Sometimes people complain about life sucking in very general terms. Other times they criticize specific things, one at a time.
This post seems like a generic, zoomed-out sort of complaint, and that doesn’t appeal to me, because I’m not sure I learned about anything specific. I guess it’s about how it’s possible to stop using some business’s websites and interact with them in other ways? But which businesses?
“Splitting the web” implies a big claim that other people do the same, but how many? I guess we don’t know since they aren’t tracked?
Yes, there are patterns, but each website is different. Maybe websites should be judged for themselves? I don’t think it’s a good idea to stop using a website I like due to generic concerns like this.
Well the article describes a feeling which is shared by many (me included). It is interesting (again, at least for me) to see that others feel the same way.
> I don’t think it’s a good idea to stop using a website I like due to generic concerns like this.
I think that the idea is not to philosophically decide to stop using some websites. It is rather that some of those websites have become unbearable, and the author says that they won't make an effort anymore.
I tend to do the same, and I guess many people do that too: if I start loading a website and it takes forever, or it lags, or it seems like a big spam, I don't spend 10 minutes checking if my feeling is right or not: I just close the tab.
The author writes about actively blocking things and that's not something that just happens, it's something they chose to do:
> Yep, I’m probably blocking some important third-party JavaScript. No, I don’t care.
Occasionally I will try to help someone with a lot of browser extensions installed who is confused about why some website doesn't work and does care, and the first thing I will recommend is creating a fresh profile with no extensions and seeing if that works.
Meanwhile, I tend to browse with fairly vanilla settings, so I'm not going to see the problems they see. I do see ads sometimes. Maybe I should block them, but often I will just go to a different website. I guess that's similar?
In some sense, we are seeing a different Web because we are running different web browsers. That's going to be true anyway, though. People have different preferences about which websites they like.
Right, yeah I see your point. I am closer to the author in that sense: I don't trust most browser extensions and I try to have as few as possible, but I still have uBlock origin. Maybe in the past I used to be fine with all the ads anywhere, but after years with an adblocker, the Web without it is unbearable for me.
I recently decided to try "I don't care about cookies" (Firefox extension), and it feels really good to not have to spend 2min trying to find the hidden "reject all" button on all those popups :-).
Actually I read it as the opposite of a complaint.
They're basically saying they're able to use and enjoy the web just fine with no-JS. Even if it limits them from many sites, it also frees them to enjoy what is left.
It is a choice that automatically filters out a ton of noise, leaving them with a quieter, more peaceful, more thoughtful internet.
This post seems like a generic, zoomed-out sort of complaint, and that doesn’t appeal to me, because I’m not sure I learned about anything specific. I guess it’s about how it’s possible to stop using some business’s websites and interact with them in other ways? But which businesses?
“Splitting the web” implies a big claim that other people do the same, but how many? I guess we don’t know since they aren’t tracked?
Yes, there are patterns, but each website is different. Maybe websites should be judged for themselves? I don’t think it’s a good idea to stop using a website I like due to generic concerns like this.