3 ms·

But those are ok. They (usually) don't have sound, auto playing videos, shock content or cover something I want to look at.

mauvehaus 1y ago
Have you filled a car with gas any time in the last ~5 years? The pumps around here (New England, USA) start playing ads with sound once you start pumping fuel. It's an absolute delight when your pump and the pump on the other side of your island are playing different ads with different audio or the same ad with the audio just out of sync. Usually, one of the soft buttons on the left or right edge of the screen is a secret mute button. Occasionally, none of them are, and rarely does anyone else seem to even try to mute their pump.
- grugagag 1y ago
  I wonder what happens if you take a sharp object such a screwdriver and poke all the speakers…
  - AlecSchueler 1y ago
    You probably get a visit from the police.
  - nancyminusone 1y ago
    There's no need to. If the unit is older than a few months, you'll find that the speakers have already been perforated. This usually doesn't stop them from working, because people don't break the voice coil at the center.
  - Aurornis 1y ago
    While being recorded from 6 different angles while standing next to your vehicle with a license plate on it? You get arrested. That’s what happens. Kiosk makers have already thought of all of these possibilities. There isn’t a nicely exposed speaker. It’s behind a metal plate with tiny holes in it.
    - marssaxman 1y ago
      > You get arrested. That’s what happens. For petty vandalism? That seems like an expensive overreaction. Perhaps it depends on your demography.
      - immibis 1y ago
        People get arrested for petty vandalism all the time, even if they didn't petty vandalize. The police won't bother to track down who graffitied your fence, but money-making companies are a different matter. And it definitely depends on demography. I assume they're still using it, but maybe they just plug everyone's face into Palantir now.
        marssaxman 1y ago
        Maybe cops are different where you live, but here in Seattle, I cannot imagine a crime so trivial as "someone broke the speaker on a gas pump" ever rising high enough on the SPD priority list for anyone to lift a finger about it, no matter how well-documented it may have been. It would not surprise me to hear that someone had committed a crime of that scale while being watched by an SPD officer and still gotten away with it.
- connicpu 1y ago
  Pumping gas became pretty infrequent for me once I got a plug in hybrid, but when the closest gas station near me first started playing an ad my immediate reaction was to spam all of the side buttons on the screen until I found the one that muted it. Sweet quiet...
- Aurornis 1y ago
  I rarely see these any more (USA, not a small town). Could be the set of gas stations I visit doesn’t have them, but I do remember them being popular for a while. Now I haven’t seen one in a very long time.
- sojournerc 1y ago
  Someone has put caulking in many of speakers at my usual gas station. Not all heros wear capes.
- MisterTea 1y ago
  At one point I was so infuriated that I would feel for the speaker and punch the pump so hard it would knock the speaker out of place (many pumps flimsy plastic.) I did that as many times as I could until the service company started gluing them in better. So I upped and ante by ripping open the front of the pump and tear the speaker out with my bear hands and smash it. Did that a bunch of times until the volumes were turned down. > Usually, one of the soft buttons on the left or right edge of the screen is a secret mute button I found out that's the help button and sometimes a clerk will come out and ask what I need help with and I tell that it stops the annoying noise coming from the pump.
  - nahkoots 1y ago
    That's pretty unhinged, but I'm glad there's someone out there vandalizing annoying pumps. It's important work, I think.
  - Anthony-G 1y ago
    I’m reminded of the film Falling Down but I’ve given you an Internet point (upvote) for fighting the good fight. If good people do nothing, evil will triumph. In Ireland, we don’t (yet?) have such devilish instruments of torture but I imagine my cortisol levels would be through the roof if I had to deal with them.
- hexis 1y ago
  This is one of the top things pushing me to an EV, so I can charge at home and be done with gas stations. As EVs get more market share, these intrusive ads will only get worse.
skeeter2020 1y ago
billboards are still pretty obnoxious, especially when they block the view on say, a highway through a relatively undeveloped natural environment
account42 1y ago
No, they are far from OK. You've just become used to that part of the dystopia like others have become used to online ads. All ads are designed to psychologically manipulate you into acting against your best interest.

mauvehaus 1y ago

Have you filled a car with gas any time in the last ~5 years? The pumps around here (New England, USA) start playing ads with sound once you start pumping fuel. It's an absolute delight when your pump and the pump on the other side of your island are playing different ads with different audio or the same ad with the audio just out of sync. Usually, one of the soft buttons on the left or right edge of the screen is a secret mute button. Occasionally, none of them are, and rarely does anyone else seem to even try to mute their pump.

grugagag 1y ago
I wonder what happens if you take a sharp object such a screwdriver and poke all the speakers…
- AlecSchueler 1y ago
  You probably get a visit from the police.
- nancyminusone 1y ago
  There's no need to. If the unit is older than a few months, you'll find that the speakers have already been perforated. This usually doesn't stop them from working, because people don't break the voice coil at the center.
- Aurornis 1y ago
  While being recorded from 6 different angles while standing next to your vehicle with a license plate on it? You get arrested. That’s what happens. Kiosk makers have already thought of all of these possibilities. There isn’t a nicely exposed speaker. It’s behind a metal plate with tiny holes in it.
  - marssaxman 1y ago
    > You get arrested. That’s what happens. For petty vandalism? That seems like an expensive overreaction. Perhaps it depends on your demography.
    - immibis 1y ago
      People get arrested for petty vandalism all the time, even if they didn't petty vandalize. The police won't bother to track down who graffitied your fence, but money-making companies are a different matter. And it definitely depends on demography. I assume they're still using it, but maybe they just plug everyone's face into Palantir now.
      - marssaxman 1y ago
        Maybe cops are different where you live, but here in Seattle, I cannot imagine a crime so trivial as "someone broke the speaker on a gas pump" ever rising high enough on the SPD priority list for anyone to lift a finger about it, no matter how well-documented it may have been. It would not surprise me to hear that someone had committed a crime of that scale while being watched by an SPD officer and still gotten away with it.
connicpu 1y ago
Pumping gas became pretty infrequent for me once I got a plug in hybrid, but when the closest gas station near me first started playing an ad my immediate reaction was to spam all of the side buttons on the screen until I found the one that muted it. Sweet quiet...
Aurornis 1y ago
I rarely see these any more (USA, not a small town). Could be the set of gas stations I visit doesn’t have them, but I do remember them being popular for a while. Now I haven’t seen one in a very long time.
sojournerc 1y ago
Someone has put caulking in many of speakers at my usual gas station. Not all heros wear capes.
MisterTea 1y ago
At one point I was so infuriated that I would feel for the speaker and punch the pump so hard it would knock the speaker out of place (many pumps flimsy plastic.) I did that as many times as I could until the service company started gluing them in better. So I upped and ante by ripping open the front of the pump and tear the speaker out with my bear hands and smash it. Did that a bunch of times until the volumes were turned down. > Usually, one of the soft buttons on the left or right edge of the screen is a secret mute button I found out that's the help button and sometimes a clerk will come out and ask what I need help with and I tell that it stops the annoying noise coming from the pump.
- nahkoots 1y ago
  That's pretty unhinged, but I'm glad there's someone out there vandalizing annoying pumps. It's important work, I think.
- Anthony-G 1y ago
  I’m reminded of the film Falling Down but I’ve given you an Internet point (upvote) for fighting the good fight. If good people do nothing, evil will triumph. In Ireland, we don’t (yet?) have such devilish instruments of torture but I imagine my cortisol levels would be through the roof if I had to deal with them.
hexis 1y ago
This is one of the top things pushing me to an EV, so I can charge at home and be done with gas stations. As EVs get more market share, these intrusive ads will only get worse.

skeeter2020 1y ago

billboards are still pretty obnoxious, especially when they block the view on say, a highway through a relatively undeveloped natural environment

account42 1y ago

No, they are far from OK. You've just become used to that part of the dystopia like others have become used to online ads. All ads are designed to psychologically manipulate you into acting against your best interest.