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I really dislike this train of thought and where it leads. Sure, everyone hates ads and would do without them if possible. But people forget; ads subsidize most

I really dislike this train of thought and where it leads. Sure, everyone hates ads and would do without them if possible. But people forget; ads subsidize most "free" content. It has been this way for 60+ years, probably more. You know when your grandmother tuned in to watch Howdy Doody? It was always "brought to you by: Palmolive Dish Soap and Ovaltine!". Their ads during commercial breaks paid for that show. Back then there were no dvd sales, no streaming online contracts, advertisers paying for airtime to air entertainment programs was a fairly straightforward affair. Or did you think broadcasting companies created that content, then aired it for free out of altruism? I do believe this is a big part of why they call us millennials the entitled generation. We literally expect everything for free. From our game of thrones TV shows to our favorite blogs, podcasts and websites. They all exist to entertain us and fuck them for wanting to make a dollar off their hard work. How dare they...

zetaabba 10y ago
" I do believe this is a big part of why they call us millennials the entitled generation. We literally expect everything for free. From our game of thrones TV shows to our favorite blogs, podcasts and websites. They all exist to entertain us and fuck them for wanting to make a dollar off their hard work. How dare they... " Wow, you took the words right out of my mouth. I wholeheartedly agree. I remember talking with a non-technical friend of mine about Bandcamp and how he was annoyed that his popular free album had hit the limit of free downloads on the site. He would have to either pay Bandcamp or start charging for the album. Presumably Bandcamp does this because the cost of their infrastructure and work is not free and this is a way to get some revenue. But all my friend could say was "how greedy they are!" as if one spent their life acquiring a hard skill just to do free work for you and your band. Its a more nuanced entitlement, where we millenials understand that it took hard work to make something, but after all, doesn't Google, Facebook, etc. do it "for free" as far as the end user is concerned?
dredmorbius 10y ago
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7485773 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7485773 Nearly everyone has bought into the utter bullshit that advertising makes the web free. This delusion buries not only the fact that we have made a deal with the devil, but also that the deal really sucks. What we traded our souls for we don’t even get. The web would be both cheaper and better if we just paid for what we use straight up. And more importantly, society would be better. I'll explain all of these.... It's not free. It's more expensive. It's even worse. Eevilspock on HN, March 28, 2014.
- mahranch 10y ago
  That's all speculative & hypotheticals. The whole "pay to play" or "pay for what you use" model has failed time and time again on the internet. In fact, I can't think of a single instance of that working on the large scale. It's a pie in the sky pipe dream with no chance of working. A libertarian fantasy. Isn't that ideology center to the anti-net neutrality stance? People who only want to pay for what they use? I don't buy into that ideology because there are plenty of examples of it failing. Not only that, but doesn't serve everyone equally. And, if it wasn't already apparent, it hurts the poor. They wouldn't have access to the same content if they had to pay as they go.
heisnotanalien 10y ago
Nope. I didn't say I believe everything should be fine. Why can't I just pay a small fee instead of seeing ads? Why is seemingly no one toying with alternatives?
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zetaabba 10y ago

" I do believe this is a big part of why they call us millennials the entitled generation. We literally expect everything for free. From our game of thrones TV shows to our favorite blogs, podcasts and websites. They all exist to entertain us and fuck them for wanting to make a dollar off their hard work. How dare they... " Wow, you took the words right out of my mouth. I wholeheartedly agree. I remember talking with a non-technical friend of mine about Bandcamp and how he was annoyed that his popular free album had hit the limit of free downloads on the site. He would have to either pay Bandcamp or start charging for the album. Presumably Bandcamp does this because the cost of their infrastructure and work is not free and this is a way to get some revenue. But all my friend could say was "how greedy they are!" as if one spent their life acquiring a hard skill just to do free work for you and your band. Its a more nuanced entitlement, where we millenials understand that it took hard work to make something, but after all, doesn't Google, Facebook, etc. do it "for free" as far as the end user is concerned?

dredmorbius 10y ago

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7485773 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7485773 Nearly everyone has bought into the utter bullshit that advertising makes the web free. This delusion buries not only the fact that we have made a deal with the devil, but also that the deal really sucks. What we traded our souls for we don’t even get. The web would be both cheaper and better if we just paid for what we use straight up. And more importantly, society would be better. I'll explain all of these.... It's not free. It's more expensive. It's even worse. Eevilspock on HN, March 28, 2014.

mahranch 10y ago
That's all speculative & hypotheticals. The whole "pay to play" or "pay for what you use" model has failed time and time again on the internet. In fact, I can't think of a single instance of that working on the large scale. It's a pie in the sky pipe dream with no chance of working. A libertarian fantasy. Isn't that ideology center to the anti-net neutrality stance? People who only want to pay for what they use? I don't buy into that ideology because there are plenty of examples of it failing. Not only that, but doesn't serve everyone equally. And, if it wasn't already apparent, it hurts the poor. They wouldn't have access to the same content if they had to pay as they go.

heisnotanalien 10y ago

Nope. I didn't say I believe everything should be fine. Why can't I just pay a small fee instead of seeing ads? Why is seemingly no one toying with alternatives?

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