alt Hacker NewsI remember the BBS's, Compuserve, AOL, and the Internet before (ubiquitous) advertising. It was fun yet spartan.
In light of the alternatives (like paying for everything with discrete purchase or subscriptions), I'd prefer that advertising survive. Ideally with less invasive ways of detecting my interests.
My intention is certainly not to gaslight anyone. Not sure how you came to that conclusion.
Full disclosure, I work for a paywall SAAS.
There's nothing wrong with wanting advertising to survive. It's a creative powerhouse and a huge cultural influence.
But what most people really mean when they say that is: I want to preserve ways of coercing or tricking people into consuming content that they do not actually want to consume at the time of consumption.
And I think that is a very bad idea, regardless of the expectations people put into that ability.
No one should be force-fed advertising.