Ads are such a strange cancer on the internet. So ugly, so without value, such a waste of time, such a sinkhole of precious attention. And yet -- would the mo

Ads are such a strange cancer on the internet. So ugly, so without value, such a waste of time, such a sinkhole of precious attention. And yet -- would the modern internet even exist but for ads? I'm not so sure. It seems there is a bifurcation, even among those of us with the technical know-how and resources to live ad-free lives: those who tolerate ads, and those who do not. I count myself in the latter group. I will be happiest if I go the rest of my life and never see another ad, in any form, again. I will go to great lengths and expense to avoid them. It is self-evident to me that they are toxic, to my own psychology, at least. The dichotomy brings to mind the "edit streams" in Neal Stephenson's latest, Fall: an internet essentially stratified by class. Who has the money and resources to filter the shit out and who doesn't.