A note on the argument about the 'morality' of adblockers

Post by weland » Mon, Apr 06, 2015, 7:03 AM UTC

_yosefk wrote: post #144

RodericDay wrote: post #8

"People are taking the piss out of you everyday. They butt into your life, take a cheap shot at you and then disappear. They leer at you from tall buildings and make you feel small. They make flippant comments from buses that imply you’re not sexy enough and that all the fun is happening somewhere else. They are on TV making your girlfriend feel inadequate. They have access to the most sophisticated technology the wo…

"Any advert in a public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not is yours." That's an interesting conception of one's natural rights in a public space, given that basically nothing in a public space "gives you choice whether you see it or not" by the definition of "public space." The following does not sound different in principle from the quote: "Any member of the opposite sex (who with their looks i…

Post by xorcist » Mon, Apr 06, 2015, 7:15 AM UTC

unholiness wrote: post #141

There is a huge irony in that fact that AdBlock's function of keeping ads away from our content will eventually do the opposite. The alternative to ads alongside my content is ads inside my content. Let's face it: paywalls don't work. The alternative on the horizon is native advertising. Buzzfeed is now famously refusing to host ads. Instead they sustain themselves by publishing content that subtly supports the agend…

Post by DodgyEggplant » Mon, Apr 06, 2015, 7:16 AM UTC

brownbat wrote: post #31

DodgyEggplant wrote: post #2

On a broad scale, we have moved from a culture of ads as info, to ads that push you to buy whatever the factory produces. This huge supply and false demand for things we don't really need has a huge impact of consumption culture, personal distress - an ongoing feeling that you always lack something, ecological waste and people wasting their hard earned dollars on things they don't really need. God bless ad blockers.

> things they don't really need Who gets to decide whether something is necessary or not? Maslow understood that humans "need" pathways to self-esteem and self-expression. An extensive collection of Marvel action figures could slip through that loophole. Francis of Assisi lived in abject poverty, and would be a much harsher judge than Maslow, and would probably criticize either of us for bothering to own any electron…

Post by digi_owl » Mon, Apr 06, 2015, 7:17 AM UTC

xai3luGi wrote: post #70

curiouscats wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

His point is valid. If you rely on something that causes people harm that must be factored in when they seek to minimize their risk. I don't use ad blockers because I generally support your position. I do block flash because it is so annoying and especially noisy ads and downloading video I didn't ask for on my limited bandwidth. It seems to me it isn't 100% either way. There is an issue of being a free-riding meanie…

> I didn't ask for on my limited bandwidth. Your browser asked for it though. Maybe fix you browser so it isn't doing things you don't like? Of course with HTTP/2, websites will be able to send you stuff that even your browser didn't ask for.

Post by digi_owl » Mon, Apr 06, 2015, 7:20 AM UTC

itistoday2 wrote: post #153

millstone wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I dread the day where the only content available is what artists can produce independently. Movies like Interstellar, or the TV show Lost, are by their nature very expensive, and it would be a great loss if this type of content could no longer recoup its expenses. I hope there's a place in the future for both indie work and expensive "blockbuster" content.

> I hope there's a place in the future for both indie work and expensive "blockbuster" content. Certainly. You'll note that as individual expenses go down, group expenses should go down as well since employers will no longer have to cover their employees cost of living. Prices of everything will continue to plummet (as they have been). If anything, they should be able to do more on the same budget. EDIT: You might th…