Vizio mercilessly mocks Samsung, LG curved TVs

Curved TVs look lovely, but do they really add anything, apart from the loveliness?

My colleague David Katzmaier explains that they offer no real heightened viewing experience. Now Vizio has come along to mock their very essence and suggest a remedy for all that curvature.

Modestly, the company claims to have introduced "a revolutionary, remarkable, radical piece of technology that will blow your mind and change the way you see technology forever."

When you see it, you'll understand just how radical it is. For it's a pair of glasses that turn your curved TV into a flatscreen.

More beautiful than Google Glass (but then so are my socks, even after they have holes), Vizio's anti-curved glasses even come with a detachable drink holder.

Even more useful than that, there's also caution tapes, so that no one bumps into the curved corners of the TV after an eggnog or ten.

Of course, this is merely humor. The pitch -- a searing fastball -- is delivered at the end. "Don't fall for the curve," says the ad, suggesting that it's just a gimmick to sell an expensive product that gives you nothing more than a regular TV.

The implication is that the likes of Samsung and LG are merely pulling the wool over your eyes and the only way to counteract that wool is with these new glasses -- or, but surely, a Vizio flatscreen TV.

How often, though, will people merely buy something for the spectacle, rather than its usefulness?

Think of all the unread books, chintzy glassware and purported works of art that adorn living rooms. They're there to be admired, because they say so much about you.