Technology

Ad blocking is always going to be a game of Whac-a-Mole, with YT's latest efforts likely converting some users to turning it off or subscribing while pushing others away.

Thing is, converting a nonzero number is, in a vacuum, all that's needed to make the line go up.

When YT insinuated its way around uBO, I tried Piped and Invidious, both of which had such severe drawbacks that I was relieved to find instructions on how to update uBO to once again get around it.

But I'm one of those people who simply cannot handle the audio of advertising. That overexcited tone announcing grandiose solutions to invented problems makes my blood boil to the point that I've not listened to the radio outside of NPR since the '90s, have never had a cable subscription and never bought rabbit ears. I do not stream anything on my phone for the same reason. If advertising is part of the package, well, that's what VPNs and torrents are for ... unless I can purchase the content without it for a reasonable price (my Beatport collection confirms this).

But there's no fucking way I will pay for a service that includes advertising. And on YT, even though that's nominally what happens if you pay, well ... there's a reason SponsorBlock is also a thing. Spotify absolutely baffles me. I have no problem spending $10 (or whatever it's up to now) a month on music, but I damn well better own that music in perpetuity if I'm paying for it.

It's impossible to avoid being manipulated in life, but it's not particularly difficult to excise voices telling you how much happier you'll be if you buy something.