Re:WhatsApp Introduces Ads in Its App
by UnreachableCode on Monday June 16, 2025 @03:06PM
(#44292478)
But Signal is free. And ad-free
Re:WhatsApp Introduces Ads in Its App
by carlosjobim on Monday June 16, 2025 @04:32PM
(#44293137)
Sure, it's a rare case of a project which is sponsored and paid for by a billionaire. I wish there were more such projects, but you can't base an economy on charity from billionaires.
Re:WhatsApp Introduces Ads in Its App
by UnreachableCode on Tuesday June 17, 2025 @04:42AM
(#44296961)
True enough. But I think in this case it's worth just enjoying how great Signal is. Maybe one day it will bend to enshittification, but for now, it's the better app.
Signal has its own limitations. It wasn't that long ago that you couldn't use it on tablets at all, and Android tablets are still unsupported (even as linked devices). There are other weird limits on linking, too - e.g. why can't I have a secondary phone as a linked device? Why can't I have more than 5 linked devices in total?
*for now
Re:WhatsApp Introduces Ads in Its App
by tumsfestival on Monday June 16, 2025 @06:27PM
(#44293960)
Well, that is what happens when everything costs money and most people are just trying to get by on a daily basis, making cuts everywhere just to pay their bills, not everyone has a nice disposable income to throw away at apps. That people prefer ads over paying yet another subscription is a symptom of unchecked capitalism and the inequality that comes with it.
Re:WhatsApp Introduces Ads in Its App
by carlosjobim on Monday June 16, 2025 @08:21PM
(#44294569)
But how is it "unchecked capitalism" to pay for something that you use and enjoy? Unchecked is when people who work full time cannot afford even a simple home – which is 90% of young workers practically world wide. Unchecked is endless debt slavery.
But paying a fair price for a service which has actual value for you is not "unchecked". That's sieving flies and swallowing camels.
It will make people accept anything and everything that they would never otherwise accept. They will line up for hours, they will accept hostile and toxic messages being screamed into their faces, they will humiliate themselves, they will spend sleepless nights, they will willingly enslave themselves, they will wither away in sickness, they will murder millions in the most cruel way imaginable.
All for "free".
Societies in our history were not arranged in the same way around money, because probably there was some knowledge of the two-sided curse of avarice and stinginess. I'm talking about medieval and post-medieval society, where most people didn't use or have money in their everyday life. Instead they had duties.