For me, I would choose computer viruses.

    • Parallax@kbin.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      7
      ·
      1 year ago

      I think it depends on the context though. Data mining of environmental sensors might yield valuable insights. Mining anonymized medical data could improve chances of catching a disease early, etc.

      Agree on ads though. Nothing like having pharmaceutical ads stuffed down my throat while trying to watch a speedrun or whatever.

      • rastilin@kbin.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        1 year ago

        Yes. Ads don’t pay that much anyway, Reddit makes something like $10 per user per year. That means that even with a $1 subscription per user they’d be ahead. It’s the same for Youtube celebrities, they make their money from merchandise, Patreon and sponsorship deals, Youtube pays only a few dollars per thousand views even in ideal circumstances, even if a video has millions of views, you might only make a few thousand off it, and how many million view videos can a person realistically make?

        We could probably replace the entire ad industry with something like $10 monthly divided among whichever sites we want to support.

        Also, I get the argument that some people can’t afford $10 because of where they are, but then the ads being served to those people aren’t bringing any money in either, so you can adjust the cost downward.

      • Zana@kbin.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        And small businesses die because they aren’t able to get the word that they exist out without advertising.

        • fruitywelsh@lemmy.ml
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          organic, word of mouth, grassroots, community building

          My friends and I share cool places we find with each other all the time.

            • fruitywelsh@lemmy.ml
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              1 year ago

              I think when people say ads, they mean paid for or non optional (like giant billboards) not just people talking about it because they are interested in it.