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+1 to you and I agree this is a nice step - though it doesn't work at scale, nor is it 100% appropriate for the ideals of the web. If you think about the web as

+1 to you and I agree this is a nice step - though it doesn't work at scale, nor is it 100% appropriate for the ideals of the web. If you think about the web as the penultimate democracy for content, where content of the highest quality is available to even the poorest person, then saying "pay for this or you'll remain ignorant" is just not fair. Example: I would be more ok if Coursera/Udacity and the like went with an ad-based model rather than a pay-per-view model. Why? Because the people it's meant to help - the individual who can't afford to take out massive loans to pay for school or the kid from the bad side of town - can't really benefit if it costs 100's or 1000's of $$ to study, say, computer science or the like. Retort: But there are a number of other free resources! See link here or here! Retort back: Those aren't the highest quality, and usually those are free because: a) they're supported by ad spend b) they're supported by VC funding and will eventually move behind a paywall of some sort eventually.

deciplex 12y ago
That's not without cost, though. It could mean that poor become so inundated with ads that they waste their already limited budget on frivolous bullshit and junk food, and have to take out more payday loans to pay the water bill this month.
- calbear81 12y ago
  Your point has been made several times on this topic but can someone cite some study about how poor people are more "susceptible" to the ill effects of advertising and how everything that is being advertised is obviously "bullshit"? If anything, advertising is what allows poor people to have the same access to content/information without having to pay real wages in return for access. What types of online ads that you see do you consider bullshit?
  - deciplex 12y ago
    It's not that they are necessarily more susceptible, it's that they would be exposed to more of it, under this model.
  - nitrogen 12y ago
    How do the advertisers benefit from showing ads to people who can't afford their products anyway?
xorcist 12y ago
Where do you earn "1000s of $$" per visitor? Are you serious? Part of why ads are so irritating is that they shove tons of attention seekers on every page just to earn a tenth of a cent.
- pandler 12y ago
  I think they were referring to taking a course at a university.

deciplex 12y ago

That's not without cost, though. It could mean that poor become so inundated with ads that they waste their already limited budget on frivolous bullshit and junk food, and have to take out more payday loans to pay the water bill this month.

calbear81 12y ago
Your point has been made several times on this topic but can someone cite some study about how poor people are more "susceptible" to the ill effects of advertising and how everything that is being advertised is obviously "bullshit"? If anything, advertising is what allows poor people to have the same access to content/information without having to pay real wages in return for access. What types of online ads that you see do you consider bullshit?
- deciplex 12y ago
  It's not that they are necessarily more susceptible, it's that they would be exposed to more of it, under this model.
- nitrogen 12y ago
  How do the advertisers benefit from showing ads to people who can't afford their products anyway?

xorcist 12y ago

Where do you earn "1000s of $$" per visitor? Are you serious? Part of why ads are so irritating is that they shove tons of attention seekers on every page just to earn a tenth of a cent.

pandler 12y ago
I think they were referring to taking a course at a university.