If advertisement hating comedian Bill Hicks was still alive (God bless his soul) he would be truly sickened by this piece of 'news.' Apple have just released an app which does nothing but show a reel of advertisements. Now, I'm not as a hardcore as Bill (who thinks that all those linked with the advertisement industry should go to Hell and do unpleasant thinks with Satan.) But it's clear that this app is a step too far. In fact if I had read this two days ago (April 1st) I wouldn't give it a second thought. It's that unbelievable.
Advertisement is a huge section of commerce and it's exciting too. Coca Cola trying to buy your soul between TV shows is one thing. But think of online publishers who write blogs like us here at Gaj-it, or even creative writers and up and coming journalists and artists. All these people manage to fund their passion and if they're very lucky make a living out of it with the help of services like Adsense.
And consumers too can thank advertising for funding the lite/free versions of their favourite games and apps. Advertisement is at the heart of the internet and there's no getting rid of it. We can all learn to live with it because sandwiched between it is the rich content we are looking for.
But to think that Apple think that there are people who don't want the filling. Just the bread. That there are people who are so shallow they would happily scroll through advert after advert until they find something they don't really need to fill the hole in their lives.
Wow. Most depressing app ever?
Probably. So here's some funny reviews left by users to keep you happy. =]
"Pretty nice app, but it would be even better if you could use in app purchase to remove the ads."
"Tired of apps getting in the way of your adds? There's an app for that!"
So what do you think?