremely depressing when you consider the opportunity cost. There are thousands of engineers and product managers that spend all day on this stuff instead of anything useful.
What's the ROI on ads anyway? I feel like ads are just a way to funnel money between corps. People who are forced to see ads are really not even the point anymore. This is like corporations subsidizing other corporations. Don't even matter that you buy that item being shown to you.
Remember when the assholes at United overbooked a flight and sent someone to knock a doctor's teeth out and carry him off a plane? The doctor refused since he was on his way to oversee the opening of a clinic he founded for veterans.
He and his wife started the clinic as a way to thank American servicemen and women, because he was plucked out of ocean waters by the U.S. Navy as he fled communism in his home country of Vietnam about 44 years ago, he said.
I already dislike the experience of being with other passengers on United. Nothing negative occurred on my part, just noticed how badly behaved other passengers were compared to every other airline I’ve flown.
My point is, I wouldn’t pick United to fly as my first choice.
The thing I hate is that all these airline screens usually default to "on", and people tend to leave defaults. I'm a tall person, and can usually see a large number of the screens in front of me. So if I'm on a night flight, even if I don't intend to sleep, the only way to not be blinded by dozens of ads for a few hours is to bring a sleep mask.
i read the article and it didn't seem to state. how will they target me? using the personal info I'm required to give them to book my flight? the origin and destinations and seat location? these are entirely different kinds of metrics. one is far more invasive. and is it tying into larger models they've purchased from like google or something? this is stupid and i hate it.
Nothing that some Self Adhesive Vinyl can't fix. They'll have to deal with getting it off the screen afterwards too. Want to fine me for it? Then tell me where you got the data, because I didn't consent to you having my data.
And for the low, low price of $4,99 you will get not one, not two but three ad blocking devices you can use to stop these ads from bothering you! Available in several cute patterns and colors. Get yours now, call now!
(warning: do not wash these cloths above 105°F or there might be ad-spillage while using the ad blocker due to shrinkage)