5 ms·

In browsers, ad blockers are being used more and more commonly for even non-technical folks. In native apps mobile apps, there are some okay ad-blocking soluti

In browsers, ad blockers are being used more and more commonly for even non-technical folks. In native apps mobile apps, there are some okay ad-blocking solutions. But when the ads are baked into the operating system itself... I have a hard time seeing Microsoft or Apple losing the ad blocking battle. So, instead of getting ads somewhat sandboxed inside a browser, in the future we may be getting ads inside the start menu, inside spotlight, on the toolbar... and instead of semi-directly funding content providers, the ad space will only ever be funneling money to the these same huge companies to spend as they see fit. Bleeech.

cm2187 10y ago
When companies think their business is to monetize their customers to the last penny instead of making a product people want, it is the beginning of the end. True for Microsoft, true for Apple. I think, long term, we will look back at 2016 as the turning point.
- givinguflac 10y ago
  Serious question, where do you see Apple monetizing customer data? I can't think of any way they monetize customers beyond hardware and app sales.
  - cm2187 10y ago
    Removing the audio jack to sell more dongles or proprietary devices. Shoving down our throat all their paying services: icloud, apple music, apple pay, etc. It used to be that I would be eager to buy a new iphone because I was keen to get the new features. Now I hold on to my older model because it has less of this nagging and new "features".
omginternets 10y ago
>I have a hard time seeing Microsoft or Apple losing the ad blocking battle At the risk of hijacking your comment, what's the present situation with regards to running Linux on Apple hardware? I quite like my Macbook and am generally tolerant of MacOS (mostly because it's POSIX-y enough to feel familiar), but would definitely consider installing a Linux distro depending on how well it worked.
- givinguflac 10y ago
  It works well, using an alternative boot menu. http://lifehacker.com/5531037/how-to-triple-boot-your-mac-with-windows-and-linux-no-boot-camp-required http://lifehacker.com/5531037/how-to-triple-boot-your-mac-wi...
- H4CK3RM4N 10y ago
  Your only real issue would be with Broadcom drivers(they aren't too bad though). I tried Fedora a while ago and everything worked from my first boot up(including keyboard backlights). Honestly, I'm not too worried about Apple and privacy/advertising for now, after they made photos.app do image processing on decide, and the lack of current iOS exploits in Vault 7.
SN76477 10y ago
Advertisers get things so terribly wrong :(
shaggerty 10y ago
The potential silver lining is that this resuls in FOSS operating systems getting more users, which in turn will mean even better support/stability in FOSS options.
prebrov 10y ago
Blocking beaconing at the network level would be good next step. DNSCrypt DNS resolver with a sinkhole that blocks ads and telemetry for any device is fairly easy to setup, I've done it for myself. Searching for "ad blocking smart DNS" shows there's a ton of such services already. I expect a lot of them will be placing Adwords against "disable windows 10 ads" now. Next in the arms race, however, Windows will start ignoring your DNS settings and use their resolvers, like some applications do today.

cm2187 10y ago

When companies think their business is to monetize their customers to the last penny instead of making a product people want, it is the beginning of the end. True for Microsoft, true for Apple. I think, long term, we will look back at 2016 as the turning point.

givinguflac 10y ago
Serious question, where do you see Apple monetizing customer data? I can't think of any way they monetize customers beyond hardware and app sales.
- cm2187 10y ago
  Removing the audio jack to sell more dongles or proprietary devices. Shoving down our throat all their paying services: icloud, apple music, apple pay, etc. It used to be that I would be eager to buy a new iphone because I was keen to get the new features. Now I hold on to my older model because it has less of this nagging and new "features".

omginternets 10y ago

>I have a hard time seeing Microsoft or Apple losing the ad blocking battle At the risk of hijacking your comment, what's the present situation with regards to running Linux on Apple hardware? I quite like my Macbook and am generally tolerant of MacOS (mostly because it's POSIX-y enough to feel familiar), but would definitely consider installing a Linux distro depending on how well it worked.

givinguflac 10y ago
It works well, using an alternative boot menu. http://lifehacker.com/5531037/how-to-triple-boot-your-mac-with-windows-and-linux-no-boot-camp-required http://lifehacker.com/5531037/how-to-triple-boot-your-mac-wi...
H4CK3RM4N 10y ago
Your only real issue would be with Broadcom drivers(they aren't too bad though). I tried Fedora a while ago and everything worked from my first boot up(including keyboard backlights). Honestly, I'm not too worried about Apple and privacy/advertising for now, after they made photos.app do image processing on decide, and the lack of current iOS exploits in Vault 7.

SN76477 10y ago

Advertisers get things so terribly wrong :(

shaggerty 10y ago

The potential silver lining is that this resuls in FOSS operating systems getting more users, which in turn will mean even better support/stability in FOSS options.

prebrov 10y ago

Blocking beaconing at the network level would be good next step. DNSCrypt DNS resolver with a sinkhole that blocks ads and telemetry for any device is fairly easy to setup, I've done it for myself. Searching for "ad blocking smart DNS" shows there's a ton of such services already. I expect a lot of them will be placing Adwords against "disable windows 10 ads" now. Next in the arms race, however, Windows will start ignoring your DNS settings and use their resolvers, like some applications do today.