Why YSK: Information should be free and open for all
Copy and paste the article URL into https://archive.is/ and view an archived version, thus bypassing the paywall
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There is also https://12ft.io/ as well as the “Bypass Paywalls” extension in Firefox
Just as a side note (and I’m not advocating for anything, I just think it’s good for people to think things through and have the full picture), the reason why many publications went to a subscription model is that so many people started using ad blockers. The publications have staff who want to be paid for the job they do, and other expenses like server infrastructure. They used to pay for all of that by selling ads on their sites, but then people found ways to avoid seeing ads, so the advertisers didn’t want to pay for them anymore.
So the publications had a choice between shutting their doors or charging a subscription, and many chose the latter. Now people are using techniques like this to avoid the subscriptions. The publications will either have to figure out a more effective paywall, come up with a different business model, or go out of business.
I wish the micropayments model people were proposing twenty years ago had taken off. I don’t have any interest in subscribing to The New York Times, for example, because I just don’t read it very much, but I wouldn’t object to paying a few cents every time I happened to read one of their articles.
Yeah, I agree that model is more tenable. Honestly, if the websites hadn’t gotten so riddled with completely obnoxious ads, people might have been less motivated to use ad blockers when they were first available. Our older two kids were teenagers in those days, and told us we should start using them. I told them the same thing about the business model, and they just insisted that the content should be free. I said then, and I say now, that’s unrealistic. I know I wouldn’t work a full time job for no pay, and I wouldn’t expect anyone else to.
I was perfectly fine with having header/footer/banner ads and left my adblocker off, unfortunately almost all advertisements have become so obnoxiously placed and irritating. If they weren’t so greedy, I feel like most people would have been okay with it.
I’m okay with my physical newspaper running ads too but not putting super intrusive ones or the ones that are disguised as actual reporting.
