Welcome back typewriters, pencils and notepads ...

Macs or Linux systems running open-source software.

Or just never hook up to the internet.

Macs ftw! Now that I can dual boot Windows there's no reason to own a PC. Windows for gaming, Mac OS for absolutely everything else.

I wonder how they could ever make such a thing work. I can't imagine a consumer actually putting up with that many ads in their normal working environment. Though I've been wrong about some of the other moronic things in the world that people seem to put up with, so who knows.

Well if you could get a very nice high spec computer for a very cheap price because the company got money from advertisers it might be worth doing if the adverts were suttle in their presence.

pconsidine said:

I can't imagine a consumer actually putting up with that many ads in their normal working environment.

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You ever watch tv?

Read a magazine?

Drive?

Working environment, deke. I don't know about you, but if I had to put up with my word processor flipping ads at me while I worked, I would go postal inside of 30 seconds. The difference between this patent and the examples you gave is that I'm not trying to accomplish anything when I'm watching TV or reading a magazine (I'm not even sure how the driving analogy relates, other than billboards, but that's neither here nor there, really).

Even the ads at the foot of each page on AW have really cheapened the site, in my opinion.

dclary said:

You ever watch tv?

Read a magazine?

Drive?

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I'd drive more if the billboards paid for my gasoline.

pconsidine said:

Working environment, deke. I don't know about you, but if I had to put up with my word processor flipping ads at me while I worked, I would go postal inside of 30 seconds. The difference between this patent and the examples you gave is that I'm not trying to accomplish anything when I'm watching TV or reading a magazine (I'm not even sure how the driving analogy relates, other than billboards, but that's neither here nor there, really).

Even the ads at the foot of each page on AW have really cheapened the site, in my opinion.

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But Pcon...

In my daily work I use email heavily, and receive hundreds of ads that I have to just ignore/delete. I have to use the internet, again, chock full of ads. I use AIM and Yahoo Messenger, both of which have sold adspace on their application space. I listen to the radio, which is ad-heavy. There's a content-and-ad-serving computer monitor in the elevator, to feed me ads while I'm ascending/descending.

And every once in a bright blue moon... The ad relates to me. I'm on a programming website, and I find a new programming tool I didn't know existed, but turns out to be extremely helpful.

Advertising, especially embedded advertising is a part of every other aspect of our lives. This is neither new, nor unexpected, unless those glasses were especially rosy.

Stop, I'm not finished reading...

dclary said:

You ever watch tv?

Read a magazine?

Drive?

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You forgot T-Shirts!

Mr. Fix said:

You forgot T-Shirts!

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Ironically enough, other than my vast Big Dogs collection and Dodgers ensembles, I go out of my way to avoid logo-based clothing.


(For those who don't know... Big Dogs does dog-based parody t-shirts of pop-culture items. Mostly TV and movies.

Current hit t-shirt:

pconsidine said:

...Even the ads at the foot of each page on AW have really cheapened the site, in my opinion.

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The site is free for anyone to use, and those ads help to cover expenses. With over 16,000 members, however, what if everyone sent a dollar a week to AW? Do you think it's worth four bucks a month to enjoy this site? If such a system were in place, I have a feeling the ads would disappear immediately.

Disclaimer: The above is NOT the opinion of the site owner or anyone else, but merely my own observation.

dclary said:

But Pcon...

In my daily work I use email heavily, and receive hundreds of ads that I have to just ignore/delete. I have to use the internet, again, chock full of ads. I use AIM and Yahoo Messenger, both of which have sold adspace on their application space. I listen to the radio, which is ad-heavy. There's a content-and-ad-serving computer monitor in the elevator, to feed me ads while I'm ascending/descending.

Click to expand...

That's where my confusion comes, dc. Because I also do all of those things, too, and receive the tiniest fraction of that. I get no spam in my work email, my IM client is an open source program with zero advertising, I listen to NPR and the local college stations (both nearly ad free), and even when I was living in top tier media markets like New York City and Boston, the most I ever had to put up with were those obnoxious TV's that they have at the supermarket checkouts that are designed to keep you from noticing how much that damn California broccoli just cost.

I really don't think the Minority Report vision of the future is inevitable. And I, for one, don't really want to have to trust marketing departments to keep my best interests in mind. I've known too damn many of them for that.

Silver King said:

The site is free for anyone to use, and those ads help to cover expenses.

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Silver,

My specific complaint is with the ads at the foot of the page, not the banners at the top or any other ads anywhere. Ads at the foot of a web page are just terrible web design and they deprive the reader of the natural sense of visual rest that ought to come at the end of any reading material. It's also one of those things that was first made common on some really crappy web sites, so it also suffers a bit from that afterimage.

Naturally, it's my choice to come here or not, so I would hardly expect a change. It's just merely an aesthetic opinion.

I agree the ads are tiresome, and their placement should be questioned. But I can't complain too much about them, as I come and go as I please around here, without ever having to pay a nickel for the privilege.

/me huggles Alphasmart Neo

It's my word processor that's NOT connected to the intarwebs therefore I WIN.

pconsidine said:

I wonder how they could ever make such a thing work. I can't imagine a consumer actually putting up with that many ads in their normal working environment. Though I've been wrong about some of the other moronic things in the world that people seem to put up with, so who knows.

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Well this consumer wouldn't put up with it.

A hearty F*** Y** to Microsoft. Take your gob and shove it.

I still write first drafts by hand anyway ... so neener, neener, neener...