What is Digg?52 Comments
- ericpp, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"I hate commercials... by the way, visit my blog at dvorak.org/blog and be sure to check out my weekly column for PC Magazine"
- DannyX0, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"Commercials are getting offensive, not informative."
Damn right... - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I used to strongly dislike Dvorak (and I'm still not sure about his sudden political interests...honestly, haven't done much research other than hearing he's become more vocal), and whilst I still don't like the high-handed, smug attitude of his, I am agreeing more and more with him. I'm a huge Neil Postman fan, and I like this article and his one on human behaviour and the hard drive. Spot on!
- iamme99, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1When an ad comes on the radio, I switch to another channel. I watch TV with one eye while on the computer. Usually I record TV and my VCR auto fast forwards through the ads. If I'm watching live, I hit the mute button until the show comes back on. When dumped on by advertising in a public space, I tune it out. My ad filters block almost all net ads. FF is great as there are many extensions that help clean out the clutter (Ad Block Plus, RIP, Grease Monkey, etc.) Wonder how many people are similar to me?
Advertising is a fool's game. Advertisers have buyers convinced with bogus statistics that advertising is valuable. Buyers want to believe that they are spending their money wisely and are afraid to find out they might be wrong. Which is why Nielsen has fought so hard for so many years to not implement technology that would show who is really watching what. If producers/advertisers found out the real story, the advertising industry would implode.
Has anyone with an IQ higher than 90 even been influenced to buy a car by the pretty (and expensive) ads they see on TV? Me, I'm still waiting for the pretty babes to cluster around when I open a beer like I've seen on friends TV's who don't block ads [lol]. - geminitojanus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Dvorak might be a nutcase, but he's hit the nail right on the head with this one. I think Google's kinda figured it out too; they're getting really smooth with the way their advertisting seemlessly blends into their content. Like product placement, but not as subliminal.
+digg. - Trueblood, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1When an entire industry evolves around avoiding you, you might think about getting the hint. Email spam filter, tivo, do-not-call lists... companies will figure it out soon enough.
- JimmySprinkles, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1So true. I'd rather have descrete, informative commercials, rather thatn annoying offensive ads. Also, the only ads I really care about are ones relating to MY interests.
- lollerskates, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1You remember offensive commercials the best.
If I showed you a brutal picture of the holocaust, it would stay in your mind better than a picture of a library. - TinMan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Ironic that a post about annoying ads is on a webpage full of ads (turn addblock off for a sec and see).
- JimDanger, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I don't see how he can be so against ITV's tailored ads. Personally, if I have to deal with TV ads, I'd rather them be about my hobbies and interests, rather than cars I can't afford and female hygiene products.
I wouldn't mind a mechanism of being able to specifically pick the types of commercials I would receive. I'd probably be a much bigger consumer than I currently am. Whether that's good or bad, I don't know. - thatsiebguy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I'm with the D man. I'm sick of advertising. Thats all anyone cares about anymore, buy this, buy that, look at this, ask about this.. If I want something, I will go looking for it. Its sad when TV shows are getting shorter and shorter to make more room for advertising. Soon all TV will be is advertising. And when its not on tv, its everywhere around you, just look at magazines. Advertising is becoming an epidemic, who cares about what big brother is watching, everyone and their mom is being watched by every entity on the internet to track where your going so they can shove more advertising in your face and they would prefer to bombard your computer with spyware and adware.. Kind of defeats the purpose in the end..
- bsoric, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It's called Timeshifting. Never see another commercial again.
- search, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"Once the databank gets a clue about you, then you are given targeted advertising. The problem here, especially when compared to Google, is that YOU'RE NOT SHOPPING! You're trying to watch a TV show."
lol
Exactly.
I would disagree on some issues though... if I am watching Knight Rider, I just might want to see commercials about cars, buying a home, reading a good book and so on.
The problem with TV commercials today is that they sell to anyone who pays for most shows.
If I am watching Bay Watch, seeing a commercial on diapers or saving money for retirement might not be a good move.
Making sure the commercial is somewhat related to the show might be the revolutionary idea advertisers are looking for. Also, if the commercial is actually entertaining or informative, one might tolerate it more.
This 'TiVo' for commercials is not a bad idea, but can easily go in the wrong direction. Advertisers keeping in mind that I am not looking for something I am watching something will be the key to if this works or not. - FunHeadlines, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Advertisers know we avoid them, and they don't care. Why? Because they study human psychology and know what makes us tick, and they create ads that reach us whether we consciously realize it or not. Even the ones that annoy us. Especially them. You might think it has no impact on you, but sooner or later, as your mind turns to that product category, that ad will be in your brain somewhere and that familiarity will count to that advertiser.
That said, I hate ads, advertisers, advertising companies, ad execs, anyone who reads ads, the very concept of an ad... That's why my stupid little humor site has no advertising and never will. But let's not kid ourselves about advertising effectiveness. We don't study advertisers, but they sure study us. - geekgurl, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1OK, love him or hate him, Dvorak is making one big point that we REALLY need to heed and combat. Advertising is everywhere and it SUCKS!!! I don't need a sticker on my banana reminding me to rent a video or buy Nilla wafers or whatever. I don't need someone's shirt to tell me what brand of clothing they wear. Continuous loop advertising while I'm on hold to talk to someone on the other end of an 800 number is abundantly annoying and unnecessary. Three twenty-five high foot billboards within roughly thirty feet of each other is too much advertising (especially for an intersection that just isn't that busy.)
Dvorak says "I went to the theater the other day... and had to endure about 20 minutes of solid commercials before it began. So now I pay money to watch commercials? It's offensive." It's completely offensive! Not only is it at the movies, it's at the beginning of DVDs, it's in the tv shows we watch (i.e. product placement), its everywhere.
Obviously the advertisers aren't getting it. No one wants these ads. As has been said, there's hardly any trace of content that respects our intelligence. Do they think that customizing ads will make the situation any better? What kind of ads would they show for someone who watches the Mythbusters, Family Guy and Celebrity Poker Showdown? This is just another excuse to collect information on us and use it to annoy the crap out of us in hopes that we'll buy something. - bakerw, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1just wait for stuff to come out on dvd.
go family guy! - lmarburger, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"The advertisers should have gotten a clue when, almost out of the blue, full-season episode lineups of TV shows began to sell on DVD. You could watch without commercials. People would actually pay to avoid these commercials. Hello! Do you think you have a problem yet?"
This is EXACTLY the reason why I download the shows I enjoy watching the day after on Usenet instead of wasting my time watching commercials. I would rather wait a day and download HD-TV rips of "The Office" or "Lost" than watch 30 minutes of commercials that just end up pissing me off. - N3LDAN, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Bah, if you ask me, most advertising has no effect on me. Think about it. 90% of ads are stupid as hell, and you won't think twice about them. If they want to amke a good ad, make it something we want to see. Some ads are so funny that I tell people in the kitchen gettin gfood to come in and see it quickly, those are the kind of ads they should be making. They want to sell us to remeber there name? Entertain us, show us something to tell our friends about. That's the future of advertising.
- B111, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I agree, I'd much rather move onto a system where I pay to subscribe and watch what I want, no ads, no censors, a la DVDs and HBO. In a way, I already do, I pay for broadband, I download TV. Being on the west coast, I can get ripped, commercial-free, HD shows less than an hour after its supposed to air in California (thanks east coast guys).
- SkeletaLlama, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1That's why I've gone ad-free. I don't see ads on the web, I use Firefox and adblocker (which rocks!), I don't hear ads on the radio, I have ad-free Sirius, and I don't see ads on TV, I use a DVR. And since I don't read magazines the only ads I see are billboards, which I can totally ignore because I'm driving. The ad-free lifestyle rules!
- JimDanger, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I will say the one commercial that got me was the new Chicken Parm sub from Subway. I was hungry, saw the commercial, and 10 minutes later was eating 12 inches of disappointment (the sub).
- MilfordCubicle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Having only skimmed the comments (bad, I know) I just want to remind everyone that when cable TV first cranked it up, the idea behind subscription TV service was that there would be no need for advertisement....that lasted all of 6 months, I believe.
Fact of the matter is, from the moment you wake up, until the second you pass out in front of the TV, you're being aggressively marketed to. Not only is it obtrusive/intrusive/annoying, it's also wasting hours and hours of your life. Time you could spend masturbating to the Victoria's Secret catalog, or dusting your extensive action figure collection... - snapcase, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"Commercials are getting offensive, not informative."
So true. I rarely even watch TV anymore, and I've come to realize one of the biggest reasons is that I HATE COMMERCIALS. It's not that I just hate them in general. The thing I hate is how through the utter lack of thought, intelligence, and respect for the consumer, I am greatly offended by the vast majority of the commercials on tv. They all portray their customers or potential customers as total dimwits. There's nary a trace of orginal thought in any commercial currently airing. For these reasons and many more, I find these commercials to be an insult to my intelligence. Most of these lovely little advertising campaigns have only come to serve a single purpose to me: They have assured that I will never, under any circumstances, do business with them in any form. - lowbot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The ad on that page didnt even load. Hosts method of ad blocking works, Mr Dvorak.
- Idium, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0very intresting indeed, +digg
- TheGeneral, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0This is why companies like Google are beginning to offer everything free! They are able to offer this type of targeted advertising while people are shopping. Who wouldn't want that to be their primary advertising medium? I don't think TV can completely get rid of commercials though, the networks would not be able to produce the types of shows they have going now, that have movie production type budgets without advertising money. Yes, it's annoying, but that's why we all have a DVR now. If you're complaining about commercials, go get one!
- EliGottlieb, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I would like to concur that advertising was offensive in the very first. It's also usually full of *****, which is why I popped over to Mozilla extensions and downloaded Adblock just now.
- iamme99, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"I would like to concur that advertising was offensive in the very first. It's also usually full of *****, which is why I popped over to Mozilla extensions and downloaded Adblock just now."
You want AdBlock PLUS, not the standard AdBlock. Also get RIP (Remove It Permanently). - B111, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Lets call a spade a spade, this isn't advertising, its spam on TV, billboards are road spam, etc.
- geoboy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Personally, I find diaper commercials to be offensive.
- ArtVandelay, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0nice digg. i wonder how successful google ads will be as consumers become more conscious of their presence.
my mom clicks on G-ads like they're going out of style. - rewritable, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I have never been influnced by any commercial. Infact I find 2 - 3 channels that have something on I like and when a commercial comes on one I switch to the other. I dont listen to the radio either. It is actually usless IMO to have an AM-FM radio since all you hear is crappy music and stupid commercials. When I want something I go to the store a buy the first thing I see that I need. Say for instance, I want to buy some turkey to make sandwhiches, I buy the first thing that says sliced turkey. I dont give a damn about price, brand, or loyalty. It aggrevates the ***** out of me when i used to take my mom to the grocery store. She would stand in front of a bread stand for 5 ***** minutes gropping all the loafs and comparing prices and softness. Its like COME ON ALLL READY WHAT THE ***** ID YOUR GOD DAMN PROBLEM??? IT SAYS BREAD DOESN'T IT???????
- Sixcolors, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Hmm, submitted by pcmonline? Talk about advertising. I didn't get to see the ads on this page. I use a CSS I found a while back that blocks ads in Firefox transparently.
- teamparadox, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0JimDanger, I dont think its so much about the ads themselves as much as it is about why do we need to see ads on TV, computers and the internet have made it an ineffective delivery device for ads. Google method of ad delivery is efficient, it only displays relevant ads when you search for one. Which means when you wanna buy a product THEN you see all the ads for it. Meaning maybe you could watch TV and listen to Radio without so many comcercials.
- juicysauce, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1This is off topic, but TWiT is so much more enjoyable when Dvorak is absent. His crusty, grumpy old man predictions are filled with too much vitriol and not enough thought.
- snapcase, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0If you are getting popups then it's your own fault. I haven't seen a popup in years. Use Firefox, and get the adblock extension. I never have to put up with ads anymore on the internet either.
All you people are complaining about the advertising on Dvorak's site and on the site on the PCmag website, and it's really showing your ignorance, and it shows the fact that you don't really understand his point. Of course there will be links to his site, it has relevance to the page you are already viewing. - subtle, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Why does everything this guy writes end up on the front page of Digg?
Oh wait, I suppose it's because he's always right, like when he wrote:
"The Macintosh uses an experimental pointing device called a 'mouse'. There is no evidence that people want to use these things." - San Francisco Examiner, Feb. 1984 - red7ine, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0first cybernetic add-on I'm splurging on will be the HD-DVD drive that ejects the disk outta my ass crack. That'll be AWESOME.
- Ixliam, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0What doesn't drive Dvorak nuts ?
- Nitroflames, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0GO DVORAK! and the twits
- anastrophe, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0dvorak's crazy like a fox. controversy drives eyeballs to your site. he's a master of self-promotion, and i say that as a compliment.
- BugMeNot2, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0I GET NO SPAM!
- Sazime, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Personally, I can't stand Dvorak. He's a cranky old man. If he was more contructive and not so negative, maybe I'd care, but he's like that old guy you see raving on street corners with a beat up copy of the King James Bible. Makes lots of noise, but people just try to avoid 'em.
- motionblur, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Dvorak is a cranky old biatch who just happens to have more of a clue than he's given credit for. Either that or he's just nuts.
- mercury81, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0but dvorak GETS NO SPAM!
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0***** off. i find it funny how every time i go to his column a pop up pops up.
- jervana, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0interesting....
you got yourself a DIGG! - Philoushka, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0He's another Laporte-Norton-Rose hobknobber. All the Pavlovian fools will Digg anything he's got to say. Oh, and check out his "split Cali into 3 states" idea on his site. No need to remind you of that URL again. Please not again hobknobbers, we're fRIckin tired of you guys promoting yourselves.
- TheNik, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0Whoever asked "Why do we need TV ads?" is a ***** moron. Without the ads on TV we couldn't WATCH the channels we have come to love. Ads are what make TV channels possible, numbnuts.
- danielson, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0I don't give a ***** what this guy has to say. If I cared, then I would go to his site.
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