<story><title>You block ads in your browser, why not in your city?</title><url>https://bearbin.net/blog/2021/adblock-your-city</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>blackhaz</author><text>But they do. You have to mentally process the incoming data first, then discard it. It&amp;#x27;s a waste of attention, especially with mind-catching ads you can&amp;#x27;t figure out immediately. Sometimes they are as blocking as browser pop-ups, e.g.: logotypes (or even full ads) displayed before a responsive UI is shown to you, duty-free zones in the airports, and so on. I am pretty sure we will soon have real-life targeted billboards. Even with the current tech, what prevents a webcam with NN to recognize if you&amp;#x27;re wearing sneakers and tell the display along your way to show some beanie ads, especially if it&amp;#x27;s cold outside? If you walk into a grocery store you are bombarded with displays outright, and before checking out you are tasked with cross-sale suggestions. All this crap blocks your mind and steals your attention.</text></item><item><author>smarx007</author><text>But ads in real life do not prevent me from going on about my day. There is no analogy to interstitial pages with ads like in Forbes some time ago with the button Continue to your article: it would be infuriating if you had to view an ad before being able to use the subway ticketing system. You also don’t have ads on at the airport timetable screen. You don’t have pinkertons following you to learn your habits and show you “relevant” ads. If you walk into a grocery store wearing sunglasses, the clerk will not stand in front of you and say “I am sorry, please remove your shades before continuing because ads support our store and you need to see them.”&lt;p&gt;But yes, unhealthy amount of advertising IRL should be limited as well.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>Seirdy</author><text>&amp;gt; People are taking the piss out of you everyday. They butt into your life, take a cheap shot at you and then disappear. They leer at you from tall buildings and make you feel small. They make flippant comments from buses that imply you’re not sexy enough and that all the fun is happening somewhere else. They are on TV making your girlfriend feel inadequate. … Fuck that. Any advert in a public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not is yours. It’s yours to take, re-arrange and re-use. You can do whatever you like with it. Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock someone just threw at your head.&lt;p&gt;-- Adaptation from a Banksy essay in defense of remixing (&amp;quot;vandalising&amp;quot;) public advertisements.&lt;p&gt;Fundamentally, all these ads share the quality of showing people content they didn&amp;#x27;t ask for to lure consumers into spending money they otherwise wouldn&amp;#x27;t have. Why the wouldn&amp;#x27;t I block them everywhere? It&amp;#x27;s disgusting.&lt;p&gt;I know many people like to argue that they&amp;#x27;re a &amp;quot;necessary evil&amp;quot; to pay for content, but I have little patience for this argument because it assumes that vendors are entitled to the success of their flawed business models, and people should give up freedoms to support the industry.&lt;p&gt;My consciousness is not for sale, sorry.</text></comment>
<story><title>You block ads in your browser, why not in your city?</title><url>https://bearbin.net/blog/2021/adblock-your-city</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>blackhaz</author><text>But they do. You have to mentally process the incoming data first, then discard it. It&amp;#x27;s a waste of attention, especially with mind-catching ads you can&amp;#x27;t figure out immediately. Sometimes they are as blocking as browser pop-ups, e.g.: logotypes (or even full ads) displayed before a responsive UI is shown to you, duty-free zones in the airports, and so on. I am pretty sure we will soon have real-life targeted billboards. Even with the current tech, what prevents a webcam with NN to recognize if you&amp;#x27;re wearing sneakers and tell the display along your way to show some beanie ads, especially if it&amp;#x27;s cold outside? If you walk into a grocery store you are bombarded with displays outright, and before checking out you are tasked with cross-sale suggestions. All this crap blocks your mind and steals your attention.</text></item><item><author>smarx007</author><text>But ads in real life do not prevent me from going on about my day. There is no analogy to interstitial pages with ads like in Forbes some time ago with the button Continue to your article: it would be infuriating if you had to view an ad before being able to use the subway ticketing system. You also don’t have ads on at the airport timetable screen. You don’t have pinkertons following you to learn your habits and show you “relevant” ads. If you walk into a grocery store wearing sunglasses, the clerk will not stand in front of you and say “I am sorry, please remove your shades before continuing because ads support our store and you need to see them.”&lt;p&gt;But yes, unhealthy amount of advertising IRL should be limited as well.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>sacado2</author><text>If browser ads had a real-life equivalent, they would be more like that creep who suddenly pops in front of attractive women in the street trying to grab their phone numbers, and no matter what you do you&amp;#x27;ll never get rid of him and he&amp;#x27;ll be following you on your way back home (probably to provide you with a &amp;quot;better user experience&amp;quot;).&lt;p&gt;If all web ads were limited to a static gif here or there in the corner of a web page, I don&amp;#x27;t think adblock plus would be a thing at all.</text></comment>