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As long as the paywalls have zero ads, I’m fine with that. If it is paywall + ads? No. Either charge enough that you don’t need ads, or only use ads. Never both

As long as the paywalls have zero ads, I’m fine with that. If it is paywall + ads? No. Either charge enough that you don’t need ads, or only use ads. Never both.

Xenoamorphous 3y ago
No, of course there will be no ads. But yeah, I’m sure HNers will be ok with a paywall, considering they’re probably in the top 10% (if not 5% or 1%) of their respective countries. What’s a few more bucks on top of their dozen monthly subscriptions. Now go ask someone with the median income in a developing country how they feel about getting pretty much all relevant content in the Internet paywalled in the next 10 years or so due to the ever increasing use of ad-blockers. Don’t get me wrong, content creators/owners are as much, if not more, to blame than ad blocker users.
- Barrin92 3y ago
  I always find this argument very odd. There's high quality, international ad-free public services and culture available for everyone. You even get commitments to factuality and neutrality, in this day and age! sure streaming the <current year> blockbuster costs money, but then again somehow nobody ever complained they had to pay for a movie ticket. Private market pop culture isn't some sort of good that one ought to expect to be free.
  - Xenoamorphous 3y ago
    What about news? Like, current event news. Most major newspapers are moving towards a paywall mode and the rest will follow soon.
oblio 3y ago
He he. The screws have only started to tighten. Cable used to cost $100 per month AND had ads. The enshittification will continue. Especially since the low hanging fruit of the internet are becoming rarer.
- asadotzler 3y ago
  Cable, without premium channels, was $20 a month when I was a kid and there were no commercials. It took about 20 years to grow to $100 a month and with 25% of time devoted to ads. Even discounting inflation, that's a significant decrease in consumer value and a massive increase in cable company profit. Google's ad empire is almost 20 years old. The same level of enshittification should be expected.

As long as the paywalls have zero ads, I’m fine with that. If it is paywall + ads? No. Either charge enough that you don’t need ads, or only use ads. Never both.

Xenoamorphous 3y ago

No, of course there will be no ads. But yeah, I’m sure HNers will be ok with a paywall, considering they’re probably in the top 10% (if not 5% or 1%) of their respective countries. What’s a few more bucks on top of their dozen monthly subscriptions. Now go ask someone with the median income in a developing country how they feel about getting pretty much all relevant content in the Internet paywalled in the next 10 years or so due to the ever increasing use of ad-blockers. Don’t get me wrong, content creators/owners are as much, if not more, to blame than ad blocker users.

Barrin92 3y ago
I always find this argument very odd. There's high quality, international ad-free public services and culture available for everyone. You even get commitments to factuality and neutrality, in this day and age! sure streaming the <current year> blockbuster costs money, but then again somehow nobody ever complained they had to pay for a movie ticket. Private market pop culture isn't some sort of good that one ought to expect to be free.
- Xenoamorphous 3y ago
  What about news? Like, current event news. Most major newspapers are moving towards a paywall mode and the rest will follow soon.

oblio 3y ago

He he. The screws have only started to tighten. Cable used to cost $100 per month AND had ads. The enshittification will continue. Especially since the low hanging fruit of the internet are becoming rarer.

asadotzler 3y ago
Cable, without premium channels, was $20 a month when I was a kid and there were no commercials. It took about 20 years to grow to $100 a month and with 25% of time devoted to ads. Even discounting inflation, that's a significant decrease in consumer value and a massive increase in cable company profit. Google's ad empire is almost 20 years old. The same level of enshittification should be expected.