People regret buying Amazon smart displays after being bombarded with ads

"I'm about to just toss the whole thing..."

See full article...

 

[EricM2]

Advertising improves…nothing. Absolutely nothing.

To be honest, isolating from ads pretty much improves my (and maybe your) quality of life.
Resist "free" TV supported by ads, use Adblock Plus or uBlock Origin with a supported browser and avoid social media forcing ads on their users - these simple measurements alone will

1. make you want less things you cannot afford
2. give you more free income for things you need because of 1.)

Both aspects significantly improve your well-being, especially since they can enter you into a positive feedback loop.
I personally blame ads for many social problems (including a good part of property-related crime) in our society.

 

[EricM2]

And yet without ads Ars wouldn't exist. We have an ad-free subscription, but not enough people pay for it to keep the site alive if we just stopped selling ads.

I'm not really into being moralistic about ad blocking or piracy or whatever else. People gotta do what they do. But there is a certain level of "if you don't support things in other ways then what?"

Ok, touché. I guess that's a clear case of "put your money where your mouth is"...
I just subscribed.