6 ms·

Agreed 1000%. Everyone wants unlimited high quality content that is also free but no ads and conditional privacy and "true" information and ... and ... and ...

johnfactorial 9y ago
... and Wikipedia and NPR are excellent if imperfect versions of that model.
- philangist 9y ago
  Both of which are constantly asking for donations
  - monetus 9y ago
    The idea that something in the commons should be funded by the majority isn't a new one. At this point the debate turns into an argument on tax policy and its peripherals... I don't think that debate will end until we all create some sort of hive mind AI by networking our brains together.
  - notriddle 9y ago
    In case you were curious, the Wikimedia Foundation has plenty of money to keep their sites running. Most of their funds are going to other projects, like conferences and "Wikipedia-in-a-box" type stuff. [1] [2] [1]: http://mywikibiz.com/Top_10_Reasons_Not_to_Donate_to_Wikipedia http://mywikibiz.com/Top_10_Reasons_Not_to_Donate_to_Wikiped... [2]: Despite linking to "reasons not to donate to Wikipedia," I'd still prefer more sites run like Wikipedia and less sites run like YouTube, and I think you should donate to the Wikimedia Foundation if you're a power user. Do not donate to the Wikimedia Foundation unless you're heavily involved in their wikis, but if you are heavily involved and have the money, you should. Their donors need to hold them accountable, and that's not possible if they're getting tons of money from people who have no idea what's going on behind the scenes.
Tannic 9y ago
We as a society actually have the means to provide that, strictly speaking. It is, in the end, the original aspiration of the internet to provide these things in the name of bettering humanity. The problem is that having the tech doesn’t change the antequated and oppresive socio-political and economic system in which we currently bathe. Without a more forceful revolution—of whatever type—the promise of the internet revolution will be perpetually subsumed by the underlying impossibility of the systems it requires to flourish. Go figure, free flow of information requires all sorts of other human freedoms.
fragmede 9y ago
The ongoing success of Netflix proves not everybody is a freeloader, and a report from Spotify made the news for their estimate that 2 million people are using ad-block software to get premium without paying for it - the bigger news should really be that they have 150-some million users that aren't cheating the system, and that 70 million people pay money to Spotify. Everybody wants something for free, but there are some people that recognize things are worth paying for.
- SmellyGeekBoy 9y ago
  As a paying customer, I'm genuinely surprised that adblocking is possible with Spotify considering they control both the servers and the client. That said, I started on the free plan and have friends who still use it and the ads really aren't intrustive at all - it hardly seems like it would be worth the effort?
  - skstronghold 9y ago
    They control the client but not Browser/DNS/OS
  - mojomark 9y ago
    Also as a paying premium spotify customer, I can say they still serve up ads, they're just incognito... 1.) I recently had a splash screen for a Hulu partner "free trial" membership. Turns out it's actually a bundle, but I don't want to pay more for Hulu so keep your "ads" out of my premium feed Spotify. Put it in a special offers section where I can peruse at my liesure. https://support.spotify.com/us/account_payment_help/subscription_information/spotify-and-hulu/ https://support.spotify.com/us/account_payment_help/subscrip... 2.) My email is constantly bombarded with ads like "[pick a artist] wants to say 'thanks' with presale tickets". I already get presale with Amex. Again, these ads can be placed in a 'shows near you' section vice shoved in my email face. No ads my hiney.
    - notriddle 9y ago
      > My email is constantly bombarded with ads like "[pick a artist] wants to say 'thanks' with presale tickets". I already get presale with Amex. Again, these ads can be placed in a 'shows near you' section vice shoved in my email face. Doesn't CAN-SPAM legally require them to have an unsubscribe button on anything like that?

johnfactorial 9y ago

... and Wikipedia and NPR are excellent if imperfect versions of that model.

philangist 9y ago
Both of which are constantly asking for donations
- monetus 9y ago
  The idea that something in the commons should be funded by the majority isn't a new one. At this point the debate turns into an argument on tax policy and its peripherals... I don't think that debate will end until we all create some sort of hive mind AI by networking our brains together.
- notriddle 9y ago
  In case you were curious, the Wikimedia Foundation has plenty of money to keep their sites running. Most of their funds are going to other projects, like conferences and "Wikipedia-in-a-box" type stuff. [1] [2] [1]: http://mywikibiz.com/Top_10_Reasons_Not_to_Donate_to_Wikipedia http://mywikibiz.com/Top_10_Reasons_Not_to_Donate_to_Wikiped... [2]: Despite linking to "reasons not to donate to Wikipedia," I'd still prefer more sites run like Wikipedia and less sites run like YouTube, and I think you should donate to the Wikimedia Foundation if you're a power user. Do not donate to the Wikimedia Foundation unless you're heavily involved in their wikis, but if you are heavily involved and have the money, you should. Their donors need to hold them accountable, and that's not possible if they're getting tons of money from people who have no idea what's going on behind the scenes.

Tannic 9y ago

We as a society actually have the means to provide that, strictly speaking. It is, in the end, the original aspiration of the internet to provide these things in the name of bettering humanity. The problem is that having the tech doesn’t change the antequated and oppresive socio-political and economic system in which we currently bathe. Without a more forceful revolution—of whatever type—the promise of the internet revolution will be perpetually subsumed by the underlying impossibility of the systems it requires to flourish. Go figure, free flow of information requires all sorts of other human freedoms.

fragmede 9y ago

The ongoing success of Netflix proves not everybody is a freeloader, and a report from Spotify made the news for their estimate that 2 million people are using ad-block software to get premium without paying for it - the bigger news should really be that they have 150-some million users that aren't cheating the system, and that 70 million people pay money to Spotify. Everybody wants something for free, but there are some people that recognize things are worth paying for.

SmellyGeekBoy 9y ago
As a paying customer, I'm genuinely surprised that adblocking is possible with Spotify considering they control both the servers and the client. That said, I started on the free plan and have friends who still use it and the ads really aren't intrustive at all - it hardly seems like it would be worth the effort?
- skstronghold 9y ago
  They control the client but not Browser/DNS/OS
- mojomark 9y ago
  Also as a paying premium spotify customer, I can say they still serve up ads, they're just incognito... 1.) I recently had a splash screen for a Hulu partner "free trial" membership. Turns out it's actually a bundle, but I don't want to pay more for Hulu so keep your "ads" out of my premium feed Spotify. Put it in a special offers section where I can peruse at my liesure. https://support.spotify.com/us/account_payment_help/subscription_information/spotify-and-hulu/ https://support.spotify.com/us/account_payment_help/subscrip... 2.) My email is constantly bombarded with ads like "[pick a artist] wants to say 'thanks' with presale tickets". I already get presale with Amex. Again, these ads can be placed in a 'shows near you' section vice shoved in my email face. No ads my hiney.
  - notriddle 9y ago
    > My email is constantly bombarded with ads like "[pick a artist] wants to say 'thanks' with presale tickets". I already get presale with Amex. Again, these ads can be placed in a 'shows near you' section vice shoved in my email face. Doesn't CAN-SPAM legally require them to have an unsubscribe button on anything like that?