Apple's privacy push cost Meta $10B • Hacker News Board

Re: Apple's privacy push cost Meta $10B

#311

Post by FabHK » Fri, Feb 04, 2022, 4:14 PM UTC

user_7832 wrote: post #238

ksec wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I cant upvote you enough. This single comment contains many of the contrarian view against HN. It is nice we have these real world stories on HN to balance the ideological fight against ads, where All Ads are evil.

I disagree. The problem was never about the ads. It was about the fact that ads were forced, privacy-invasive (due to customization) and generally were terrible overall (think malware/crypto mining risks, terrible UX - think annoyingly flashy gifs, or those gigantic banners in the middle of a scenic drive), not to mention poorly regulated, leading to lots of "double your money/phallus in 3 days!" type of scams. There…

Exactly. In the old world, ads were attached to matching content, which gave an incentive to produce insightful pertinent content (and develop a reputation in a certain content subject area). Those ads were not much of a problem.

Today, the ad industry tracks the user, and ads are attached to matching user interest, which gives an incentive to produce arbitrary, but addictive content, with most of the benefit accruing to the ad oligopolies instead of the content producers.

Re: Apple's privacy push cost Meta $10B

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Post by barsonme » Fri, Feb 04, 2022, 4:15 PM UTC

scarface74 wrote: post #218

pnutjam wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everyone who doesn't vote and ignores their role in Democracy let's this happen. The president matters much less then the Mayor or the Governor.

So let’s say I’m in CA voting for my two Senators. How much does my vote actually count when 10 other states combined have the same population but 20 Senators? How much does my vote count even for representatives if I’m in a state that’s heavily gerrymandered?

The allocation of Senators isn’t supposed to be proportionate to state population by design. It’s a non-issue.

Proportional representation occurs in the House.

Re: Apple's privacy push cost Meta $10B

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Post by ericmay » Fri, Feb 04, 2022, 4:15 PM UTC

cercatrova wrote: post #308

ericmay wrote: post #307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I feel the exact opposite. I don't really care about content anymore How do they express what they are doing without content using Instagram? Can you walk me through this?

I mean content as in what reddit or HN has, articles, posts, videos about a topic etc. Of course on Instagram people need to post stuff, photos and videos, but I don't think that when people say content they mean interpersonal photos and videos.

I see. I definitely think it is content (I wouldn’t draw a distinction between origin), but I can see how you have a different interpretation.

When you use Instagram do you see ads or posts from people who aren’t your friends or family members? I’ve never used it so I’m not sure how the algorithms work.

Personally if someone is my friend and has something worth sharing they’ll tell me about it directly or send me a picture. I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything. I’ve had people I was friends with move and we’ve lost touch and so forth. I don’t see a reason to struggle to try and stop that myself. Been pretty happy this way but that is what works for me.

Re: Apple's privacy push cost Meta $10B

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Post by scarface74 » Fri, Feb 04, 2022, 4:16 PM UTC

ineedasername wrote: post #303

scarface74 wrote: post #234

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They killed it because it didn’t work on mobile.

Maybe their desktop traffic wouldn't have tanked so much if they'd kept it a richer experience, and continue to enrich it. Instead they abandoned it completely once traffic patterns tipped towards mobile.

How many people really use desktops that much in 2021 for personal use? Facebook is already seen as being “for old people”.

Re: Apple's privacy push cost Meta $10B

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Post by ineedasername » Fri, Feb 04, 2022, 4:17 PM UTC

FearlessNebula wrote: post #229

paulcole wrote: post #134

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Unpopular opinion on HN, but I’m 100% OK with being tracked because it means: 1. I get to use products and services I like without paying money from my wallet. I have plenty of data to share that’s effectively worthless to me. 2. I get exposed to new products and services (through ads) that I’d like to buy. I like buying things!

You want companies to use your personal information to manipulate you into buying products you don’t need?

Everything but food, clothing, and a place to live are things we don't need. There are countless additional luxuries that make life more convenient or enjoyable. I found out about Instant Pots from ads, and when I finally decided to check it out and found it interesting I bought one. It has significantly improved my after-work quality of life multiple times a month with large reductions in food prep time.

I found out about glowforge the same way and added a very useful & revenue generating tool to a small side-business I run.

So I don't mind a little bit of targeted ads. I don't regard them as inherently bad. I do however believe that each individual should have complete control over the process as it relates to their own personal data.

Re: Apple's privacy push cost Meta $10B

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Post by scarface74 » Fri, Feb 04, 2022, 4:20 PM UTC

ameister14 wrote: post #301

scarface74 wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So let’s say I’m in CA voting for my two Senators. How much does my vote actually count when 10 other states combined have the same population but 20 Senators? How much does my vote count even for representatives if I’m in a state that’s heavily gerrymandered?

If you're in a district that is heavily gerrymandered, your vote may actually be more important. Still, the best proportional representation for you is local. So mayor, state rep, governor.

How do you propose the mayor legislate BigTech? Even on the state level, gerrymandering effects representation. Most of the population in GA (where I live), Florida, and Texas don’t support the state laws. Those three states are passing all kinds of laws to make it harder for people to vote. Especially after the “stolen election” that saw GA turn blue.

And before the whataboutism replies start, I’m sure the same happens on the other side. I just know more about my own state.

Re: Apple's privacy push cost Meta $10B

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Post by echopurity » Fri, Feb 04, 2022, 4:20 PM UTC

No post body was provided.

Re: Apple's privacy push cost Meta $10B

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Post by ghaff » Fri, Feb 04, 2022, 4:21 PM UTC

zarriak wrote: post #292

eric4smith wrote: post #219

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Zuck did not get to where he is by being short sighted or stupid. The Metaverse is the obvious next evolution of online. Accelerated by the happenings of the last 2 years.

Zuck moved first in “metaverse” with Oculus 7 years ago and what does he have to show for it? Some decent/good hardware locked behind logging into your Facebook account. If it had been any other company that had done with Oculus what Facebook has done with it they would be mocked endlessly for such magnitude of failure.

>If it had been any other company that had done with Oculus what Facebook has done with it they would be mocked endlessly for such magnitude of failure.

Probably true but no one else would probably have made it work either.

VR tech isn't really there today but even if it were better, it's still more of a niche use case than its fans would have it be. (Certain types of gaming, maybe virtual tourism...) People don't want things to be immersive most of the time. Ask me to wear a VR headset for a routine work meeting? That will be a big "nope" from me.

Re: Apple's privacy push cost Meta $10B

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Post by spideymans » Fri, Feb 04, 2022, 4:27 PM UTC

echelon wrote: post #242

scarface74 wrote: post #225

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So, you’re complaining that Apple gave users a choice not to be tracked?

You keep making this kind of reply to all of my comments. I've already enumerated my problems with Apple here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30196852 I would be fine if Apple removed tracking if the DOJ removed their app store.

It's funny how the same reasons third party devs hate the iPhone are roughly the same reasons I bought into the iPhone ecosystem.

Re: Apple's privacy push cost Meta $10B

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Post by colinmhayes » Fri, Feb 04, 2022, 4:27 PM UTC

Jasper_ wrote: post #272

alexashka wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. You can't have a democracy with 100 IQ idiot majority, because their decisions are governed by whatever gets poured into their poorly working brains that week, so you end up with corporatocracy or fascism, pretending to be a democracy.

I know this isn't the point, but you do realize that the IQ is rearranged to fit a bell curve with 100 being the exact middle average, right? By literally the definition of IQ, 100 IQ is not "an idiot".

I think the point is that the average person is an idiot.