Ads in Software Are Like Stickers on Laptops

#1

Post by Brajeshwar » Tue, Jul 28, 2026, 5:21 PM UTC

Ads in Software Are Like Stickers on Laptops
daringfireball.net

Re: Ads in Software Are Like Stickers on Laptops

#2

Post by benoau » Tue, Jul 28, 2026, 6:02 PM UTC

It's a cute comparison but the stickers Gruber's referring to (CPU etc) are unnoticeable when you're actually using a laptop, they're static and out of the way and would never distract you or disrupt your work and they're not wasting your screen space. They also don't compromise your privacy or track and time every possible interaction.

So while they have the commonality "they are ads" they are really nothing at all alike.

Re: Ads in Software Are Like Stickers on Laptops

#3

Post by JohnFen » Tue, Jul 28, 2026, 6:51 PM UTC

benoau wrote: post #2

It's a cute comparison but the stickers Gruber's referring to (CPU etc) are unnoticeable when you're actually using a laptop, they're static and out of the way and would never distract you or disrupt your work and they're not wasting your screen space. They also don't compromise your privacy or track and time every possible interaction. So while they have the commonality "they are ads" they are really nothing at all…

And you can easily remove the stickers.

Re: Ads in Software Are Like Stickers on Laptops

#4

Post by dlcarrier » Tue, Jul 28, 2026, 8:19 PM UTC

If ads are limited to only displaying specifications of my computer, then I'm okay with ads. Maybe the author of the article thinks this is the case, because any time you buy something, you are instantly inundated with ads for the item you just bought.