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This is why I have no moral qualms about using adblockers or anything like that. I'm thankful that I grew up in a family where the tradition was to always mute

This is why I have no moral qualms about using adblockers or anything like that. I'm thankful that I grew up in a family where the tradition was to always mute commercials on the TV. I can't help but think that if we didn't already have a tradition of mute buttons, modern media systems wouldn't have them. "You can't choose not to listen to these obnoxious ads, that's like stealing!" My main issue with ads is the power disparity that can result. Those in charge of advertising and marketing have powerful tools at their disposal -- a wealth of data about how people respond, real-time analytics and A/B testing down to the pixel level to optimize that last percentage point of audience capture, and training in the nature of cognitive biases and how to exploit them. It's a hacking war in people's minds, and against such attackers, what defenses does the average person have? To what degree are untrained people able to resist these influences but by adblocking?

Sven7 11y ago
Fully agree. It is all about hacking people's minds. Taking advantage of people's weaknesses and ignorance has never happened at the speed and scale they happen today. It's also why I see inequality just getting worse.
a3n 11y ago
> I can't help but think that if we didn't already have a tradition of mute buttons, modern media systems wouldn't have them. "You can't choose not to listen to these obnoxious ads, that's like stealing!" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamie_Kellner#Criticism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamie_Kellner#Criticism Jamie Kellner, former chairman and chief executive officer of Turner Broadcasting System, said: "Because of the ad skips.... It's theft. Your contract with the network when you get the show is you're going to watch the spots. Otherwise you couldn't get the show on an ad-supported basis. Any time you skip a commercial or watch the button you're actually stealing the programming." And there was a lawsuit over at least one PVR's commercial skipping feature: http://writ.news.findlaw.com/commentary/20020509_sprigman.html http://writ.news.findlaw.com/commentary/20020509_sprigman.ht...
- DanAndersen 11y ago
  And now I can't help but think of the "Xbox verification can" story: https://i.imgur.com/dgGvgKF.png https://i.imgur.com/dgGvgKF.png

Sven7 11y ago

Fully agree. It is all about hacking people's minds. Taking advantage of people's weaknesses and ignorance has never happened at the speed and scale they happen today. It's also why I see inequality just getting worse.

a3n 11y ago

> I can't help but think that if we didn't already have a tradition of mute buttons, modern media systems wouldn't have them. "You can't choose not to listen to these obnoxious ads, that's like stealing!" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamie_Kellner#Criticism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamie_Kellner#Criticism Jamie Kellner, former chairman and chief executive officer of Turner Broadcasting System, said: "Because of the ad skips.... It's theft. Your contract with the network when you get the show is you're going to watch the spots. Otherwise you couldn't get the show on an ad-supported basis. Any time you skip a commercial or watch the button you're actually stealing the programming." And there was a lawsuit over at least one PVR's commercial skipping feature: http://writ.news.findlaw.com/commentary/20020509_sprigman.html http://writ.news.findlaw.com/commentary/20020509_sprigman.ht...

DanAndersen 11y ago
And now I can't help but think of the "Xbox verification can" story: https://i.imgur.com/dgGvgKF.png https://i.imgur.com/dgGvgKF.png