The Web Is Becoming Unusable

Is the author aware of the irony of posting this on a Medium blog?<p>Maybe I’m getting too philosophical here, but “be the change you want to see in the world” is really a valuable mentality. If all we do is complain about what others are doing while being unwilling to change our own behavior, it’s not just counterproductive, it’s hypocritical.<p>[edit] after reading through again, I believe the author is just naive (ignorant, not hypocritical)

&gt; Second: Ads. Oh, ads. You horrible, horrible little fucking squares of pointless content I wish I could so completely ignore. I wish there was a global browser override to disable ads, powered by Google and Apple. Pay $15&#x2F;mo to avoid all ads on the web. Payments are made to sites you visit (e.g. Medium style).<p>Maybe us software engineers with our awesome salaries can afford the $15&#x2F;month for an ad-free web, but:<p>1. Many either can&#x27;t afford this or won&#x27;t see this as a need, because<p>2. Many people don&#x27;t care about ads being there (see also: YouTube Red), so<p>3. Content generators will continue to post ads, which<p>4. Are easy to block if you&#x27;re even mildly technically savvy

The cookie issue may be changing. Here is some discussion from yesterday: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=23090393" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=23090393</a><p>Also sounds like the author should use an ad blocker.<p>&gt; We need platforms, tools, and legislation that help guide the web to a future that isn’t complete shit.<p>Legislation to fix UX? Or to resolve the aforementioned cookie issue? I&#x27;m skeptical that legislation is going to make any changes to UX in the direction that the author is wanting.

Posted on Medium...<p>Brave (or at least the idea of it) seems to satisfy the author&#x27;s requirements around ads. Then again, so does an ad blocker.

It will come down to people committing to working a little harder to do things &quot;right&quot; in their computing.<p>Bad technology like this exists in part because people are using it.<p>We don&#x27;t need legislation we need public awareness to translate into public action.

Yes, the web is becoming unusable.<p>What we need are better protocols, file formats, and software. Don&#x27;t lock into using your software, into complicated file formats, etc.<p>I set up Gopher, NNTP, etc on my computer, and you can do same if you like to do so.

I don&#x27;t have any problems using it. There are fixes for things that bother me.

What shocks me is how unusable search engines are becoming.<p>Maybe we need to bring back human-curated directories and webrings.<p>And extensions that fix unusable web sites like Medium.

I remember I was susbscribed to a weekly newsletter which showcased side-projects on a bidding basis.<p>But can&#x27;t find it&#x2F;remember the name!

This article is posted behind a paywall. Lol.