Technology

Using the more-than-zero-click internet of today is like sticking your dick into the mysterious mush at the bottom of a dumpster; maybe it'll feel good, but it will also certainly feel absolutely disgusting no matter what.

This is unironically how half of the planet uses the internet. Do you notice anything that might turn them off from clicking on another 5 links to find an answer to their question? Just one reason for them to all flock to ChatGPT for all of their browsing needs? I don't, because I'm part of the other half that uses an adblocker, that has an objectively better experience of the internet. But now that Google is turning the screws on the browser extensions, that half might also stop clicking altogether.

Then there are the cookie banners, the email-begging popups, the login walls, the top 3 or 5 or more search results being barely-relevant sponsored garbage, the dark patterns and so on and so forth. It just becomes too much to bear. Maybe not everyone is equipped with the understanding of the existence of enshittification, but everyone sure is sick and tired of it.

And finally, there's the dreaded paywall:

Everyone complains day and night about people not fact-checking information across multiple sources, but how on earth are we expected to do that with every single story when all of the journalism websites want you to whip out your credit card (they don't even take my bank's payment processor) to sign up for yet another subscription that STILL HAS ADS. Of course I'm going straight to the Wayback Machine (which is under attack from hackers and lawsuits) or paywall removers (which seem to work less and less). However, once again, most people don't bypass them or don't know how to, so they either pay up or or try to find another way.

Today, our way of life requires us to ask countless questions which we simply don't know the answers to. The fastest way to find them is through websites via search engines, but since shareholders value growth over profit, they all must be chock full of the aforementioned crap and bloat. The zero-click internet offers all of the benefits without any of the drawbacks. The nonzero-click internet simply doesn't compete in time or convenience, even if it does in accuracy. If they want to have their users back, they'll need to make their services not painful to use.