What is it with some of these sites? When yours truly wants to read an on-line story covering a certain sports event, he clicks on it. Sounds simple enough.
But no, you can't just read the story, at least for a while. One has to wait until all the pix and typically a video download. Hey, I couldn't care less about isolated snapshots of any given play, and if I wanted to see videos, I'd tune into the 4-letter network's various channels in high def. I just want to read the story, dammit.
Adding insult to injury, one can't even cue up the videos right away. Oh no, one must first tap, tap, tap their fingers in frustration while being force-fed an advertisement. Typically, there's a timer counting down to remind you that the original video you weren't interested in in the first place will be available in 20, 15, 10, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 seconds. They lie. A thousand one, a thousand five, a thousand ten, and the ad is still going. Grrr.
After one finally waits through all that, while beating down the pop-up ads like a game of Whack-A-Mole all along, one can finally read the story -- right? Sort of. One starts reading, scrolls down a bit to continue, and then wham, the site zooms back up to the top again. Start over. How hard is it supposed to be to just read a story? Know what's even worse?
Trying to comment on any particular story, sports-related or otherwise. Very few sites allow anonymous comments anymore. And even those that do require one to type in a visual "code" to prove one is not a "robot". Right. Like some evil droid is going to fire off a bazillion messages regarding Ndamukong Suh's contract status. Please. It's insulting.
Still others require one to "register", or basically sign up for their fan club before they will allow a comment to be posted by an interested reader that has finally overcome the above-mentioned obstacles and read the story. Hey, just because I picked up and briefly scanned a magazine at a kiosk doesn't mean I want to subscribe to it -- much less give them my personal information.
They want one to type in their email address. That way, they can send YOU a bazillion ads and further come-ons in the future. And who's kidding who? If you send an on-line message, chances are your email address is revealed to the receiver of such a comment anyway. Which brings me to the world of the absurd.
Accepting there is no such such thing as remaining truly "anonymous" anymore is one thing. But other sites go even further. They want to know your password. What manner of FOOL would voluntarily type in the password to their account and sent it off into cyberspace? By doing so one has just potentially granted total access to their PC or Mac. And who knows how that information might be used or abused? The very bad possibilities are endless. Someone thousands of miles away could not only erase your files, but plant viruses, access kiddie-porn, or even send terrorist threats via your computer, and you'd never know it until the authorities showed up and hauled you off in irons. That's not even to mention identity theft, which is quite prevalent these days.
The ultimate irony and/or hypocrisy? Some servers, including my own, have long since guaranteed they would never, repeat NEVER ask for your password under any circumstances. Beware of those who do, they say. Good advice.
So then what gives when an on-line story from my very own server requires me to give them my password before a comment is allowed? They already HAVE it. I had to provide them one to create an account in the first place and continue logging on ever since. Hello?
And this is what printed newspapers are gradually being phased out in favor of?
God help us, wait for your droid number to be assigned, and good luck doing the crossword puzzle.
No comments:
Post a Comment