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Adblocking people and non-adblocking people experience a different web

imlefthanded.com

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Re: Adblocking people and non-adblocking people experience a different web

#401

Post by kuboble »

9dev wrote: post #243
hattmall wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One market where this has always been a problem is tools. So almost 20 years ago we were told in shop class that the industry magazines and reviews were basically all paid for by manufacturers. The solution we learned was to always buy the cheapest option first. If it breaks or fails to meet your needs understand how and why and then move on to a more costly tool that you can demonstrate is better in the specific way…

This strategy is smarter than it sounds at first. If you don't have any obvious criteria for comparison available, failing fast and iterating on that is a way to come up with criteria by yourself.

It requires a strong character to throw away things when they don't work well. I bought the cheapest drilling machine and it is so bad I end up borrowing one from a neighbor when I need to drill something. But I can't make myself to throw away the useless one.

Re: Adblocking people and non-adblocking people experience a different web

#402

Post by alkonaut »

TheIronMark wrote: post #46

No one likes ads, but the belief that you're owed content for free is absurd.

I don't think anyone feels they are "owed" anything. I do, however, feel I have the right to download whatever someone puts online, and not download and view the adjacent ads.

Whether or not that keeps the lights on in that business is not really my problem. It becomes my problem if it's content I care about that disappears. Without ads, perhaps 90% of the free content of the web would disappear. Since I run an adblocker, I'm completely fine with that.

Re: Adblocking people and non-adblocking people experience a different web

#403

Post by gpvos »

TheIronMark wrote: post #51
reincarnate0x14 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel zero guilt about ad blocking. There was some period of discussion on the subject back in like 2003 but the ad companies went to war against human civilization and there's been no going back. It corrupts and twists everything it touches into a constant hustle for eyeball-cash and an entire generation has now reached adulthood knowing nothing but that hustle touching every bit of media they ever interact with. W…

Quoted post unavailable.

Actually, I don't. But what the ad companies do is worse than freeloading, so I'm still in the positive. And I do pay for services that I use a lot.

Re: Adblocking people and non-adblocking people experience a different web

#404

Post by Raineer »

mrweasel wrote: post #342
marcodiego wrote: post #278

I wanted to show a video on YouTube to a friend. He passed me his cellphone. I searched and found the video and then something very strange happened: a completely unrelated something started playing. I said "Sorry I don't know what is this. This has nothing to do with what I wanted to show you." He then explained me that was just an advertisement and the video would play soon. People are used to abuse. My internet is…

One of the services I happily pay for is Youtube Premium, though I could do without also having to pay for Youtube Music at the same time. I have same experience as you, when I somehow not logged in to Youtube. It’s a surreal mess and it’s the same 5 - 10 ads, if it’s that many, on repeat. It’s unusable. Technically I don’t use and ad block, I just run DuckDuckGo’s privacy plugin. You can show me ads, but not track m…

Yeah I pay the same. Sure I hate Google and yada yada... But if the call for money is "we will show you no ads, and your money will go to creators", and it is a realistic amount, yes I will pay it.

I run ad-blockers everywhere (and I know there are ways to block YT ads), but will still pay if you give me this reasonable option.

Re: Adblocking people and non-adblocking people experience a different web

#405

Post by cgriswald »

version_five wrote: post #311
hattmall wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One market where this has always been a problem is tools. So almost 20 years ago we were told in shop class that the industry magazines and reviews were basically all paid for by manufacturers. The solution we learned was to always buy the cheapest option first. If it breaks or fails to meet your needs understand how and why and then move on to a more costly tool that you can demonstrate is better in the specific way…

Just an aside as a former carpenter: Battery powered hand tool systems are a big cost now, especially that brushless motor have got so good. Its important to think about them as a system, like will replacement batteries still exist in 2 years, can more tools work with the same battery, etc. That makes it harder to try something and see how good it is. I agree with you re many tools though. For tools I'd recommend tal…

Can anyone explain why such systems are so seemingly successful? I find it surprising. It seems great to create vendor lock-in, but they also change the form factor frequently enough that you have to replace your entire system in order to benefit from it being a system anyway; at which point you might change vendors. It feels like the first vendor that stops changing form factor wins; but they all still keep changing them.

My best guess is that by doing this they can raise margins on some items by making them lower quality or by charging more than they could otherwise get away with. If a brand has a great tool X, you might buy their lousy tool Y just to be able to use the same chargers and batteries.

For me, anyway, as a non-carpenter, I just end up with an annoying bespoke set of chargers and batteries.

Re: Adblocking people and non-adblocking people experience a different web

#406

Post by exhilaration »

bambax wrote: post #262
onion2k wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The funny part is I remember a time when even on HN the majority defended ads for a myriad of reasons.. There's quite a lot of HN readers who work for businesses that derive most of their revenue from ads (Google, Facebook, content companies, etc) so there's always going to be people here who are willing to stand up for ads. The famous Upton Sinclair quote is quite appropriate - "It is difficult to get a man to under…

Sure, but they must still exist -- yet we don't seem to hear them anymore.

I would bet that most Google and Facebook employees use adblockers.

Re: Adblocking people and non-adblocking people experience a different web

#407

Post by [deleted] »

malfist wrote: post #302
colordrops wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember this. "People want personalized information on products they are interested in. How else would they find out about them?" As if people would be at a loss buying a car or breakfast cereal or a pair of shoes without ads.

Full disclosure, I run ad blocker, I love my ad blocker. I get what you're trying to say, but here's a counter example. I have a hobby of astrophography. I live in a rural area without many other people nearby interested in the stars, much less a highly technical hobby like astrophography. Asking on message boards like cloudynights, or reddit gets you a lot of well meaning beginners offering advice outside of their s…

[deleted]

Re: Adblocking people and non-adblocking people experience a different web

#408

Post by iamwpj »

ratsmack wrote: post #273

I have never used an add blocker. If the page is too intrusive with toxic adds, I just close the page. Also, if I go to any page that launches a pop-up to subscribe or some other stupid crap, I again just close the page, never to return. I wish more people would do this.

I'm with you on this. Toxic internet is toxic even if you block the bad stuff. Don't go there.

Re: Adblocking people and non-adblocking people experience a different web

#409

Post by aqaq2 »

blakesterz wrote: post #2

In FireFox I have my ad blockers disabled in Private Mode so nothing is getting in the way if I'm testing or some site is being weird. Sometimes it's SHOCKINGLY different how a page looks with the blockers in place. I really can't believe anyone would user a browser without an ad blocker if they knew how things would look while using one. The web is a much better place with a blocker in place. (Yes, I know, we get a…

If the ads weren't so bad in Android apps, I would think that maybe Google is trying to destroy the web with ads...

Re: Adblocking people and non-adblocking people experience a different web

#410

Post by lubesGordi »

bambax wrote: post #262
onion2k wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The funny part is I remember a time when even on HN the majority defended ads for a myriad of reasons.. There's quite a lot of HN readers who work for businesses that derive most of their revenue from ads (Google, Facebook, content companies, etc) so there's always going to be people here who are willing to stand up for ads. The famous Upton Sinclair quote is quite appropriate - "It is difficult to get a man to under…

Sure, but they must still exist -- yet we don't seem to hear them anymore.

Allusions, Michael.
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