i think the article does a wonderful job at illustrating the point without even uttering a single word
Interestingly, there is a “small web” or “frugal” tech alternative which goes back to the basics:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemini_(protocol)
https://github.com/kr1sp1n/awesome-gemini
With a client/browser like Amfora or Rosy Crow, this “small web” is very pleasant to read! (And easy to set up an own server on a Raspberry Pi).
(Note: It’s not related in any manner to the Google AI stuff.)
yeah i’ve heard about gemini but i don’t like that they don’t just work over HTTP (which would be entirely doable, btw). so i need to download a custom client or a browser plug-in, and i don’t like it. i shouldn’t have to install another 3rd-party software on my device just to interact with online content which the browser can already do perfectly fine.
so i need to download a custom client or a browser plug-in, and i don’t like it.
The slight technical ceremony is, a bit tongue-in-cheek, needed to keep the umwashed masses away.
And the technical and media limitations are - and here I am totally serious - needed to keep boundless greedy corporarions away which sooner or later destroy every living or creative thing they touch.
needed to keep the umwashed masses away.
and it also keeps me away. i don’t like non-standard software for use-cases where existing software can already do the job well. that’s just artificially fucked-up architecture. artificial scarcity
i don’t like non-standard software for use-cases where existing software can already do the job well.
Well, then there the normal web is for you, which certainly does its job well to flood you with ads and track you at every step.
An important point is that advertising, tracking, all the junk which the OP link demonstrates, is technically not possible in the gemini protocol. It is designed to be minimal and serve text and single media files.
The gemini client is not a site-specific app, but a very lightweight browser for this protocol. All available clients are free and libre open source programs.
An important point is that advertising, tracking, all the junk which the OP link demonstrates, is technically not possible in the gemini protocol.
btw this is false. companies can still write a small text to advertise their product or create an advertisement image and distribute it over gemini. if the protocol allows data transfer, then it also allows distribution of ads.
if the protocol allows data transfer, then it also allows distribution of ads.
You do not know what you are talking about.
Ads are almost never displayed by choice of the reader. People have limited resources of attention, they know attention is precious, and they are not fond of things leeching it.
To see an ad in Geminispace, you would need to deliberately open a page with an ad. This is by implementation. There are no embedded ads. There is also no support for tracking in the Gemini protocol, and no JavaScript and such. You don’t need ad-infested libraries, the Gemini space is not centralized so that big corporations can’t inject ads into it, and running a Gemini server is so cheap that you don’t need ads to pay it - costing a few dozens Euro cents per month, if you count the cost of a Raspberry Pi B and perhaps 9 kWh of electricity per year.
But to make it more concrete and practical:
Here is a Gemini-to-HTTP Gateway which shows a page which lists, in section 2.2.1, Gemini aggregators. As an entry point to geminispace:
https://portal.mozz.us/gemini/geminiprotocol.net/docs/faq-section-2.gmi
You can start there and search.
Gemini has maybe ten thousand pages.
Now, show me a single Gemini page with an ad.
I could see a few way to make it even closer to todays standards :
- Make the cookie message say “We care about your privacy” and mention their 1700+ partners in the same breath
- Add more ads in the article, every other paragraph or so
But it definitely feel accurate and gets the point accross…
What else would you good people add to the list ?
- download our app (on mobile)
- asks you to make an account every time you scroll down a little further (like instagram actually does in my browser)
- article is 3 paragraphs long, afterwards 15 paragraphs of unrelated “recommended content”
- videos start autoplaying
- there’s an annoying source of sound that you can’t seem to track down
An auto-playing video that automatically goes full screen, loudly advertising hemorrhoid medication.
And then an ad that covers the screen so that controls are not visible, and follows on scrolling.
Also, it should mention that my browser is too old.
And then an ad that covers the screen so that controls are not visible, and follows on scrolling.
yeah and the “x” to close the ad is so small that you necessarily misclick (especially on mobile) and it opens another tab that redirects to the play store. now play store knows you’re into this shit and keeps recommending it to you.
I chuckled at the “do you really want to leave” warning when I was trying to go back 🥲
I’ve learnt to move on from things very quickly now. For example I see a news article that interests me and click on it. I have ‘accept cookies’ or ‘reject and pay’. Immediately I close it and manage to completely forget I even read the headline.
The text is too small, I can actually read most of it. It needs to have a video add taking up a quarter of the screen, while only fitting max a paragraph at a time
Would be sick of when you visit with adblocker it showed a nice pic of the beach or something
