[bookofjoe]

It's not a matter of risks for me. I haven't a clue how to install an ad blocker, being a non-techie geezer. Same for VPN etc. The only code I know is Morse and I've forgotten most of it.

Every time I remark on this subject, well meaning commenters tell me how easy it is to install/use an ad blocker.

"Just..." — in my experience, statements that begin with "Just..." end up leaving me frustrated once I've tried and failed to follow the "simple"/"easy" instructions.

Also, I note that commenters here WITH ad blockers installed sometimes STILL see ads. So why bother?

I don't understand the enmity of HN in general for online ads and advertising.

[em-bee]

commenters here WITH ad blockers installed sometimes STILL see ads

very rarely.

I don't understand the enmity of HN in general for online ads and advertising

i am surprised that you noticed the one but not figured out the other. because that is also discussed at length.

advertising enables surveillance, ads cost resources, and they distract from the content.

[bookofjoe]

>very rarely

Really? there's a commenter in this very thread who's having that experience. And I have seen this ad blocker FAIL issue raised here from time to time. More than "very rarely" judging from my own eyes....

>advertising enables surveillance, ads cost resources, and they distract from the content.

I'm amused whenever I see avoiding surveillance raised here. That ship has sailed. Did you notice your neighbor's Ring doorbell camera, BTW?

[fransje26]

Where "very rarely" should be read as "None".

And even if such an insignificant technicality could pop up from time to time, there is no actual debate on what is "better", when the counterpoint is literally this:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47480507

[em-bee]

ok, maybe very rarely is too strong. i do have the experience rarely myself however. i suppose it also depends on which sites you go to. with ad surveillance even a 90% reduction is a win (my own experience is even better than that), so in my opinion it is definitely worth it.

Did you notice your neighbor's Ring doorbell camera

yes, i noticed its absence. in my home country cameras recording video beyond your own property or sound are illegal. an even in the US resistance is growing. so in my opinion that ship can still be sunk.

[fransje26]

There is nothing complicated about installing an adblocker. If you are able to install a browser on your machine, or an app on your phone, you can use an adblocker.

Step 1: Download Firefox.

Step 2: Got to the official Firefox add-on page, search for ublock origin (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ublock-origin...)

Step 3: Install.

Done. No need for manual updates. No need for extra configuration. No ads.

[echelon]

Install the "Brave" browser. It has ad blocking built in and you don't have to configure anything at all.

https://brave.com/

The button will take you to the correct download for your mobile device or desktop/laptop operating system.

One click install. No plugins, it just works.

If you don't like it, you can go back to your old browser.

Your experience without ads and tracking will be amazing. Content without distraction, annoying animations, or popups. Just the text, images, and video you want to see and nothing else. And the pages load five times faster.

[bookofjoe]

>Your experience without ads and tracking will be amazing.

I tried Brave for a while: meh

My experience WITH ads and tracking is amazing: every day I use the internet I marvel at how much better my life is now than it was before the www.

Clearly, many (most?) others here have the opposite point of view: À chacun son goût

[x______________]

It's a matter of logic and capacity of the individual.

You argue online advertising but you've been exposed to offline advertising in your life a lot more. Now you are offered the choice to "turn most of it off" but you choose to spend your time replying to internet comments saying that you're stubborn and can't do it because it's hard and not 100% effective.

I'm sorry sir but your reasoning is flawed: you could have learned how to install ad block plus, noscript or whatever you want to experiment with, with all of these work out of the box, in the time needed to write your two comments.

I suppose it's worth reminding that the advertisement industry is one of the biggest economic areas of our society so the brightest of us will be coaxed into making advertising more effective, and the cat-and-mouse game between blockers and advertisers will continue forever.

You can spend the same time asking someone advice on where you're stuck, or even go ask an.. LLM.. for a simple step by step breakdown, with 1 step per line to set your pace. The options are all there at your disposal.

To complain with reason is all fine and dandy, but to not act to satiate those complaints is an area to improve on..

[x______________]

-.-- --- ..- -.-. .- -. -.. --- .. -, .. -... . .-.. .. . ...- . .. -. -.-- --- ..-

[bookofjoe]

But I'm not complaining!

[x______________]

Then challenge yourself, for the sake of the conversation and spirit of hacker news, to try out the experience and accomplish something that you've only heard from others.

[amavect]

I feel the pain of old geezers. I grew up figuring out which pixels actually do something, like an adversarial game where UI un-designers make the useful buttons look less like buttons.

uBlock Origin is the best ad blocker. The full uBlock Origin works on Firefox, but not on Google Chrome. The cut-down uBlock Origin Lite works on Google Chrome. uBlock Origin Lite still blocks many ads. Don't fall into all-or-nothing thinking. Imagine if you could block just half of the ads on cable television :) an improvement, though not perfect.

If you use Firefox, follow this link. On the right hand side, click the blue button with the label "Add to Firefox". A confirmation dialog box will pop up. Read it. Click the blue button with the text "Continue to Installation". That should install it.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ublock-origin...

If you use Google Chrome, follow this link. On the right hand side, click the blue button with the label "Add to Chrome". A confirmation dialog box will pop up. Read it. Click the button with the text "Add extension". That should install it.

https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/ublock-origin-lite/...