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Comment by npunt | Hacker News Reader

I love the tech but these things are going to be obnoxious as hell. I hope it supercharges the movement to ban advertisements from public places, which has already been done successfully in Sao Paulo and several other major cities [1]. The 99% Invisible episode on it is worth a listen [2].

[1]: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/aug/11/can-cities-ki...

[2]: https://99percentinvisible.org/article/clean-city-law-secret...

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Many years ago São Paulo heavily regulated outdoor ads [1]. It was a huge leap in quality of life for the citizens - the removal of all that visual noise and the sudden reappearance of the underlying architecture unveiled a beauty most inhabitants didn't remember existed.

It got to the point that, when I visited New York, I got angry at the full-on sensorial assault. My mood was always nasty there.

If this is done responsibly, and used to extend architecture in ways it wouldn't be feasible before, I don't have many reasons to be concerned. OTOH, in places where visual pollution is unregulated, oh boy, it'll be bad.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cidade_Limpa

>when I visited New York, I got angry at the full-on sensorial assault. My mood was always nasty there.

No, that is just the New York state of mind.

Yes, and the advertising everywhere is one reason for that

I can really understand that.

Probably, but we'll probably get used to it just like graphics on windows or displays behind windows / store front displays. Sci-fi and cyberpunk visualisations have already prepared us.

First class - no ads. Second class, cheaper & ads. If it goes this way its actually great in 1 aspect - you can't escape the simple fact that ads are a garbage, and high quality of... life or your time is without them.

Seems obvious but I've met many who dont see it as sort of brain cancer and consider them harmless.

My last visit to NYC there was a pronounced uptick in wall sized LED screens being used for everything from art pieces (at the new Laguardia) to info screens to just shops with massive screens in their storefront in lieu of showing physical goods.

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