Basic Instructions by Scott Meyer for May 13, 2024

Now I know why I like BI so much. I’m leaning towards Brute Force.

Every week, this strip just builds and builds, like any great stand up comic’s show. So glad it’s not a tiny one-joke, 3-panel. Maybe there’s a BI about that format?

It’s about time they noticed web ads don’t work. Will something else replace them or will the internet actually begin to shrink?

Battlestar Galactica? It sounds a lot like Tom Conway’s narration at the beginning of Disney’s 1953 animated Peter Pan.

The problem also lies in the fact that too many “products” rely on advertising for revenue instead of selling it.

Web ads don’t work because they never try to sell me anything I actually want or need. When I want or need something, I google information about it, then I go and buy it. After I buy it, web ads then try to sell me the thing I’ve just bought, which I don’t need anymore because I already have it.

I remember the olden days of the internets — when there was a specific service that would offer to sell you “new and used” whatever you had just searched for. One time it advertised “new and used chocolate” because I had searched for a cake recipe. I copy/pasted that image and used it as an avatar on some old forums somewhere. That must’ve been 20 years ago now. It’s odd, but that’s the only web ad I’ve ever found useful.

Ah, the good ol’ days.

The web ads have been taken over by enough imposters and crooks that I don’t trust anything I see anymore, even if it’s from a trusted company. And here on GoC, I’ve received full-screen, can’t-close “ads” for “your computer is infected! Call this number”. Why should I click an ad?

Maybe YouTube should try running ads that aren’t 60-90 seconds long (with the option to skip) for a video that might only be 2mins long.

Meanwhile a brand new comic is on the Basic Instruction Web page…

Speaking of cycles repeating…