Interesting article made by Wladimir Palant (Adblock Plus Lead developer)!

Random thought on communities

 

Ad Block Plus is a great product. IMO, it has been one of the key reasons Firefox has been so popular. I know from personal experience it was a real help to users (in my case, it sped up my browsing on dialup by a huge amount.)

But that said, just because Palant knows how to block ads, IMO, it does not make him any kind of expert on whether or not certain ads should be allowed or not. That decision rests solely with the individual user. I know the new version of ABP allows the user to decide whether to allow non-intrusive ads or not. But it's my understanding it comes pre-checked. Which means he is placing his personal views on ad blocking as the default.

As for the article, I love Palant's visions of his user base. If you agree with his personal view of things, you're a listener who wants to improve things. If you don't agree, you are a non-listener that cares for no one but themselves. I actually laughed out loud reading the article...

 

I learned a new word. His point-of-view is sound.

 

I agree with these sentiments. Most of the criticism of most software can be ignored. It's because Mozilla is trying to keep its user base that it's actually losing out. I haven't had a major issue with any of the changes they've made since version 4 but the way the critics go on, one would think that Firefox is unusable.

I don't think creativity and consensus go together.

 

And here's a short story (not by Dostoevsky).

 

http://arstechnica.com/business/new...king-is-devastating-to-the-sites-you-love.ars

Really? His "personal" views?

 

I agree with him in regards to the complainers who have nothing to add, they just like to moan because they can. You see this all the time with every other product out there. One little change and the pitchforks come out, usually held by people who don't have the slightest clue what they're yapping about, but figure they can shoot off anyway. Look at what Firefox has gone through. I agree with this new ABP feature, I'm seeing more and more websites kicking me out because I have ABP turned on (in some cases I've been kicked out simply for it being installed, but not "on").

It will always have to be up to the users as to what is acceptable and what isn't. But, for those that hate to or don't know how to tweak the filters, the feature can prevent a lot of screwed up websites.

 

Yes, I think that you are right about Mozilla, but Firefox has improved hugely even with a touch of Chromification.

I don't think that Mr Palant has done anything too drastic to be honest. The idea is a sound one. I'm just not so sure it will have much of an impact. I'm going with Hungry Man's figures on the percentage of global Internet users who actually use an adblocker.

I dunno, The Who managed to settle their differences long enough to record some decent albums, even if they are old farts.

 

"Beauty is a war between God & the Devil & the battlefield is the heart of man"

~ Fyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov

 

Was it meritocracy? I cringe when I hear or read that word. If I tell you why, this post will probably be moderated!

 

Yup, it seems to be what we had centuries ago.

 

No, that was a plutocracy, or was it aristocracy? Oh hold on, plutocracy is what we have now LOL! There is a denotative use of the word 'meritocracy' ... then there are its modern ... erm ... connotations.

 

Didn't he actually categorize three different groups?
Those willing to accept all changes, those who offered constructive criticism and those who had nothing to offer but lamentations and, as already mentioned, pitchforks?