bingle

Actually, I have :-P I don't have TV, and I've never really watched it since Saturday morning cartoons, years and years ago.

Maybe that's why this got to me, I'm not as desensitized to the blending of content and advertisement as everyone else. And that, of course, is the problem - I don't mind companies putting ads above, below, and to either side of their content, but when the ad starts becoming the content, I fail to see why I should spend my time or pay my money to view that content. They're getting paid by the advertiser for each eyeball that sees it anyway, I shouldn't have to pay for the privilege of being marketed to as well. In fact, in a just world, I would be paid by the advertiser for viewing their ads.

Plus, there's the fact that the Onion, once upon a time, was a satirical, underground publication, happily skewering all the sacred cows they could find. Now they've become what they make fun of, and it's not funny anymore. They have no credibility or standing to make fun of the mainstream now that they've joined it. It's like Abbie Hoffman appearing in a Coke commercial (although not that extreme). They used to print social satire, now they ARE social satire.

It may be true that it's been like this for a while - I also use Firefox, so I really don't know how full of ads their site is. I just know that I used to respect the Onion (sort of like Jon Stewart - It's phrased as a joke, but at the same time it's some of the most accurate, insightful coverage you can find).

Anyway, I see no point in reading a publication that lost sight of the original point of people reading it, or in spending my time reading long advertisements. I have better things to do with my time.

Bingle