Hmm. Is there any part of a Model T that is not in the public domain? I wonder if a company could sell new Model Ts. Wouldn’t be street-legal, of course.
Huh. Now I’m looking around and I’ll see nothing be classic car adds on my browser. That’s ok.
New Model T Fords are being sold so cheap they are giving them away, in [your area]
I once got ads like “Shop for Boeing 707s on eBay” after searching for information about the airliner.
Out of curiosity I clicked on one of the ads. I got listings for model airplanes and that sort of thing.
Yeah, back when I was (vainly) trying to solve a mystery from my childhood (this one), the ‘sponsored’ results in Google were suggesting I could get the cheapest Roxell Roxell Bowshot on Amazon, and that I could find Roxell Roxell Bowshot bargains on eBay.
Yer flyin too close to the Sun, son.
Much like the last time I saw a thread like this, I’m now going to briefly note ads that are, literally right now, being showcased at me:
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There’s an ad for a Single-Serve K-Cup Coffee Maker, which I’m disregarding because I don’t drink coffee.
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There’s an ad for apartments for rent in Philadelphia, which I’m disregarding because I score a zero out of two.
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There’s an ad from Minority Farmer Compensation, for “Black and Hispanic Farmers”, which I’m disregarding because I score a zero out of three.
And so on. Am I alone in this, or do other people hereabouts have the significantly similar experience of getting ‘incessant’ attention from advertisers who honestly seem not to know what’s going on when it comes to putting something in front of you? Like, you’re receptively sitting there, perfectly ready for them to pitch you on interesting stuff; and then, to all appearances, they get you wrong and fail to get the sale not because you’re especially savvy or whatever, but by default?
Yep, I get that a lot.
That is certainly a curious experience. On the one hand were told that AI and Big Data are tirelessly working their magic to give us targeted ads. And we have all experienced that uncanny scenario where our mom randomly thinks about toasters while she’s taking her morning shower and than everyone in the family suddenly gets bombarded with ads for toasters. But then, on the other hand the ads one gets are just out of left field (yes, I know by typing this post I will now get ads for showers, toasters, and baseball).
I believe you are rather going to see a lot of ads for showels, roasters and the definitive basejump experience. Don’t forget to fill in your personal promotion code (see box below)* when subscribing!
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I don’t really care about ads and commercials. I know what they are and what they are for and mostly ignore them.
What bugs me is the constant barrage on social media of people espousing their stupid, often self serving and idiotic advice or personal pseudoscientific philosophical bullshit. And it’s everywhere.
Like one of the things I hate about looking for a job is having to visit LinkedIn. It used to be sort of a virtual Rolodex for keeping track of your professional contacts. Now it’s just a big database for sales reps mining for leads and people generating bullshit content.
For Facebook, which I left years ago, I really didn’t perceive the ads and propaganda until after I left. I returned briefly earlier this year as a therapy homework assignment and made it less than 24 hours before I deleted my account. Once you see it, you can’t unsee it, and it made my skin crawl. There are a couple people I miss on there but what I really learned is that a lot of the people I thought it necessary to connect with weren’t really that necessary. I still text people, without the bother of ads and sanctimonious Facebook posts.
I only use self-checkout if I only have a few items and the human checkout lines are long. Because this is what always happens:
Electronic voice:
“Put the item in the bagging area.”
“Put the item in the bagging area.”
“Put the item in the bagging area.”
Me:
“#$%@#$$%% I DID put the damn item in the bagging area!!!”
Electronic voice:
“Please wait for assistance.”
Me:
(Looks around; the human in charge of overseeing 6 self-checkout stations is busy helping others with similar problems and looks like they’ll be awhile)
I been trying to stay off the self-checkout thing because it lights my fuse worse than the badgering snake oil ads. I’ve done a pretty good job avoiding them because they simultaneously invite you to take away someone else’s job, and accuse you of being the rottenest thief ever to venture into the store. Goes hand in hand with the nanny cams that look over the shaving stuff and cold medicines. I don’t care if someone wants to put a surveillance cam on their business premises, but that little “ding dong” saying, “Watching you!” is fucking insulting. If I want someone to try and shame and threaten me into not being a total piece of human trash, I’ll go to church.
Now that is a beautiful turn of phrase. Thank you!
Was gonna say… between commercial and political advertising, school, and organized religion, I’ve been surrounded by efforts to bend my will all my life. Of course not being quite as badly invasive 24/7 for the first half thereof, I had more time to develop the ability to let much of it fade into background white noise.
My experience exactly. These things are designed by idiots, I think.
Same. And it’s 1000 times worse when you have a bunch of produce and you want to use reusable bags.
I have never had that problem with the self-checkouts at Target. The ones at Wal-Mart, on the other hand, do seem overly sensitive. I suspect Target actually trusts their customers to not steal anything, whereas Wal-Mart assumes everyone is a potential shoplifter.
I’ve told this story before, but back around the year 2005 my then-local grocery store put in their first self-scanning checkouts. This was not exactly bleeding edge tech at the time, but damn near no other retailers of any kind had them. They were definitely the first self-service checkout devices I ever used. And damned near the last, at least for many years.
This was in an expensive area of McMansions & Lexuses & kids playing Lacrosse. Not that fatcats won’t shoplift, but not to the same store-destroying volume as the more desperate might.
Anyhow …
Even the checkers who worked there scanning other people’s groceries all day could not self-scan their own purchases and get them into the bag faster than the machine scornfully shouted “Put the item in the BAG!!!” The tone of vice was meant to make everybody within earshot stop and stare at the hateful criminal.
After their first failed and embarrassing try, damn near nobody used the damned machines. For just that reason. I sure didn’t.
Over the next 6-ish months the software got replaced 2 or 4 times. Finally not only a professional checker, but also an ordinary able-bodied customer could get their items in the bag fast enough to not trigger the machine’s warning. Which had also been toned down in both volume and voice.
I still avoided using them out of principal until we moved away maybe 10 years later.
The places I frequent now with them where I’ll actually use them: Home Depot, Publix, and CVS, seem to have a decent compromise between patience and accusation. I rarely get fussed at by the damn thing and I sure don’t care.