This is like that quote for "How could X have won the election? I don't know anybody who voted for him."

If you learn one thing from me, learn that male twenty-something techies are not the golden normative standard for all forms of behavior. Some people actually do like ads, a lot. (Even twenty-something techies love some ads. I watch more Old Spice commercials than I watch actual TV!) Most people just don't care enough one way or the other to change the channel.

I encourage everyone to see how real people actually use these devices which we're trying to convince real people to use.

My parents are 80 years old. That includes my mother, who is not male (or else I was lied to about EVERYTHING!) They are not techies by a very long shot.

I installed Adblock for them on Firefox and Chrome.

Sometimes they use IE by accident; inevitably they complain to me that the blocking of ads is broken or inconsistent because they just saw ads all over the place.

You're right to say that I'm basing my observation on people I know, but you're wrong to assume they're all male, young and tech-oriented, or that I lend them my own preferences.

For example, I'm not on Facebook and will hopefully never be (if that's possible, which is not certain); but everyone I know is on Facebook and they even kind of like it.

But the opposite is true for ads.

It would be interesting to look at statistics for Adblock. I really don't see why it should be a "male" thing...?

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Edit: I'm actually a little more annoyed by your answer than I should, because it tries to make me look stupid, without actually saying "I think you're stupid". I was raised by Jesuits and know one when I see one.

There are hundreds of situations where you don't personally know people who are of one opinion, but where you're aware they exist because they make themselves heard. I don't think I've ever met a vegetarian but I'm very much aware of their existence.

But ads? Who ever speaks publicly in favor of ads (who isn't, like yourself, an advertiser)???

Have you ever had the after-the-Superbowl conversation? Or, take a look at the Youtube stats / comments / etc for e.g. Real Men of Genius or Old Spice Guy or Angry Birds or whatever. Or, watch HN when a new Google Doodle comes out. Or, talk to people who read trade press. Or, talk to people who read fashion magazines or bridal magazines or other things where every page is paid for. Or Steve Jobs keynotes. Or...

People love to buy things and they love to be sold things, at least some of the time.

I'm not American and don't live in America, so no, I've never watched the Superbowl or talked about it, or its ads, afterwards. Over here when there are very popular sporting events (the World cup every four years, or maybe tennis every year) people talk about what happened during the game, not about the ads.

But fashion magazines, yes, point taken. But as you say, there's nothing but ads in them; people buy them just for that. Ads are not interfering with other content in fashion magazines.

Anyway -- in my experience, once people know about AdBlock they can't do without it. Therefore I'm wondering what's going to happen when everyone knows about it (which will happen eventually).

What you're saying is that many people actually like ads; you may very well be right.

I don't have adblock installed, because I want things that I spend time reading online to make some money, and because I've learned about a number of great services when I've taken the time to look at the banner ads on technical sites.

I've been working in IT for over 15 years, with hundreds of highly proficient people. I've met one person who runs AdBlock.

Or do (most) people actually like ads?

I saw a statistically significant survey a couple of days ago that said ~25% of people "liked" or "liked a lot" ads on mobile devices. Over 40% were undecided, and ~15% "neither liked or disliked" mobile ads. only ~20% "disliked" or "disliked a lot" mobile ads.

The effectiveness was another thing altogether - interestingly, they didn't seem to be any less effective for people who disliked ads.

Well, if people who dislike ads install AdBlock, ads are very ineffective for them, but stats don't tell that because impressions are not even counted...

I find the ratio that only one person in "hundreds of highly proficient people" installs an ad blocker hard to believe, though.

No, this was a survey - they went and actually talked to the people. Even some people who said they disliked ads said they had bought things after being exposed to them via an ad (and the proportion of people who bought was roughly the same for those who liked and those who disliked ads)

I find the ratio that only one person in "hundreds of highly proficient people" installs an ad blocker hard to believe, though.

shrug. Do you read Reddit by any chance? I've noticed that there seems to be a high correlation of AdBlock users and Reddit readers (and believe it or not, most people - even highly technical people - don't read Reddit).

If the price is too high, I can find an alternative, walk away, or negotiate, but I don't have the right to not pay the asking price for a product or service and still get the benefits.

I dont like ads, I just dont dislike them enough to care, if they bother me that much I dont use the website.