5 ms·

Then they should never have started. Why does every 'free' service on the Internet inevitably devolve into an ad-laden, tracker-enabled shitfest?

by beedogs 10y ago

beambot 10y ago
Because they probably aren't charities, and can't afford to donat e Free resources for your perpetual enjoyment?
- beedogs 10y ago
  Then we're back to my initial point: they never should have started as one.
  - Dr_tldr 10y ago
    I imagine you in a grocery store somewhere, railing against free samples. "You never should've given me a piece of sausage if you were going to start charging for them."
    - beedogs 10y ago
      That is possibly the worst analogy I've ever read on HN.
      - tripzilch 10y ago
        Only if you speak Dutch.
    - briandon 10y ago
      Not comparable since supermarket in-store free samples are tiny servings of a product you can purchase in the same establishment. Supermarkets wouldn't allow, much less encourage, anyone to consume large numbers of free samples instead of buying the actual for-sale product.
  - dave2000 10y ago
    You're wrong. It would be awful to live somewhere where you get to choose which companies are allowed to start.
  - taneq 10y ago
    The problem is that these sites start out as a small, useful service and then some VC with dollar signs in their eyes throws a few million dollars at them. The clothes make the primate, and suddenly what was three guys in a back room living on instant noodles feels obliged to "act like the million-dollar company that they are."
- PhasmaFelis 10y ago
  > Because they probably aren't charities, and can't afford to donat e Free resources for your perpetual enjoyment? Then why did they start a free service to begin with, if they knew from the start it couldn't last? Right, to trick people into becoming dependent on the free service so they'll be reluctant to leave once the shady, UX-degrading monetization starts. You'll forgive me if I'm not sympathetic to that business plan.
  - voltagex_ 10y ago
    Back to reality: would imgur have become so popular if it wasn't free? Who would pay? Reddit users? I don't think so.
    - PhasmaFelis 10y ago
      You seem to be asserting that anything is okay as long as it makes money. Nobody has to make a website. If the only way you can think of to make money is bait-and-switch, then you can choose to do that, or you can choose to go back to the drawing board and come up with a less unpleasant business plan. If you choose the former, don't expect me to cheer because you found a way to make money, and you think that's the only thing that matters.
      - voltagex_ 10y ago
        I agree with you. When imgur started there was a definite need. Now it's being replaced because there's a new need (caused by imgur changing the way it operates). Also, I don't think you're going to make everyone happy as a business, and that's (probably) okay.
  - meerita 10y ago
    +1 to this. People should stop being soften with unrealistic business that uses the ad hororem tactic. Imgur can explore dozens of models.
    - aavotins 10y ago
ljk 10y ago
unfortunately nothing is free in this world
dave2000 10y ago
A lot of sites/services start for a laugh, and/or because the people who start it assume/hope there'll be some way of making money from it when it gets popular. For a few, this is true. Some go dark, some give up, some sell up. It's up to them I guess.
Eerie 10y ago
Counter-argument: Wikipedia.

Then they should never have started. Why does every 'free' service on the Internet inevitably devolve into an ad-laden, tracker-enabled shitfest?

by beedogs 10y ago

Then they should never have started. Why does every 'free' service on the Internet inevitably devolve into an ad-laden, tracker-enabled shitfest?

beambot 10y ago

Because they probably aren't charities, and can't afford to donat e Free resources for your perpetual enjoyment?

beedogs 10y ago
Then we're back to my initial point: they never should have started as one.
- Dr_tldr 10y ago
  I imagine you in a grocery store somewhere, railing against free samples. "You never should've given me a piece of sausage if you were going to start charging for them."
  - beedogs 10y ago
    That is possibly the worst analogy I've ever read on HN.
    - tripzilch 10y ago
      Only if you speak Dutch.
  - briandon 10y ago
    Not comparable since supermarket in-store free samples are tiny servings of a product you can purchase in the same establishment. Supermarkets wouldn't allow, much less encourage, anyone to consume large numbers of free samples instead of buying the actual for-sale product.
- dave2000 10y ago
  You're wrong. It would be awful to live somewhere where you get to choose which companies are allowed to start.
- taneq 10y ago
  The problem is that these sites start out as a small, useful service and then some VC with dollar signs in their eyes throws a few million dollars at them. The clothes make the primate, and suddenly what was three guys in a back room living on instant noodles feels obliged to "act like the million-dollar company that they are."
PhasmaFelis 10y ago
> Because they probably aren't charities, and can't afford to donat e Free resources for your perpetual enjoyment? Then why did they start a free service to begin with, if they knew from the start it couldn't last? Right, to trick people into becoming dependent on the free service so they'll be reluctant to leave once the shady, UX-degrading monetization starts. You'll forgive me if I'm not sympathetic to that business plan.
- voltagex_ 10y ago
  Back to reality: would imgur have become so popular if it wasn't free? Who would pay? Reddit users? I don't think so.
  - PhasmaFelis 10y ago
    You seem to be asserting that anything is okay as long as it makes money. Nobody has to make a website. If the only way you can think of to make money is bait-and-switch, then you can choose to do that, or you can choose to go back to the drawing board and come up with a less unpleasant business plan. If you choose the former, don't expect me to cheer because you found a way to make money, and you think that's the only thing that matters.
    - voltagex_ 10y ago
      I agree with you. When imgur started there was a definite need. Now it's being replaced because there's a new need (caused by imgur changing the way it operates). Also, I don't think you're going to make everyone happy as a business, and that's (probably) okay.
- meerita 10y ago
  +1 to this. People should stop being soften with unrealistic business that uses the ad hororem tactic. Imgur can explore dozens of models.
  - aavotins 10y ago

ljk 10y ago

unfortunately nothing is free in this world

dave2000 10y ago

A lot of sites/services start for a laugh, and/or because the people who start it assume/hope there'll be some way of making money from it when it gets popular. For a few, this is true. Some go dark, some give up, some sell up. It's up to them I guess.

Eerie 10y ago

Counter-argument: Wikipedia.