Upon hearing that Apple just unveiled the new iPhone 4, I took to the internet to find out more. Half a dozen internet videos later, and I’m more focused on the amount of ads I had to sit through than the iPhone’s new sleak design. Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t the internet supposed to streamline information gathering? Aren’t we designing systems for faster uploading, downloading and streaming?
One of the greatest advantages to the World Wide Web is that we can now access information instantaneously. The word instanteous typically means “without waiting.” I’d like to meet the advertiser who thinks that modern advertising is best served through a 15 or 30 second commercial shown before a video. They tell you that “your video will begin shortly” and then proceed to force feed you a product that many times has little or nothing to do with what you are watching in the first place. It is exactly like watching the spinning hourglass. You click on a link and then wait for the page or video to load while they give you a spinning hourglass as if it is there to soothe your impatience. Now, you get a countdown as their short commercial precedes the video.
If we are striving for speed and efficiency in our ability to gather information, shouldn’t be trying to defeat the spinning hourglass, not replace it with uninvited advertising fodder?
