> ads are not bad.

Highly debatable, IMO. They're already a net negative for society on their own. We'd probably have a healthier Internet if ads didn't create incentives for social media companies to get their users addicted to serve them more ads.

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dzonga 18 hours ago | parent [-]

remove the internet - forget the internet didn't exist.

you will see why the publishing business runs on ads. see the world for what it is not what you want it to be.

once people started publishing books or whatever in the 1600s - the world runs on ads.

it's only in the last 30 years - when ads got a bad rap due to tech bros who don't didn't learn humanities

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lesostep 16 hours ago | parent | next [-]

>> once people started publishing books or whatever in the 1600s - the world runs on ads.

I remember seeing old books (early victorian era) that were printed with healthy "subsidize" from the ad revenue. They honestly looked very much alike any site without ad blocker looks now. And I had the feeling that some content of the book was sponsored as well. Kept mentioning specific shops by name.

I wonder what did we do right, to stop books from looking like that? Maybe it could help us fix internet issues.

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akersten 18 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> it's only in the last 30 years - when ads got a bad rap due to tech bros who don't didn't learn humanities

LOL, I take it you never saw the "doctors recommend Camel cigarettes" ads.

Advertising is a plague.

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Altern4tiveAcc 15 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

>remove the internet - forget the internet didn't exist.

Advertising as it exists today is tied to the Internet.

> you will see why the publishing business runs on ads.

And I maintain that tying business interests with advertising inevitably results in a conflict of interest between people producing goods and services, and people consuming them.

>it's only in the last 30 years - when ads got a bad rap

It's only natural that ads started being viewed in a more negative way as their effects were amplified by tech.

> due to tech bros who don't didn't learn humanities

Name calling doesn't add much to this discussion. My background is in humanities anyway.

	▲	dzonga 11 hours ago \| parent [-]
		my apologies if you felt I was name calling you. I was putting it out as a generality - that most engineers/founders have no background in humanities. hence they don't tend to use 'logic' to make decisions that involve humans. when 'logic' doesn't work.