Re:The Impervious Browser: Your Portal to the P2P Internet
by omginternets on Saturday April 09, 2022 @09:31PM
(#30973711)
Any way you want to stretch it, HN is not pay-to-play.
I am not against commerce; I am against a pay-to-play internet.
Re:The Impervious Browser: Your Portal to the P2P Internet
by olah_1 on Saturday April 09, 2022 @09:40PM
(#30973759)
You can’t get around the fact that HN is pay to play too though. that is my point.
You aren’t paying a fraction of a cent to post comments, but you’re paying in other ways. You just prefer the business model of HN, but i find the fraction of a cent model to be more straightforward and clear.
Re:The Impervious Browser: Your Portal to the P2P Internet
by stjohnswarts on Saturday April 09, 2022 @10:24PM
(#30973946)
You can't win this argument, hackernews isn't "pay to play". You are currently playing with it and you didn't pay even a microtransaction. Why do you keep saying it is pay to play? For whatever reason HN providers are doing it as a free service and you aren't paying anything.
Re:The Impervious Browser: Your Portal to the P2P Internet
by olah_1 on Sunday April 10, 2022 @02:23PM
(#30980038)
HN sells me as their audience to advertisers right?
Would you say that Youtube is “free” as well?
Many people would simply prefer a more transparent / straight forward business model and I don’t think they are wrong for having that preference.
Re:The Impervious Browser: Your Portal to the P2P Internet
by omginternets on Sunday April 10, 2022 @01:57PM
(#30979728)
You either don't know what "pay to play" means, or you're being disingenuous.
Re:The Impervious Browser: Your Portal to the P2P Internet
by olah_1 on Sunday April 10, 2022 @02:24PM
(#30980061)
Have you heard the phrase “time is money”?
I would say that Youtube is pay to play as well. You’re just paying with your attention to their advertisers.
I don’t think this logic is misplaced. HN has the same business model as all “free” tech platforms, doesn’t it?
HN comments aren't free to host though. There is compute involved. How are they paying for that compute?
If it is out of boredom and good will, that's cool. But I very much am keeping that in mind when I comment here. I don't expect a hobby site to stay up long term because they'll just shut it down when it stops being fun.
If HN is paying for this from advertisements and job postings, well there is your answer. It is commercial.