"No one wants to read your shit".
Let's check that: I came to Hacker News to read. I saw the post and read it. I read the Hacker News comments.
Today before Hacker News I read CNet. Later I will read Google News and a few more.
I may stop at TED to see if they have some new content.
For the Romney-Paul speeches in Virginia yesterday, I worked to find, download, save, and index copies, and I read the copies.
So, net, I very much do want to "read". I work hard to find things I want to read.
The flat claim that I don't want to read is just nonsense.
But the statement was about advertising. Okay. Do I ever want to read ads? Actually, yes, very much yes.
When I buy products, I very much want to read about the products. E.g., a friend urged me to buy the book 'The Amateur', so this morning I went to Amazon and read a few dozen of the highest ranked comments about that book. I very much wanted to read.
Two weeks ago the power supply on my main desktop computer started making noise each morning when I turned the computer on. So I spent about a full day reading about power supplies and, maybe, how to replace the fans in the power supply I have. Finally I ordered a spare power supply in case I need it.
I did read. I read a lot of 'ad' content. I read about everything I could find relevant to my power supply issue. And I regarded what I read as important enough to keep copies of most of it.
So, yes, I do want to read ad copy also.
But, right: The usual ads I don't want to read. Why? Well, with some irony, the author did say a little about why -- the ads are "shit".
Okay, let's take such an ad, say, for a new car. I've seen and read hours beyond belief of ads for new cars, am really eager to learn about new cars, but to me nearly every ad I've read about new cars is just the author's "shit". That is, the ad writers, apparently following what the author said, just will not, Not, NOT tell me what I want to know about the new cars. They just have their feet locked solidly in concrete, will NOT tell me, and, thus, will write "shit" that, yes, I don't want to read.
So, why the "shit"? Apparently because the ad writers, and the author, just do NOT understand what a customer might want to know.
What do I want to know?
"All new"? That's nearly always a lie. Good. No way would I buy a car that really was "all new". Instead, I want every essential mechanical part and every important system to have been on the road in hundreds of thousands of instances for at least five years. So, say "all new" and right away I hope and believe that you are lying. So, now that I know you are lying or are being a fool, I am reluctant to take any of the rest seriously.
Headlights: The cars have headlights apparently from 'designers' to yield an emotional experience of 'flowing' into the sheet metal. BS. I deeply, profoundly, bitterly hate and despise all such constructions and intentions. Why? Because such headlights have some "shit" engineering issues. E.g., it's not clear how to aim them. E.g., there is a plastic cover the is easily scratched and starts to go yellow or gray or whatever due to UV or whatever.
What I want in headlights are traditional, old, very reliable, very functional, industry standard, widely available, competitively priced, very well engineered and tested sealed beam units enclosed in glass. NO PLASTIC. Period.
Next, here's what I really do care about in cars: Utility, functionality, performance, reliability, ruggedness, and ease of maintenance.
E.g., for ruggedness, I want traditional heavy steel bumpers that protrude several inches from the rest of the car. I want no glass or plastic near the bumpers. The bumpers need to be able to take heavy bumps without damage. And I should be able easily to unbolt a bumper and replace it.
So in an ad, I'd want to know how rugged, strong, durable, and easily replaceable the bumpers were. I've yet to see an ad that gives any information at all on bumpers. Bummer.
For the dashboard, I want to know how to remove it, repair or replace various components, e.g., bulbs, the speedometer, the tachometer, the connection from the radio to the antenna, all EASILY. Ads don't provide me with any such information. Bummer. This matter of the dashboard is just a routine part of ease of maintenance.
Far and away my greatest concern about the car is corrosion -- e.g., around the front and rear windows, the body panels, from condensation inside the car, of the exhaust and the radiator, of the brake parts, of the fuel lines and brake lines, of the gas tank, of the floor of the trunk, of the wheel rims where the tire bead joins and needs to make an air tight seal, etc. I want to know what has been done about corrosion.
Okay, let's set cars aside and consider, say, desktop computers. I need to build another one. So, I want details on the motherboard, power supply, processor, processor fan, case, case fans, how hard disks are mounted in the case, hard disks, DVD, etc.
But, of course, the ad copy for these products is from feet locked in concrete writing me "shit" and just refusing to give me the information I need. E.g., it's standard now to paint the case all black; this is some Darth Vader thing? With a black case the photographs become just big, black blobs with no visible detail. With such a case, I will always need strong lights just to see what is inside the case. I deeply, profoundly, bitterly hate and despise all the dysfunctional, destructive 'stylistic' nonsense that has given us black cases. Upchuck.
Here's the fundamental problem with ad writers: They are convinced, down to the center of the cells at the center of their bone marrow, that all there is in life, writing, ad copy, and cognition is some humanities zenith of vicarious, escapist, fantasy, emotional experience entertainment. 100% emotion 100% of the time. Solid, rational, meaningful, useful information never. And that's why it's "shit" and why I don't want to read it.