Everything is advertising

The other day I posted:

In 1995:

“Every program attempts to expand until it can read mail. Those programs which cannot so expand are replaced by ones which can.” - Jamie Zawinski,

2023 Update:

“Every application will be updated to try to sell you something, even if that’s not its primary use.”

It’s a quip about how every application end up becoming adware for a reason or another, like there are ad blockers designed to sell ads. And the streaming services you pay end up doing the same, as 9To5Google is reporting that Amazon Prime Video will start showing ads unless you pay more:

Announced today by Amazon, Prime Video will start showing ads within its content starting in “early 2024.”

So the deal is pay $2.99 more (sell something) or get ads. Note that other have already started offering a lower priced tier with ads, but this is literally chaging the deal. And there are doubts cast over the current economic viability of video streaming.

I guess we should pray that the agreement shall not be altered any further. The Amazon Prime Video app will turn into an advertising app, and no longer just about shows you already watched, but other junk.

Update: As I write this, the movie we were watching on Amazon Prime Video decided to stall and then the app threw an error. Of course it didn’t retain the position so resuming involve swiping forward 10 seconds at a time until reaching 110 minutes mark. Amazon Prime Video is the second worst viewing experiences of the streaming services I use. Their product managers should be ashamed.