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PC Gamer recommends RSS readers in a 37mb article that just keeps downloading

stuartbreckenridge.net

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Re: PC Gamer recommends RSS readers in a 37mb article that just keeps downloading

#51

Post by colechristensen »

goldenarm wrote: post #7

I'm trying to migrate to 100% RSS right now, to avoid the hateful algorithmic editorialization of modern social media. And I'm shocked that almost no paid media provides full articles in RSS anymore, and force me to navigate their 37MB pages with popups all over the place. Has anyone found a solution against that ? Edit : Sorry I'm asking specifically about paywalled stuff

I have thought of this, and I have thoughts about the ethics of this.

In my spare time I'm developing a web RSS reader and considering effectively a Spotify model where users optionally have a paid subscription that is shared to article publishers to address the ethics of simply free stripping of ads as a service. I'd like it to be an optional paywall but haven't decided how to move forward

Re: PC Gamer recommends RSS readers in a 37mb article that just keeps downloading

#52

Post by dehrmann »

userbinator wrote: post #48

To use a good point of reference that I've seen others also start using lately, an installation of Windows 95 is roughly 40MB, so in loading that page you've downloaded approximately one Windows 95 installation. Then another 10+ times with the 500MB more that came after.

That's not a fair comparison. A desktop wallpaper could be 8 MB for a modern OS just because of screen resolution. A 4-minute music video would probably be 100 MB.

Re: PC Gamer recommends RSS readers in a 37mb article that just keeps downloading

#53

Post by MBCook »

dwayne_dibley wrote: post #46
MBCook wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve been using the Reddit app some lately after being a longtime old.Reddit.com + blocker person. Ignoring how [ad] navigation is kinda annoying [ad] the shear [ad] number of ads [ad] they [ad] insert [ad] is insane. The only good thing is none of them seem to be animated/video. Which is an incredibly low bar, but most sites can’t even jump that.

I'll probably leave reddit when old.Reddit.com gets the chop

I suspect I will too. I’ve been playing with the app a bit as it’s easier for me on my phone to view subs that are mostly pictures (e.g. awuariums). But I only do it from time to time.

Apollo was much better, of course.

Re: PC Gamer recommends RSS readers in a 37mb article that just keeps downloading

#55

Post by ericd »

dwayne_dibley wrote: post #46
MBCook wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve been using the Reddit app some lately after being a longtime old.Reddit.com + blocker person. Ignoring how [ad] navigation is kinda annoying [ad] the shear [ad] number of ads [ad] they [ad] insert [ad] is insane. The only good thing is none of them seem to be animated/video. Which is an incredibly low bar, but most sites can’t even jump that.

I'll probably leave reddit when old.Reddit.com gets the chop

Same, but it sounds like Lemmy still has some issues, and it'll be hard to replace some of the niche subreddits.

Re: PC Gamer recommends RSS readers in a 37mb article that just keeps downloading

#57

Post by timpera »

MBCook wrote: post #17

The title buried the lede. > In the five minutes since I started writing this post the website has downloaded almost half a gigabyte of new ads. I’m guessing this is due to autoplaying videos. *500 MB* in 5 minutes. 37 MB is petite compared to that.

Downloading 500 MB in 5 minutes in the background of a random article is really disrespectful to readers on low-end devices or metered data plans (and these two groups are often the same people!). What a waste of ressources.

Re: PC Gamer recommends RSS readers in a 37mb article that just keeps downloading

#58

Post by goodmythical »

mrweasel wrote: post #16
goldenarm wrote: post #7

I'm trying to migrate to 100% RSS right now, to avoid the hateful algorithmic editorialization of modern social media. And I'm shocked that almost no paid media provides full articles in RSS anymore, and force me to navigate their 37MB pages with popups all over the place. Has anyone found a solution against that ? Edit : Sorry I'm asking specifically about paywalled stuff

Disable Javascript or use Lynx, Links or Dillo to open the articles from your newsreader. Some pages won't work obviously, you remove those from your feed.

no love for elinks?

Re: PC Gamer recommends RSS readers in a 37mb article that just keeps downloading

#59

Post by drnick1 »

shellwizard wrote: post #49
MBCook wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is why I pay to get rid of ads in things I like. Podcasts and TV are the big ones. I just started watching season 2 of Jury Duty on Amazon. I had deleted the app when they announced that as a paying subscriber I would be getting ads. Oh my God the ads are so horrible. So much worse than I remember. Also, extra kudos to Amazon for nearly doubling the price of removing the ads the week before the show came out. Ho…

Arr matey

Ahoy, sailor!

Re: PC Gamer recommends RSS readers in a 37mb article that just keeps downloading

#60

Post by qingcharles »

timpera wrote: post #57
MBCook wrote: post #17

The title buried the lede. > In the five minutes since I started writing this post the website has downloaded almost half a gigabyte of new ads. I’m guessing this is due to autoplaying videos. *500 MB* in 5 minutes. 37 MB is petite compared to that.

Downloading 500 MB in 5 minutes in the background of a random article is really disrespectful to readers on low-end devices or metered data plans (and these two groups are often the same people!). What a waste of ressources.

I've worked with a lot of people at the bottom end of society in the USA. They are given government provided phones they can use so they have access to Google Maps, email, job search apps etc. These phones come with 3GB of regular data per month. After that they drop down to 2G speed, but not in a way that will allow anything to actually load.

Three days into the month these phones are just ewaste.

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