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Off topic: it's such a breath of fresh air to read this content without 1) having to close half a dozen popups and 2) all in a single post and not painfully spr

Off topic: it's such a breath of fresh air to read this content without 1) having to close half a dozen popups and 2) all in a single post and not painfully spread out across multiple messages.

alanfranz 4y ago
Once upon a time this was called a “blog post”.
mrtksn 4y ago
Doesn't do targeted ads, so doesn't have to have an EU cookie popup. Doesn't have an app, so doesn't have to try to make you install the app. Doesn't do registered users growth hacking, doesn't have to have sign-up dialog. The problem is, if and when they decide to monetise this thing they will have to have all of these because the money people and the analytics will tell them they have to. Everything is much more fun when it's paid by someone else, that's why the old web was so nice. The content was produced for free and the distribution was handled by VCs. Today, these VCs are recouping their investments.
- dmitriid 4y ago
  > Everything is much more fun when it's paid by someone else, that's why the old web was so nice. What are you talking about? The old web was filled with ads. They just weren't tracking you every nanosecond of your life. Google's AdWords was launched in 2000. DoubleClick that Google acquired in 2008 was launched in 1995. Ad exchanges are from 1998. And so on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_online_advertising https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_online_advertising
  - mrtksn 4y ago
    > They just weren't tracking you every nanosecond of your life. Exactly. But only some of that was paid by ads.
    - dmitriid 4y ago
      > But only some of that was paid by ads. Ah yes. They were paid by altruists who had the foresight to know that 30 years later they will be able to track everyone and collect their dues.
      - mrtksn 4y ago
        Those who relied on making profits were decimated as VC funded user experience was much superior. It was an era of land-grab.
        dmitriid 4y ago
        Those who relied on anything were decimated in the bubble of 2001. Also, you're pretending that all of those sites were making a profit, or operated under the assumption of making a profit. There was a lot of money thrown at any and all internet companies by the end of 1990s. It's just that the market was much smaller.
- makapuf 4y ago
  Distributing a static HTML page content does not need a VC. Nginx on an RPI on my home connection does provide sufficient level of performance and availability. If I need more because my content is way popular, I guess a monetization scheme (asking for a tip) might cover it ?
  - mrtksn 4y ago
    If you are not getting paid for your servers you are the VC/Angel.
    - zopa 4y ago
      A bit of a difference in motivation between a hobbyist and a VC.
      - eaplmx 4y ago
        Agreed! Here you are more a patron or sponsor who's disinterestedly giving spare money for something you think is good for the rest of the people. Although the Angel investor expects a few shares of a company, I like the analogy of an 'angel sponsor'.
    - ysavir 4y ago
      How does that make them the VC/Angel?
      - mrtksn 4y ago
        They provide the capital required for that venture.
        recursive 4y ago
        So if I order lunch, am I providing the capital required for the venture of ordering lunch? Is there anything in the universe that's not venture capital? When all you know is a hammer...
- eloisant 4y ago
  No, all the bloggers I was reading on the old web were paying for their hosting a few bucks a month and no VC were involved. Some of them included ads but they were mostly in a sidebar.
  - mrtksn 4y ago
    They were paying for the costs? Then they were the VC. Some of them actually grew to be huge and wealthy.
    - pjc50 4y ago
      me paying $5 to wordpress: i'm a venture capitalist now mom (seriously, this is a very silly way of using terms to cover extremely small amounts of capital)
      - mrtksn 4y ago
        The size of the capital doesn't change the reality of the financial structure.
        mathgorges 4y ago
        I don’t think I understand the argument that you’re making. Are you saying that anyone that pays for anything is a venture capitalist? That doesn’t seem like a very useful definition, so I think I’ve misunderstood you ’:-)
        dym_sh 4y ago
        > «if you use money — you are a capitalist»
      - ValentineC 4y ago
        Did you mean paying for PHP site hosting instead, or paying to remove ads on the WordPress.com SaaS?
    - 4y ago
- cesarb 4y ago
  > Doesn't have an app It does have an app. See https://joinmastodon.org/apps https://joinmastodon.org/apps for not only the official app, but also literally dozens of third-party apps.
- Nextgrid 4y ago
  > The content was produced for free and the distribution was handled by VCs And even that, content distribution was handled by a volunteer happy to chip in a few bucks to pay for shared hosting. Content distribution (and infrastructure in general) nowadays is cheaper than ever thanks to technological advances (today's entry-level MacBook is more powerful than a lot of servers from 10 years ago). There is absolutely a way to distribute content for very cheap nowadays if you know how to - you just have to avoid the rent-seekers like cloud providers.
- duckfruit 4y ago
  On that vein, I recently joined home-barista, an old school web forum for coffee geeks. That site is seemingly frozen in time from the early 2000s. There are no trackers - there's no need, since it is already filled with a self selected group. The ads are just simple banners. And best of all it filled with a group of passionate, kind and helpful folks. A simpler site from a simpler time. One of my favorite haunts on the web.
- solarkraft 4y ago
  > Doesn't have an app, so doesn't have to try to make you install the app. Well, it does, but does nothing user hostile with it, so doesn't gain anything from coercing them to install it.
nicce 4y ago
You might like it even more when reading through elk.zone https://elk.zone/infosec.exchange/@marcan@treehouse.systems https://elk.zone/infosec.exchange/@marcan@treehouse.systems There is popup about the preview, but that might be acceptable. There is zen mode to remove all disturbances on right bottom.

Off topic: it's such a breath of fresh air to read this content without 1) having to close half a dozen popups and 2) all in a single post and not painfully spread out across multiple messages.

alanfranz 4y ago

Once upon a time this was called a “blog post”.

mrtksn 4y ago

Doesn't do targeted ads, so doesn't have to have an EU cookie popup. Doesn't have an app, so doesn't have to try to make you install the app. Doesn't do registered users growth hacking, doesn't have to have sign-up dialog. The problem is, if and when they decide to monetise this thing they will have to have all of these because the money people and the analytics will tell them they have to. Everything is much more fun when it's paid by someone else, that's why the old web was so nice. The content was produced for free and the distribution was handled by VCs. Today, these VCs are recouping their investments.

dmitriid 4y ago
> Everything is much more fun when it's paid by someone else, that's why the old web was so nice. What are you talking about? The old web was filled with ads. They just weren't tracking you every nanosecond of your life. Google's AdWords was launched in 2000. DoubleClick that Google acquired in 2008 was launched in 1995. Ad exchanges are from 1998. And so on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_online_advertising https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_online_advertising
- mrtksn 4y ago
  > They just weren't tracking you every nanosecond of your life. Exactly. But only some of that was paid by ads.
  - dmitriid 4y ago
    > But only some of that was paid by ads. Ah yes. They were paid by altruists who had the foresight to know that 30 years later they will be able to track everyone and collect their dues.
    - mrtksn 4y ago
      Those who relied on making profits were decimated as VC funded user experience was much superior. It was an era of land-grab.
      - dmitriid 4y ago
        Those who relied on anything were decimated in the bubble of 2001. Also, you're pretending that all of those sites were making a profit, or operated under the assumption of making a profit. There was a lot of money thrown at any and all internet companies by the end of 1990s. It's just that the market was much smaller.
makapuf 4y ago
Distributing a static HTML page content does not need a VC. Nginx on an RPI on my home connection does provide sufficient level of performance and availability. If I need more because my content is way popular, I guess a monetization scheme (asking for a tip) might cover it ?
- mrtksn 4y ago
  If you are not getting paid for your servers you are the VC/Angel.
  - zopa 4y ago
    A bit of a difference in motivation between a hobbyist and a VC.
    - eaplmx 4y ago
      Agreed! Here you are more a patron or sponsor who's disinterestedly giving spare money for something you think is good for the rest of the people. Although the Angel investor expects a few shares of a company, I like the analogy of an 'angel sponsor'.
  - ysavir 4y ago
    How does that make them the VC/Angel?
    - mrtksn 4y ago
      They provide the capital required for that venture.
      - recursive 4y ago
        So if I order lunch, am I providing the capital required for the venture of ordering lunch? Is there anything in the universe that's not venture capital? When all you know is a hammer...
eloisant 4y ago
No, all the bloggers I was reading on the old web were paying for their hosting a few bucks a month and no VC were involved. Some of them included ads but they were mostly in a sidebar.
- mrtksn 4y ago
  They were paying for the costs? Then they were the VC. Some of them actually grew to be huge and wealthy.
  - pjc50 4y ago
    me paying $5 to wordpress: i'm a venture capitalist now mom (seriously, this is a very silly way of using terms to cover extremely small amounts of capital)
    - mrtksn 4y ago
      The size of the capital doesn't change the reality of the financial structure.
      - mathgorges 4y ago
        I don’t think I understand the argument that you’re making. Are you saying that anyone that pays for anything is a venture capitalist? That doesn’t seem like a very useful definition, so I think I’ve misunderstood you ’:-)
        dym_sh 4y ago
        > «if you use money — you are a capitalist»
    - ValentineC 4y ago
      Did you mean paying for PHP site hosting instead, or paying to remove ads on the WordPress.com SaaS?
  - 4y ago
cesarb 4y ago
> Doesn't have an app It does have an app. See https://joinmastodon.org/apps https://joinmastodon.org/apps for not only the official app, but also literally dozens of third-party apps.
Nextgrid 4y ago
> The content was produced for free and the distribution was handled by VCs And even that, content distribution was handled by a volunteer happy to chip in a few bucks to pay for shared hosting. Content distribution (and infrastructure in general) nowadays is cheaper than ever thanks to technological advances (today's entry-level MacBook is more powerful than a lot of servers from 10 years ago). There is absolutely a way to distribute content for very cheap nowadays if you know how to - you just have to avoid the rent-seekers like cloud providers.
duckfruit 4y ago
On that vein, I recently joined home-barista, an old school web forum for coffee geeks. That site is seemingly frozen in time from the early 2000s. There are no trackers - there's no need, since it is already filled with a self selected group. The ads are just simple banners. And best of all it filled with a group of passionate, kind and helpful folks. A simpler site from a simpler time. One of my favorite haunts on the web.
solarkraft 4y ago
> Doesn't have an app, so doesn't have to try to make you install the app. Well, it does, but does nothing user hostile with it, so doesn't gain anything from coercing them to install it.

nicce 4y ago

You might like it even more when reading through elk.zone https://elk.zone/infosec.exchange/@marcan@treehouse.systems https://elk.zone/infosec.exchange/@marcan@treehouse.systems There is popup about the preview, but that might be acceptable. There is zen mode to remove all disturbances on right bottom.