That might sound strange at first, but we've seen enough now to know that this will inevitably mean that a lot of manufacturers will follow this model.

I can imagine deals where you get a huge 'rebate' if you permanently enable the ad-feature (the on-screen wizard will blow one of those tiny fuses as its final step, locking the device to that setting). That effectively mandates that the price for the device is its selling price minus the huge rebate, and the whole market will adjust to that.

Just ban advertising on those devices.

"Telly" [1] is a real 55" TV that is available for free. It is designed to always, constantly be running advertisements.

> To reserve a Telly, you must agree to use the device as the main TV in your home, constantly keep it connected to the internet, and regularly watch it. If the company finds that you violate these rules, Telly will ask you to return the TV (and charge a $1,000 fee if you don’t send it back).

1: https://www.theverge.com/televisions/777588/telly-tv-hands-o...