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Re:YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers by vba616 on Wednesday May 10, 2023 @09:03PM (#35895914)
>people do not want to pay

People don't want to pay for subscriptions because everything has become a bait and switch with infinite tiers!

Whether it's the local newspaper, or a mega-tech company's corporate offerings.

I tried subscribing (online) to my hometown newspaper within the last year. And a major national news publication.

You know how people say (or used to) that the garbage on the internet is the fault of the public for not being willing to pay for good journalism.

Well, guess what? You pay, you're just a sucker, probably senile and out of touch, so every third thing you click on is still behind a pay wall in the hopes you'll upgrade.

And, you know, it's being done to big dumb corporations with all the software-as-a-service offerings, and they're sucking up your tax dollars from government the same way. I don't want to name names, but the entire game seems to be slicing up features randomly and making up excuses to charge more for almost every one.

Re:YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers by crop_rotation on Wednesday May 10, 2023 @09:10PM (#35895968)
YouTube premium has just one tier.

And before you raise the hypothetical question of additional tiers in future, by that kind of logic people shouldn't make any recurring purchase of anything since in future terms might change.

Re:YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers by vba616 on Wednesday May 10, 2023 @09:22PM (#35896064)
If there's just one tier, but it doesn't include what I'd expect, then I'd be even less happy than if there are more tiers - but they probably will get around to adding them.
Re:YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers by crop_rotation on Wednesday May 10, 2023 @09:31PM (#35896128)
What you are describing is just wishful thinking. There is no business model which has just one tier with the perfect specs and the perfect price for millions of people, let alone hundreds of millions.
Re:YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers by midoridensha on Wednesday May 10, 2023 @09:58PM (#35896361)
For now.

It's just like cable TV. They promised that a subscription to cable TV would mean no ads. They lied, and went back on their promise within a very short time.

They'll do the same here.

Re:YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers by falcolas on Wednesday May 10, 2023 @10:36PM (#35896630)
Then unsubscribe if or when they do. It’s not a contract with your soul on the line, it’s a monthly payment.
Re:YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers by crop_rotation on Wednesday May 10, 2023 @10:01PM (#35896395)
But if you apply this line of reasoning, you will never make a single recurring purchase. Sure, if they introduce ads to premium I will be the among the first to cancel.
Re:YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers by brewdad on Thursday May 11, 2023 @12:36AM (#35897565)
I would be happy to never make another recurring purchase ever again. Bill me for actual usage, like a utility, but subscriptions for everything sucks.
Re:YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers by rolenthedeep on Wednesday May 10, 2023 @11:50PM (#35897167)
> by that kind of logic people shouldn't make any recurring purchase of anything since in future terms might change.

20 years ago, you'd be right. This argument would be paranoid nonsense. But that's not the world we live in.

We live in a world where your car manufacturer wants you to pay monthly for heated seats. Today it's normal for hardware you bought outright only works if you pay rent to someone else, and services like Netflix reduce features and increase the price. Amazon can, at any moment, delete books from your kindle that you already paid for. Digital rent extraction is a huge part of how the tech industry operates today.

Yes, you should avoid subscriptions where you can, because there is a real risk that they'll change the rules to take away what you paid for down the line.

And especially don't trust the advertising company to not put ads in their paid tiers down the line.

Re:YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers by mike741 on Thursday May 11, 2023 @07:16PM (#35909637)
there are at least 2 tiers: "Youtube Premium" and "Youtube Premium Lite"