Hacker News Reader

Comment by ativzzz | Hacker News Reader

I sat in a ride a few weeks ago with a monitor in front of me hanging on the backseat, that I had no way to turn off, playing ads the whole time.

I guess this is ride sharing's path to being profitable, more intrusive advertising. Or pay a premium to get an ad-free ride.

If this is the future of ride sharing, looks like owning a car isn't going out of style anytime soon.

I don't like this, but it seems being advertised to at every possible moment is the price we pay for our societies' current modern development

View on HN

> being advertised to at every possible moment is the price we pay for our societies' current modern development

It's the opposite - advertising is a parasitic phenomenon, leeching talent and resources that could otherwise be spent more productively, and what we get in return is an information environment skewed to make us spend money, and a landscape marred by this visual cancer.

But ads are in no way a fact of life we have to get used to - they can be defeated, or at least kept at bay. Some cities have banned them: http://www.worldwatch.org/node/5338

Ads considered harmful.

I'm giving that driver 1 star every time, until my rides are ad free or I can't take any more rides.

Not surprising, this already exists in cabs and Uber's whole plan is "like cabs but worse for the drivers".

Did you give 5 stars for the ride?

> I had no way to turn off, playing ads the whole time

Carry a paper napkin or restickable mouse pad with you

Or tell the driver that if he doesn't turn off the screen, you're not taking the ride. And follow through.

I'm not totally sure how the rating system works but I think that behavior could get you locked out pretty quickly? I would think giving a low rating for the ride is still effective and doesn't jeopardize your ability to still use the service.

You could also just ask the driver to turn the screen off without threatening to cancel the trip as a first step.

With Lyft and Uber, maybe. Since I already don't use Uber and will no longer use Lyft, I am personally only concerned about the impact with real taxi services and didn't consider ride-sharing in my response. That was an oversight.

But, with real taxis anyway, this is what I will do.

> You could also just ask the driver to turn the screen off without threatening to cancel the trip as a first step.

Yes, that is the actual approach I'd take. It's always nice to start as nonconfrontational as possible. But since I won't be taking the ride if the screen is on, the entire exchange has to be complete before the ride actually starts.

I smell a business idea: properly sized covers for these monitors

Reply on news.ycombinator.com