New ads? Not cool
- Thread starter dlloyd
- Start date
dlloyd
Official Pianist
1) Okay, it just seems like less than that 
One bug though: if you get an ad page when you clicked the link to go to the newest post in a thread, you don't get that post, you just get the top of the thread. I guess this is probably something with the variables not being passed on properly or something.
2) You misinterpreted me: I meant you should find a way for those of us who can't pay to help so that we don't get the ads. Just because we don't have an income and can't give any of our savings to you doesn't mean we are less annoyed by the ads and doesn't mean we don't want to help in another way.
3) Ah, I see now
One bug though: if you get an ad page when you clicked the link to go to the newest post in a thread, you don't get that post, you just get the top of the thread. I guess this is probably something with the variables not being passed on properly or something.2) You misinterpreted me: I meant you should find a way for those of us who can't pay to help so that we don't get the ads. Just because we don't have an income and can't give any of our savings to you doesn't mean we are less annoyed by the ads and doesn't mean we don't want to help in another way.
3) Ah, I see now
toast
Gone !
Oh, now I am getting those ads !
Argh! Sickening: I get one ad for three clicks too
I'm sorry Scott, I just bought my flight tickets for Greece and Reading Festival. Nothing to expect from me for some time
And dlloyd, I repeat, I'm not a mod nor a contributor, I'm just a simple, ruined member !
Argh! Sickening: I get one ad for three clicks too
I'm sorry Scott, I just bought my flight tickets for Greece and Reading Festival. Nothing to expect from me for some time
And dlloyd, I repeat, I'm not a mod nor a contributor, I'm just a simple, ruined member !
ebolag4
Fundamentalist whack-job
[butt-kissing]
Good job, Scott. I think the ads are a great way of paying the bills and keeping this forum free to the masses. I am saving my pennies for the day I can contribute. Until then, long live the ads!!!
[/butt-kissing]
Seriously though, I have no problem with the ads. I am more annoyed by the people who complain about stuff than the ads ever could. Some people seem like they're taking the whole thing personally. What happens to these people when a commercial comes on the TV ever ten to fifteen minutes while they're watching one of the broadcast (free) networks? Do they call up the network and complain about how the ads keep interfering with their entertainment?
I know that some of the complainers are people who have spent HOURS (if not days) of their time helping others on the board. We all appreciate you! (At least I do.) But that doesn't pay the bills. To make it fair for everyone, everyone has to see the ads unless they've donated some moolah.
Maybe a system could be come up with that says "if you have 100 quality, helpful posts per month, you get to have an ad-free experience." But who's going to sit around and read every person's posts to see if it is quality or not. I suppose Scott could hire someone to do that, but then the whole need funds/need donations process would start all over.
People, sometimes you have to sacrifice a little to get something quality. Let's get over it already.
Good job, Scott. I think the ads are a great way of paying the bills and keeping this forum free to the masses. I am saving my pennies for the day I can contribute. Until then, long live the ads!!!
[/butt-kissing]
Seriously though, I have no problem with the ads. I am more annoyed by the people who complain about stuff than the ads ever could. Some people seem like they're taking the whole thing personally. What happens to these people when a commercial comes on the TV ever ten to fifteen minutes while they're watching one of the broadcast (free) networks? Do they call up the network and complain about how the ads keep interfering with their entertainment?
I know that some of the complainers are people who have spent HOURS (if not days) of their time helping others on the board. We all appreciate you! (At least I do.) But that doesn't pay the bills. To make it fair for everyone, everyone has to see the ads unless they've donated some moolah.
Maybe a system could be come up with that says "if you have 100 quality, helpful posts per month, you get to have an ad-free experience." But who's going to sit around and read every person's posts to see if it is quality or not. I suppose Scott could hire someone to do that, but then the whole need funds/need donations process would start all over.
People, sometimes you have to sacrifice a little to get something quality. Let's get over it already.
edX
mac shaman
i just want to re-emphasize this point. people are judged by their actions. ina forum, what you post is an action. and let me tell you, nobody wants to listen to somebody else whine, even when they have a valid point. sometimes it's not what you say, but how you say it. and how often.
Androo
Yeah, Androo.
ummmm i just came here, i got an ad, and i went to my website. Then i came back here, and i had an ad again. I dont have enough money right now. And, if i get a bit of money finally, the last thing i'd spend it on would be here. Unless i got like 1000 dollars, i would contribute. But right now i have no money. Always at school someone comes in every fricken week to teach us about some science thing, or geography thing........ and then they charge money. Because of that, my pockets are empty. Now i have started work. I am doing some simple things to start out to make a bit of cash. If i spend it on macosx.com, something i always had for way over a year (maybe even 2 years, i had another account). Suddenly i gotta work for macosx.com. Now when i come here to go into the cafe, i see an advertisement, practically an insult, saying that i'm not a true user, though i have been with the forum for a long time. It says that i dont care aobut the forum and the users.... i do care. I try my best. I made the image thread for people (and me!) to see art that we all made. I have tried to give my opinion, i GAVE it to you. I served it to you on a plate, flamebroiled, marinated in delicious juices. I gave that to you. And now, you want more from me. Sure, scott works hard to keep it running and all that. But i am not going to work for him. I am not going to give the few pennies i have left.
I am saying all this, because i have the right to. I have the right... hell, we ALL have the right to give our opinions. If it wasnt for opinion, this board would've died out. Scott made a forum.... he made the forum for people to come and chat..... rich people, poor people, everyone came. He didnt make it to beg for money. He did not create the forum as a fundraiser. he made it for people to share their ideas and opinions of computers... and hell, practically everything you can think of. He made the email program, and got ads. Does that not pay it off?
We as mac users are being insulted. It's not like we didnt notice that we havent paid. Now the ads have been stuck there. We saw about the donations on the top navbar. You didnt have to stick more things there, just incase we didnt notice the donate button. Why? To annoy us? to pay us back?
Oh no we're terrible. We joined your forum. You made the forum so we'd JOIN IT. So we do that, and you ask us for money. If you ever need money, dont ask your users. Get a job. If you already have one, then it should pay off most things. Hopefully you arent lying to us.
Dont ask us for money. Dont stick annoying advertisements inbetween our beloved threads. When we have enough money to donate, we will. Those extra ads annoy me, and make me feel like not donating, since its right in my face saying PLEASE GIVE ME MONEY!
We kno where the donations button is. I see it every time i come here. You dont need the extra ads.... you dont need them.......
Androo.
I am saying all this, because i have the right to. I have the right... hell, we ALL have the right to give our opinions. If it wasnt for opinion, this board would've died out. Scott made a forum.... he made the forum for people to come and chat..... rich people, poor people, everyone came. He didnt make it to beg for money. He did not create the forum as a fundraiser. he made it for people to share their ideas and opinions of computers... and hell, practically everything you can think of. He made the email program, and got ads. Does that not pay it off?
We as mac users are being insulted. It's not like we didnt notice that we havent paid. Now the ads have been stuck there. We saw about the donations on the top navbar. You didnt have to stick more things there, just incase we didnt notice the donate button. Why? To annoy us? to pay us back?
Oh no we're terrible. We joined your forum. You made the forum so we'd JOIN IT. So we do that, and you ask us for money. If you ever need money, dont ask your users. Get a job. If you already have one, then it should pay off most things. Hopefully you arent lying to us.
Dont ask us for money. Dont stick annoying advertisements inbetween our beloved threads. When we have enough money to donate, we will. Those extra ads annoy me, and make me feel like not donating, since its right in my face saying PLEASE GIVE ME MONEY!
We kno where the donations button is. I see it every time i come here. You dont need the extra ads.... you dont need them.......
Androo.
dlloyd
Official Pianist
Hmmmm... I agree with Androo, partially. (I am in sort of the same situation as he is.)
Only partially though: I think Scott has the right to ask for money, and the right to put ads on his site.
What I don't think is that he should have the right to make our (yes, our, we have spent a lot of time here) forum practically unusable by throwing ads in everywhere so that I can't even read a two page thread without getting an ad which makes me stop and wait for it too load. Not to mention the bandwidth drain on both MacOSX.com's server and my ISDN line every time I have to download one of those big images that he uses for Ads.
Furthermore, I don't think he should force ads onto people who cannot afford to 'donate'. He should find some other way to allow those of us who can't send him money but still want to help to assist on the site.
On a related side note: I never browse the boards individually now, I use the "View New Posts" option. Therefore, I didn't see the announcement about the new ads until I got the first one. Would it be possible to display any new announcements in the View New Posts page?
Only partially though: I think Scott has the right to ask for money, and the right to put ads on his site.
What I don't think is that he should have the right to make our (yes, our, we have spent a lot of time here) forum practically unusable by throwing ads in everywhere so that I can't even read a two page thread without getting an ad which makes me stop and wait for it too load. Not to mention the bandwidth drain on both MacOSX.com's server and my ISDN line every time I have to download one of those big images that he uses for Ads.
Furthermore, I don't think he should force ads onto people who cannot afford to 'donate'. He should find some other way to allow those of us who can't send him money but still want to help to assist on the site.
On a related side note: I never browse the boards individually now, I use the "View New Posts" option. Therefore, I didn't see the announcement about the new ads until I got the first one. Would it be possible to display any new announcements in the View New Posts page?
Androo
Yeah, Androo.
Wait, i just went to read about the contributions thing.
look:
"We recommend $20.00 for a contribution, however you can give as little or as much as you can. You get instant access."
That means that you dont have to give 20 bucks.... if you have 5 then give 5 dollars. You're still contributing, scott still gets money, you dont have ads, you're not broke.
Hell, would even 2 dollars count? 1? 50¢?
lol the last 2 would mean that ur extremely cheap....
look:
"We recommend $20.00 for a contribution, however you can give as little or as much as you can. You get instant access."
That means that you dont have to give 20 bucks.... if you have 5 then give 5 dollars. You're still contributing, scott still gets money, you dont have ads, you're not broke.
Hell, would even 2 dollars count? 1? 50¢?
lol the last 2 would mean that ur extremely cheap....
No one is charging anyone. Those who contribute financially get perks, those who don't are covered by ads. It's really simple actually.
I don't pay for the TV shows I watch, the advertisers pay for them. On pay-per-view they don't have advertisements and that is because I paid. HBO doesn't have ads cause well, I pay for it as well. (that is, if I had any premium channels).
On any given hour on regular broadcast TV, you have around 16 minutes of commercials. One in 5 pages views is only 20%, which is less than the amount of commercials on TV.
On top of this, I drive to work each day and I see billboards and signs, and they don't pay for the road I drive on, but I still have to see them.
No one is asking you to stay, it would mean more if you quit coming to the site than if you stayed and complained. Because by staying, you are generating more impressions, posting more threads and topics and overall making this site more successful by staying.
I hate to see anyone go, but if you want to make a point, make it... don't complain about it.
Scott
I don't pay for the TV shows I watch, the advertisers pay for them. On pay-per-view they don't have advertisements and that is because I paid. HBO doesn't have ads cause well, I pay for it as well. (that is, if I had any premium channels).
On any given hour on regular broadcast TV, you have around 16 minutes of commercials. One in 5 pages views is only 20%, which is less than the amount of commercials on TV.
On top of this, I drive to work each day and I see billboards and signs, and they don't pay for the road I drive on, but I still have to see them.
No one is asking you to stay, it would mean more if you quit coming to the site than if you stayed and complained. Because by staying, you are generating more impressions, posting more threads and topics and overall making this site more successful by staying.
I hate to see anyone go, but if you want to make a point, make it... don't complain about it.
Scott
ebolag4
Fundamentalist whack-job
Originally posted by dlloyd
I don't have a TV though
lol dlloyd
OK guys, let's turn this into something constructive. If the ads are so so bad, then let's put our heads together to come up with some ideas on how we can raise money to pay the bills around here and make the user experience more enjoyable at the same time.
Besides, and I'm just guessing here, maybe Scott has resorted to these more "in your face tactics" because the money needed to keep this boat afloat was not coming in fast enough. Let's face it, donating hours and hours of time doesn't help when what you need is money, or the whole thing disappears. I mean, it's not like Scott can go to the bank and say, "Hey, one of my users, ebolag4, has spent 5000 hours on my site helping other users. I'd like you to accept his hours as the same as cash and pay off my bill for the new hardware." Could you imagine that? He'd get laughed out of the bank, then probably arrested and put under psychiatric evaluation!
So again, what are some ideas to help both sides of the issue here?
edX
mac shaman
the only real issue i see is a couple of teenagers complaining that they don't have money and that it's unfair that the world requires it. in other words, being a teenager sucks. i can empathize with that a lot more than i can the idea that Scott sucks because he has chosen to help support the site in this manner. but don't make it so personal - Scott didn't sit down one day and say "i think i'll figure out a way to make all the teenagers suffer some more". i guarentee you he didn't think of any particular members when he created this. it's just part of the 'doing business' side of things.
posts help other users, and the thanks you get from them is the only reward offered. keeping the site afloat financially has little to do with how many posts there are to help others out. except that the more posts, the more bandwidth and the higher the cost of running the site.
at the current time we do not have age restrictions and do not intend to. this is a family oriented site and all ages are welcome. however, we still expect some degree of maturity from even our youngest members. whining is not a mature act.
oh, and one more thing - for those who feel "i'd never pay a cent to a forum even if i did have the money", please feel free to leave without saying goodbye if the ad system offends you.
posts help other users, and the thanks you get from them is the only reward offered. keeping the site afloat financially has little to do with how many posts there are to help others out. except that the more posts, the more bandwidth and the higher the cost of running the site.
at the current time we do not have age restrictions and do not intend to. this is a family oriented site and all ages are welcome. however, we still expect some degree of maturity from even our youngest members. whining is not a mature act.
oh, and one more thing - for those who feel "i'd never pay a cent to a forum even if i did have the money", please feel free to leave without saying goodbye if the ad system offends you.
dlloyd
Official Pianist
ebolag4: oh yes, lets! That would be loads of fun!! (dead serious, I'm not being sarcastic!) I'll start thinking about other ways that we can get some cash for this site.
I don't have a problem with the ads in themselves, I just think that if they are there for the revenue that they bring in, lets make them a bit less obtrusive. I would be happy to do some design sketches for this! (hint hint Scott)
If on the other hand they are here to be 'in my face'... well you already know what I am going to say
edX: as far as I know, most teenagers of our age group still live with their parents, don't have to buy their own cloths and food, don't have to pay for the utilities, and don't have a job.
I didn't say Scott sucks, he does a great job with most of this site! Go Scott
I already said: I don't care about the ads! ( ) I just don't like the un-streamlined way they are presented. Why don't we all get together and deside how to make them less obtrusive?
I didn't mean to whine, I just want the best for this site as a whole. If that means protesting the way something way done, then I say do be it!
Oh, and I might contribute if I had a job. I don't have a job though, so I don't know for sure. However don't point the "i'd never pay a cent to a forum even if i did have the money" gun at me please
That would be loads of fun!! (dead serious, I'm not being sarcastic!) I'll start thinking about other ways that we can get some cash for this site.I don't have a problem with the ads in themselves, I just think that if they are there for the revenue that they bring in, lets make them a bit less obtrusive. I would be happy to do some design sketches for this! (hint hint Scott
)If on the other hand they are here to be 'in my face'... well you already know what I am going to say
edX: as far as I know, most teenagers of our age group still live with their parents, don't have to buy their own cloths and food, don't have to pay for the utilities, and don't have a job.
I didn't say Scott sucks, he does a great job with most of this site! Go Scott
I already said: I don't care about the ads! (
) I just don't like the un-streamlined way they are presented. Why don't we all get together and deside how to make them less obtrusive?I didn't mean to whine, I just want the best for this site as a whole. If that means protesting the way something way done, then I say do be it!
Oh, and I might contribute if I had a job. I don't have a job though, so I don't know for sure. However don't point the "i'd never pay a cent to a forum even if i did have the money" gun at me please
edX
mac shaman
sorry if i gave that impression jason. it's just that the only ones doing any whining in this thread are teens. the rest of the people posting have been either understanding of the ads and the situation or reporting difficulties with their implementation. most people said what they wanted to say and left it at that. certain others are making this a personal campaighn like they were the intended 'victims' of the ads. they need to give it a rest. the point is made. whining further isn't going to change anything, if anything it will just make it slower to change. i know i don't respond well to whines. a person who whines is less likely to get than someone who states the same thing in a rational way. one whiner can spoil the whole message for everybody.
