As Elon Musk likes to do whenever disaster hits somewhere in the world, Hurricane Helene was another opportunity to show off his generosity and make himself part of the news. This time, Musk made headlines with a promise that SpaceX Starlink would be free for 30 days to help in places where fiber and cellular infrastructure might have been knocked offline. More than 200 people have been identified as dead in the disaster.
But the catch is that it’s really not free at all. It really looks like not much more than a glorified new-customer promotion.
For one, anyone interested in taking up the offer still has to pay approximately $400 for the dish itself (including shipping and tax) and they’re getting automatically rolled into a $120 per-month contract when the free month ends.
Sounds about right. Rich people don’t get rich by giving away hand outs. They get rich by being assholes.
I love this
Fucking hell - Verizon, Sprint and AT&T also, apparently have free Helene deals on offer! And Comcast (or whatever the hell they rebranded too) has six months and their nipple flaps at the ready!
Comcast (or whatever the hell they rebranded too)
Xfinity, although I prefer my head canon on which they rebranded to Crapcast
Who the hell is Sprint?
I’ll admit that I haven’t lived in the US in more than a decade so some of the companies may be out of date - Sprint is/was a large phone carrier.
They are giving you shit because:
Sprint Corporation was an American telecommunications company. Before being acquired by T-Mobile US on April 1, 2020, it was the fourth-largest mobile network operator in the United States, serving 54.3 million customers as of June 30, 2019. The company also offered wireless voice, messaging, and broadband services through its various subsidiaries under the Boost Mobile and Open Mobile brands and wholesale access to its wireless networks to mobile virtual network operators.
Fair enough - at least I didn’t put Telus, Rogers, Vodafone or Orange on that list. My brain wanted to… you’ve never known a righteous bitching like complaining about Telus.
They were cool when they had push to talk walkie talkie function.
He’s in dire need of an aneurysm.
Melon Husk went from “I MUST be the one to save the world” to “pay up if you want to be saved”.
Melon Husk
Hahahahhaaa.
Now it makes me think that he was mad. He didn’t get to build the sub and save those kids because he was going to charge them to get in… Or make them sign away their rights or something.
“The storm provides.” -Thunderclap
Is that the name of the bird from “the good dinosaur”? Idk why that movie was a flop was a great movie.
How I would help; invest in mobile stations with free cellular and internet access.
Each time you go outside and look at the sky remember that at last 3 or 4 Elon Musk private company satellites are looking at you. Everywhere you go at any given time.
Is any other company doing literally anything? Hughesnet? Viasat?
I love to hate on Musk but this might be a stretch.
Doing nothing would be better than trying to scam victims into a $120/mth subscription.
The point isn’t that musk is the only one doing anything, the point is musk is one of the people trying to sneakily profit off the disaster.
Isnt the actual cost of the Starlink equipment well over the hardware cost? If people buy it and then return it when services come back up it’s not much of a profit.
What would be an acceptable donation? 2 free months? 4 months?
your questions are a clue about why other companies are not offering subscription discounts in response to a hurricane.
how many hello fresh boxes would be good for a hurricane? how many months subscription to chess.com? how many free sessions at a planet fitness of your choosing?
How about provide it free of charge, and without a monthly contract in place. Charge them for the hardware if they don’t return it after the free month.
Starlink isn’t “doing literally anything” either. Giving victims a coupon code that requires them to commit to paying for a service they never wanted isn’t helping.
Go fuck yourself. Muskrat doesn’t need his boots polished.
There isn’t anything in the world he needs more. Every second of every day.
Yes there’s a lot of other companies doing. Literally anything stupid question idiot
How many of those companies have hundreds of dollars in up front hardware costs that they don’t normally discount or just give away as a course of regular business (where that is already calculated into operating costs)?
I dunno, do you? Also who fucking cares? It’s not charity if you’re charging
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Company offers free service in natural disaster areas.
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Internet villifies company for offering free service but not giving away $400 in free hardware to every person as well.
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Internet wonders why most companies don’t do anything.
Free stuff!
Well, not free, $400.
Why are you not grateful?
You know those free streaming service trials where you hand them your credit card info, and they give 30 days to forget to cancel it? It’s like that, but with an essential communications service instead of entertainment, 800% the price, advertised to disadvantaged/temporarily-impoverished families, and asking for 5 months worth of commitments in an upfront hardware cost.
So, yeah—excuse me for thinking Elon Musk is a shitbag profiting off of others’ misfortune while cosplaying as a philanthropist. You know what would be a quarter the price and likely achieve the same thing? Waiting a week and paying AT&T $90 for 100 GB of prepaid data and using my phone as a hotspot.
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