Are they still going to take all sorts of telemetry and 'share' (read:sell) it to third parties if I pay for the service? Yes? Okay, then I'll continue to support the most dastardly peglegs to ever sail the seven seas. I value my personal data at twice the value of their service, so technically I'm paying more than my fair share by not collecting on it. I'm saving THEM money - they would owe me the cost of their service if I didn't block ads. And just like Spotify, I don't have an opt-out option, so I don't take it personally if they cease to provide service. I mean, technically, I DO require a 3 month notice and reserve the right to collect a $50,000 early termination fee, but I'm a nice guy.<p>It's funny how automated systems that are impossible to oversee operate. It's almost as if it shouldn't be allowed, but, hey, they have my info and could have contacted me.<p>You get my data or my money, not both. There was a time when I would be fine with data collection - when it actually improved the product - but now that it's another revenue stream to sell all that off to random third parties I have no control over, sorry, no dice. I have zero qualms with people not wanting advertising thrown at them 24/7 while their life is continuously data mined.<p>Advertising is mental pollution. It's not even junk food, since it offers no sustenance. It's predatory. People need to stop pretending it's an inconsequential option to throw it on a mediocre product no one would actually buy. If someone told me the apps/programs I paid for bumped their prices up by 10x, I would still buy them. If I installed your app and chose the ad-riddled version, it's because I barely care that it exists or didn't want to bother with sifting through 10,000 clones.<p>This is what we get for the mobile app race-to-the-bottom. Mentally, "$0.99 vs free<i>" is much closer to "$20 vs free</i>", than "$20 vs $40". But, now we're stuck. No one's going to up their price to something reasonable, and if stores eliminate the free tier, then the ads will just migrate to the lowest priced tier. I 100% expect that ads will require camera permissions and force you to look at them within 10 years, maybe 5. Are people still going to be singing the startup-saving praise of ads when Pepsi is permanently burned into their retinas? "I mean, you're already looking at your phone, and you get this neat flashlight button!"