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Comment by zepolen | Hacker News Reader

Suggesting a workaround is not addressing the root cause. Please don't.

Would you also advise against installing ad blockers?

Personally, I use an ad blocker - because I'm worried about the security of third-party code running on my machine. But I'm also moving towards the OP's idea... I stop reading articles/content that require a technical workaround to a political/philosophical problem. Any workaround strengthens the core problem.

Medium doesn't mind if you use a workaround - as long as you are using it. The business model is validated and metrics show that users are happy with it. The only way to change their mind is to stop using it entirely.

Ads are a universal problem. Starting an post on HN saying “hey let’s not use internet to advertise” will have zero impact. You have to take into your own hands and block.

A thread about changing how programmers distribute written content in the context of HN could actually have an impact.

That's like not plugging a leak in the International Space Station with multiple layers of duct tape because it is a work around, while waiting for a proper replacement panel that will arrive in 3 months...

That analogy is a little flawed. More like there is something in the ISS that is causing leaks and the solution is to duct tape them.

Of course it's a workaround and it would be better if the content would be freely available. I don't know the business model of Medium, don't know if contributors are getting paid, but I only suggested a way to read the articles without having to pay, before the issue gets resolved.

I use medium, as a freelancer, the extra little boost in cash helps during dry spells.

I mean, if people can't afford the $5 per month that it costs to read all medium posts, they really shouldn't waste the time complaining.

I have a blog on medium as well, I just haven't been motivated to contribute to it for a while. It may be my "reach" as others have stated. I like pushing out the small tutorials that I write, but I just can't justify 3 hours (ish) of work for < $1.50/mo

I also don't want to have to buy a domain and have a hosting service to push my own site having to load it up with ads or other nonsense just to make a side hustle possible. So I stick with Medium.

Took a quick look. If you want my take, your basic tutorials are, well... too basic. They describe fundamental language principles in a well-established programming language for which there's already a wealth of material available. Frankly, there's already a million articles and books that cover that.

IMHO, you need to write about some cool hot or esoteric feature that solves a specific problem in a new way. Or about how a particular crash bug ended being based on something that everyone else thinks works one way when in fact it works the other way.

Do a search on a topic. Are there already thousands of pages that cover the same thing? If so, write on something else.

Trust me. It's possible to do a lot better than $1.50 an article.

I really appreciate that feedback, thanks! The hardest part about picking a topic that you're interested in and writing, is finding people to give you the honest feedback about what you're produced. Now I have a starting point to improve :)

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