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This post is not meant as a challenge to the leadership, nor is it a criticism of how it is currently set up. It is intended to open a discussion, one I hope will be useful, about the funding for the operation of the board.
A few (now getting close to many) years ago the board had a subscription basis, wherein one could visit as a guest and use the board, but there was a voluntary subscription that, as I recall, gave access to some additional forums, particularly the one with buy/sell and special deals. I could be mis-remembering it, but I do recall paying an annual fee and setting it up to be automatically renewed each year. In the transition of owners and eventually the threatened shutdown and rescue, that subscription process was abandoned. Now the board seems to be supported by advertising. I don't know that for sure, but the number of ads has certainly increased over time, so my presumption is that the advertising defrays at least some of the expenses of operating the forum. Recently the advertising is increasingly less Apple-related. Right now my top bar has medicare plans, weight loss, auto insurance, antivirus ads. The sidebar has stock plans, cleanup apps, and the best vpn providers, plus some loosely related items like printers, free apps, refurbished Macs, and one for Apple Mac OS X that leads to a very strange page in Korean that I cannot read and two other websites.
So, what I am asking is; how many of us would be willing to pay an annual subscription fee to eliminate the advertising? Maybe have a free version with advertising and a subscription version with no ads?
I'm just opening this thread for the discussion, as I said. If there is sufficient support for a subscription, ad-free board or version of the board, maybe the leadership will consider it and maybe not. It's up to them, no matter what support there may be for this idea, but I thought it would be useful for them to at least see if there is any support in this area.
What do you think, guys? I know I'd pay for an ad-free version if the price was reasonable. I already do that with a couple of other sites. Would you?
A few (now getting close to many) years ago the board had a subscription basis, wherein one could visit as a guest and use the board, but there was a voluntary subscription that, as I recall, gave access to some additional forums, particularly the one with buy/sell and special deals. I could be mis-remembering it, but I do recall paying an annual fee and setting it up to be automatically renewed each year. In the transition of owners and eventually the threatened shutdown and rescue, that subscription process was abandoned. Now the board seems to be supported by advertising. I don't know that for sure, but the number of ads has certainly increased over time, so my presumption is that the advertising defrays at least some of the expenses of operating the forum. Recently the advertising is increasingly less Apple-related. Right now my top bar has medicare plans, weight loss, auto insurance, antivirus ads. The sidebar has stock plans, cleanup apps, and the best vpn providers, plus some loosely related items like printers, free apps, refurbished Macs, and one for Apple Mac OS X that leads to a very strange page in Korean that I cannot read and two other websites.
So, what I am asking is; how many of us would be willing to pay an annual subscription fee to eliminate the advertising? Maybe have a free version with advertising and a subscription version with no ads?
I'm just opening this thread for the discussion, as I said. If there is sufficient support for a subscription, ad-free board or version of the board, maybe the leadership will consider it and maybe not. It's up to them, no matter what support there may be for this idea, but I thought it would be useful for them to at least see if there is any support in this area.
What do you think, guys? I know I'd pay for an ad-free version if the price was reasonable. I already do that with a couple of other sites. Would you?