I agree with John MacArthur about print advertisements compared to online advertising. I find that print ads are available, clearly presented, and visible. The action of the intended point is controlled in the image-a still photo-and after you browse it you simply turn the page and move on. Online ads are not as simple. The movement, the attention grab factor, the continuous play-either in replay or new varying catagories-makes for an un-appealing situation (for me). As for moving on to other sites, it is nearly impossible! There are pop-ups before the website appears, pop-ups after the site appears, sometime 3-4 moving ‘commercials’ at once. Not even TV can do that! I relate more to print ads because I can control the medium, print, more. That way, if the marketing has its effect on me, I will remember it more. The rate at which online advertising flows does not allow for much more than a moment of memory impact (for me) before-purposely yet aimlessly-rehashing the same trend with the next product. It makes for a distracting time online.
I like the idea of free content, within reason. I find that the internet allows an ability to find the necessary content you are searching for in a short time frame with less hassle and multiple resources available simultaneously. I also respect the copyright privilege that some publishers and authors seek. If I were the author producing works for sale, I would be angered by the availability of my work online without permission. However, I should not have to pay for everything that I search online. If each time someone researched a topic for a course paper (college/highschool/?junior high) they had to pay a fee for the service, there would be a lot less use of online services.
Finally, I agree that writing is work. Writing is hard work. Not manual labor hard, nor giving birth labor hard, but mentally hard. For instance, with four papers to write this past week-including three for this CIS course, there was not much time to study for a finance test immediately after today’s class. This is not a adequate reason (excuse) to upload the material on a website and use a paywall as access for each ‘hit’ on the site. On the other hand, if you are talented, creative, and produce important or marketable information, you are within your rights to charge whatever price you want. I won’t be buying.