Heard about that “free” internet connectivity that Elon Musk was offering to people knocked offline by Hurricane Helene?
“Free” came with a $400 up-front price tag, plus an automatic sign-up for $120 a month after.
“Free.”
What was really going on here was Musk “just building a customer base,” said Kinney Baughman, a philosophy professor and IT pro in Boone, N.C., in an interview with The Register.
Another way to say it: yes, it’s just another scam from Musk, reputedly the world’s richest man – net worth supposedly at $260 billion.
Whatever he really has in the bank is the result of him leveraging untold billions of dollars in government contracts to fund his electric cars that break down a lot, and his space ventures like Starlink, the one that he used in the “free” internet offer.
“Free.”
“It was insult to injury for many here who thought Free Internet Space Magic was real,” Register editor Nicole Hemsoth Prickett said.
“Free,” except that you still had to pay for the terminal – “discounted” from $350 to $299 for people in areas impacted by Helene, plus shipping and tax – and then wait two to three weeks for delivery.
The $120-a-month subscription to Starlink would kick in after 30 days.
What we’re dealing with here: “a crafty bait-and-switch, meant to take advantage of people instead of helping them,” Baughman said.
Classic Elon Musk.
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Chris Graham
