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Just doesn’t feel good

marco.org

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Re: Just doesn’t feel good

#261

Post by Rygu »

daxfohl wrote: post #238
bcrescimanno wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't want to infer motives because I don't know. I will say that I am among those who doesn't really believe this is simply a morality tale. There are several folks here, like yourself, who are basically saying, "yeah, I can understand the mentality of not wanting to do and ad-blocker because of the moral grey area" I can understand that as well. What I can't understand is the quite sudden change of heart 2 days a…

Robin Hood the thing. Give exactly 100% of the money to starving children. Literally. Personally, not through some charity. Literally go to a 3rd-world nation (on your own money, don't dare touch money collected through the app), find parents of starving children, and give them each a $100 bill. Start a trend. Start that trend. Be that person. Not just the person who had a hit iOS app. Be the person who eliminates hu…

It would be a really philanthropic thing to do. I like your way of thinking.

Re: Just doesn’t feel good

#262

Post by drakenot »

kaolinite wrote: post #244
publicfig wrote: post #84

I'm really disappointed by the amount of support he has gotten for this. He has directly mislead consumers into buying a product with an intent of support, and then immediately pulls it and forces the user into a difficult process with Apple to reclaim that money. Anyone that is unsuccessful in the process will have their money go directly to the developer. I understand the possibility change of heart, but that doesn…

I think you're forgetting the fact that this application still works. Sure, when iOS 10 is released it may break - but the same could be said for any now-abandoned app. It's a shame but he gave people notice (instead of just stopping development) and recommended people request refunds. This is nowhere close to being a scam.

This isn't an ordinary application. Ad blocking applications live and die by their blocklist. Many people purchased this application with the implied assumption that the blocklist would continue to be updated for the foreseeable future.

Without an updated blocklist, this app will quickly become useless.

Re: Just doesn’t feel good

#263

Post by tptacek »

x0x0 wrote: post #259
tptacek wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He's an entitled jerk because he released a piece of software and then decided to refund his users and take it down?

what part of his "maze of rationalization around ad blocking" has he rescinded? None. I still believe that ad blockers are necessary today, and I still think Ghostery is the best one, but I’ve learned over the last few crazy days that I don’t feel good making one and being the arbiter of what’s blocked. [1] He doesn't want to be the author of the ad-blocking software, but he continues to use it. :rolleyes: He wants t…

I don't think Marco Arment needs the money from an ad blocker at this point.

Re: Just doesn’t feel good

#264

Post by icebraining »

x0x0 wrote: post #259
tptacek wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He's an entitled jerk because he released a piece of software and then decided to refund his users and take it down?

what part of his "maze of rationalization around ad blocking" has he rescinded? None. I still believe that ad blockers are necessary today, and I still think Ghostery is the best one, but I’ve learned over the last few crazy days that I don’t feel good making one and being the arbiter of what’s blocked. [1] He doesn't want to be the author of the ad-blocking software, but he continues to use it. :rolleyes: He wants t…

Unless something changed recently, the iOS App Store doesn't have a way for developers to issue refunds; the user must request them.

Re: Just doesn’t feel good

#265

Post by icebraining »

daxfohl wrote: post #238
bcrescimanno wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't want to infer motives because I don't know. I will say that I am among those who doesn't really believe this is simply a morality tale. There are several folks here, like yourself, who are basically saying, "yeah, I can understand the mentality of not wanting to do and ad-blocker because of the moral grey area" I can understand that as well. What I can't understand is the quite sudden change of heart 2 days a…

Robin Hood the thing. Give exactly 100% of the money to starving children. Literally. Personally, not through some charity. Literally go to a 3rd-world nation (on your own money, don't dare touch money collected through the app), find parents of starving children, and give them each a $100 bill. Start a trend. Start that trend. Be that person. Not just the person who had a hit iOS app. Be the person who eliminates hu…

Yeah, I can see nothing bad coming from walking around in a poor foreign country giving $100 bills to random people.

Re: Just doesn’t feel good

#266

Post by rsynnott »

bcrescimanno wrote: post #127
cjensen wrote: post #20

Lots of people here trying to infer motives. Why not just believe what he says? He's a guy who has enough money, wants to do what he loves, and doesn't enjoy controversy. He's hacker enough to want to muck about with how to make a blocker, but it's not his joy. Basically, he's what many of us aspire to be.

I don't want to infer motives because I don't know. I will say that I am among those who doesn't really believe this is simply a morality tale. There are several folks here, like yourself, who are basically saying, "yeah, I can understand the mentality of not wanting to do and ad-blocker because of the moral grey area" I can understand that as well. What I can't understand is the quite sudden change of heart 2 days a…

He might have had the quite reasonable expectation that this would end up like desktop adblockers; that is, something which the average person doesn't even know exists. It ending up on the front of the App Store, though, is showing it to a lot of people who'd never previously have considered an ad blocker. That's more pressure.

Of course, someone else will be there instead, but I can see the desire not to be the person who causes an abrupt shift in how content monetisation happens on mobile.

To be honest, I was surprised when he released it; from his podcast my impression was that was in the "pro Adblock, but cautious" camp. He was possibly a bit naive about how big it'd get.

Re: Just doesn’t feel good

#267

Post by icebraining »

slg wrote: post #112
Retra wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>It looks like he just felt uncomfortable making money off of his friends' and colleagues' loss. Anytime you sell a product in a competitive market, you do this. Those ad companies are happy to steal costumers' attention from other companies.

I think people are fine losing money to competition but this isn't losing to competition. An ad blocker actually destroys potential value because sites that used to generate money no longer do. These sites aren't losing money to other sites making more money, the money just isn't made at all. You could potentially argue that the intended viewer of those ads is now capturing that value, however real world examples of…

I think people are fine losing money to competition but this isn't losing to competition. An ad blocker actually destroys potential value because sites that used to generate money no longer do. These sites aren't losing money to other sites making more money, the money just isn't made at all.

Ad-blockers don't set their users' money on fire. Of course someone will make that money.

Re: Just doesn’t feel good

#268

Post by rsynnott »

ixtli wrote: post #55

I hate this supposition that everyone should bend over backwards to allow people who make money in a certain way continue making money in that way. Am I the only one thinks that the user's experience should be more important than everything else? Annoying advertisements are, in practice, the result of people failing to be creative in monetization. Ars Technica, for instance, has done a great job of integrating ads in…

Ad blocking as a general thing is coming, there's no doubt, and I believe that it being possible on iOS will accelerate that coming; there's something about an app in the App Store that's more acceptable to an average user than a browser extension. I can understand not wanting being the person who brings the abrupt revolution, though.

Re: Just doesn’t feel good

#269

Post by rsynnott »

donohoe wrote: post #249
mitchty wrote: post #39

Here is the whole thing about ad supported sites: We are worth a lot less than you think, and also overall an individuals monthly worth in advertisements is also small. https://air.mozilla.org/subscribe2web/ Turns out, we're worth about $6.20/mo in advertising. Lets just round this up to $10/month to not have ads but still support sites we visit. If content providers aren't working on an alternative like the above, I…

Looks like that number was from 2013? Can anyone tell me how they would figure out that number today? I've looked into a similar approach and would love a reliable way to answer "how much does a publisher need to charge to not have ads".

Divide Google revenues by Internet penetration to get a rough guideline, perhaps? I doubt it has changed that much.

Re: Just doesn’t feel good

#270

Post by [deleted] »

icebraining wrote: post #265
daxfohl wrote: post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Robin Hood the thing. Give exactly 100% of the money to starving children. Literally. Personally, not through some charity. Literally go to a 3rd-world nation (on your own money, don't dare touch money collected through the app), find parents of starving children, and give them each a $100 bill. Start a trend. Start that trend. Be that person. Not just the person who had a hit iOS app. Be the person who eliminates hu…

Yeah, I can see nothing bad coming from walking around in a poor foreign country giving $100 bills to random people.

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