Do you use the default Mail client on your PC, the one that comes with Windows 10, to read your email? How would you feel if Microsoft decided to throw in a few ads right at the top of your inbox?
These aren't rhetorical questions — as Windows news site Aggiornamenti Lumia noticed today, Microsoft is already testing that exact idea in a number of countries around the world. According to Microsoft's FAQ, what we're seeing is a pilot program, an experiment, a test that'll theoretically help the company decide if it should actually roll out the feature for real.
Update, 11:52 AM PT: Microsoft comms head Frank Shaw tells us the company has decided to turn these ads off. He also says the experiment was never intended to be tested broadly, which doesn't quite jibe with the existence of a FAQ about a pilot program taking place in several countries around the world, but either way the ads should be gone.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Arik on Saturday November 17 2018, @04:07PM (4 children)
And that's how big the problem is. Your 'popular, mainsteam' activity is simply doing it wrong.
Watch videos with video player. The right tool for the right job.
The other issue you raise has to do with drivers. The perversity of hardware manufacturers refusing to support their hardware is matched (nay exceeded!) by that of the 'consumers' who have consistently just shrugged and spread their cheeks wider each time they are asked to pay more and receive less.
You can watch videos day and night on linux without any unexpected heating issues if you use a decent video player, and a video card that's properly supported. Unfortunately that means relatively low resolution, of course.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 17 2018, @06:24PM (3 children)
The arrogance of this statement is staggering and the prime reason Linux will never succeed in mainstream. "You're doing it wrong" just lol...
People watch videos mostly on websites, this isn't 1995 any more.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Saturday November 17 2018, @09:46PM (1 child)
Actually, most people seem to use apps, thanks to mobile devices [ooyala.com]
Which means they may, by accident, be using the nost appropriate method.
On a laptop or PC, people use whatever is "easiest", which will probably mena a browser. Doesn't mae someone arrogant for pointing out that they may be getting lower quality video and audio as a result, and chewing up resources as well.
Car analogy: in many juristictions, it is a legal requirement to use indicators, and it makes driving easier and safer (unless you live somewhere where people deliberately prevent lane changes, but even then, it is still better to use indicators). Just because many people refuse to use them, doesn't make it *right*.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 17 2018, @11:14PM
Apps use the browser components to play video on both iOS and Android. So yeah, most people are in fact using browsers without even realizing it.
(Score: 2) by Arik on Sunday November 18 2018, @01:43AM
""You're doing it wrong" just lol..."
Spoken like someone that takes pride in doing everything wrong, then gets angry at other people when it doesn't work out like you want.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?