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Sounds a bit like the "systemic failures" that brought down the housing market in 2008. It's always been a surprise to me how much money is flowing from ads an
by qppo 6y ago
Sounds a bit like the "systemic failures" that brought down the housing market in 2008.
It's always been a surprise to me how much money is flowing from ads and how any business can be so reliant on it, since this makes it sound like it's fundamentally flawed. One would think the jig would eventually be up.
- yters 6y agoThe whole thing is propped up with CIA money. I saw an Onion exposé on this.
- mumblemumble 6y agoIt'll be interesting to see what happens when the jig is finally up, since there's so much stuff we're used to getting for free that is currently financed by all of this: email, maps and GPS navigation, staying in contact with college friends, ...
- _def 6y agoFOSS and paid services will rise and shine.
- liability 6y agoFor navigation to a known address, OSMAnd works great. Google Maps is better at search, particularly for commercial destinations, and has a slicker interface. For everything else, particularly navigation off road (on trails or otherwise) OSM excels. OSM has much more detail than Google Maps for things like parks and trails, frequently even having the locations of water fountains (this has saved my ass a few times.) I guess my point is the alternatives to Google Maps aren't perfect but they have a lot more to offer than many people assume. When I drove across Canada, from Ottawa to Anchorage, OSM never let me down. It's a viable alternative.
- paxys 6y agoHonestly I think we'll be fine. If the services are worth something then people will be willing to pay for them. Newspapers, magazines, email, satellite radio, navigation systems etc. all existed (and were very profitable) well before online advertising became what it is now. We might even be better off that way.