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Ask HN: Has the Internet Become a Burden?
11–20 of 41 posts
Re: Ask HN: Has the Internet Become a Burden?
#12> Everything on the internet is monetized. From your clicks to selling you subscription. Everyone is trying to make a buck. That is categorically false. Wikipedia is the greatest collection of knowledge ever assembled. It puts the library of Alexandria to shame. And all of it was created by people who did not make a single buck from their efforts, nor were they trying to. The same can be said for the highly skilled p…
> Wikipedia is the greatest collection of knowledge ever assembled. It puts the library of Alexandria to shame. And all of it was created by people who did not make a single buck from their efforts, nor were they trying to.
I’m not trying to counter anything you have stated - in fact, I agree with the majority of it. I just wanted to share this: https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/29/18644158/north-face-wikip...
Re: Ask HN: Has the Internet Become a Burden?
#13I agree with your general point. It seems that every site I visit from my phone now demands I decline an offer for 10%-20% off where I am asked to share my email before proceeding. Unfortunately half the time it’s impossible to X out of it and I end up leaving that site in frustration.
The other annoyance is trying to read an article and having a couple paragraphs of text broken up by an ad, then another two paragraphs of text and another ad and another and another. Then if you dare use an ad blocker these site whine at you about being ad supported.
I do enjoy the minimal nature of Reddit, HackerNews and the like. Also, there are plenty of subscription web apps and services that make our lives easier that we take for granted.
But ads and monetization are 100% why the much of the internet feels like hot garbage these days.
Re: Ask HN: Has the Internet Become a Burden?
#14I was happier when the internet was simpler because I was excited about all the cool things we could build to make almost every aspect of life better! Obvious that was a delusion.
> all the cool things we could build What do you feel one cannot build today but could in the past?
I think the question is whether building all these cool things actually makes life better or if the larger effect ends up being net negative a la Facebook.
Re: Ask HN: Has the Internet Become a Burden?
#15Sounds like you are just visiting the wrong sites tbh.
Re: Ask HN: Has the Internet Become a Burden?
#16I was happier when the internet was simpler because I was excited about all the cool things we could build to make almost every aspect of life better! Obvious that was a delusion.
> all the cool things we could build What do you feel one cannot build today but could in the past?
I the grandfather post is referring to all the cool things not making life better and thus the delusion
Re: Ask HN: Has the Internet Become a Burden?
#17I was happier when the internet was simpler because I was excited about all the cool things we could build to make almost every aspect of life better! Obvious that was a delusion.
> all the cool things we could build What do you feel one cannot build today but could in the past?
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Re: Ask HN: Has the Internet Become a Burden?
#18> Everything on the internet is monetized. From your clicks to selling you subscription. Everyone is trying to make a buck. That is categorically false. Wikipedia is the greatest collection of knowledge ever assembled. It puts the library of Alexandria to shame. And all of it was created by people who did not make a single buck from their efforts, nor were they trying to. The same can be said for the highly skilled p…
> Wikipedia is the greatest collection of knowledge ever assembled. It puts the library of Alexandria to shame. And all of it was created by people who did not make a single buck from their efforts, nor were they trying to. I’m not trying to counter anything you have stated - in fact, I agree with the majority of it. I just wanted to share this: https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/29/18644158/north-face-wikip...
Right. Obviously, there are (a very small number of) people who try to abuse Wikipedia for their own gain. They are almost always identified quickly, and dealt with accordingly.
But they are not the ones who "built Wikipedia". The ones that did never made a dime. If someone sticks an advertising poster to the front door of a human rights advocacy group's headquarters during the night, and the poster is removed the next morning, the fact that it hung there for a few hours says absolutely nothing about the organization or the people who work for it.
I see articles like the one you linked to, which try to extract sensationalist value out of such non-events, as part of a deliberate smear campaign against Wikipedia. The idea is to create the impression that Wikipedia has been infiltrated by political and commercial interests, which is absolute hogwash. This smear campaign has been going on for many, many years, and I've just learned to ignore such claims entirely, since I've convinced myself long ago that they are without any merit.
Re: Ask HN: Has the Internet Become a Burden?
#19I was happier when the internet was simpler because I was excited about all the cool things we could build to make almost every aspect of life better! Obvious that was a delusion.
> all the cool things we could build What do you feel one cannot build today but could in the past?
A life without Frank Sinatra. What a loser!
Re: Ask HN: Has the Internet Become a Burden?
#20Be the change you want to see.
See the change you cannot make.