I admit it. I get the majority (dare I say all?) of my news from the blurbs that pop up on my computer screen. My home screen is msn.com and my email is yahoo. Two news sources from which to glean the top news stories of the day.
As you all know, my computer is a dinosaur. Yes. Money is tight right now for our family. But, I’m also cheap. Very cheap. With some things, anyway. And buying a new computer every….ok, this is embarrassing……every 10 years (I think the one I’m on right now is about 8 years old)….is ridiculous. They should make things that last, right?
Oh, I know my computer is still working but the programs are quickly becoming obsolete. And updating them is almost as expensive as buying a new computer…but I digress. But you’re used to that, right?
Focus, Jane. Focus.
So, I click on a news story that interests me and BAM. I’m locked onto a page, with a video loading. My dinosaur of a computer is trying its darndest to load that sucker before the next load of laundry needs to be shoved into the dryer. And I’m stuck. Watching that silly little twirling-arrow-counting-down thingy. For forever.
So, I get annoyed. And do one of two things.
1.) I walk away from the computer and straighten the playroom, get myself a beverage (sometimes I have time for a hot beverage) and unload and load the dishwasher.
OR
2.) I jam my finger onto the turn on/turn off button on the hard drive and wait for the computer to shut down manually. Then I re-boot the computer, realizing that I will now never know how to stay healthy while traveling or why Kim Kardashian’s marriage (fling?) really broke up.
Sometimes there is a warning. Sometimes I see a little tiny video camera icon that alerts me to the time sucking dangers ahead.
I love those times.
But online journalism has gotten sneaky over the years. Sometimes there isn’t a warning. Sometimes it’s a really clever headline teaser for a really juicy piece of news gossip and I get sucked right in.
I hate those times.
Give me text! For the love of God. Please. No more news videos. Let me scan the information at my leisure. Let me decide if the information is useful or entertaining. Do not, I repeat, do not make me sit through 3 minutes and 45 seconds with your goofy model wanna-be posing as a newscaster, complete with inane banter to tell me something I could have read in 27 seconds.
That’s 3 minutes and 18 seconds of my life wasted. That I will never get back. Not including the 2 minutes and 14 seconds to download the waste-of-time-news-story in the first place.
Don’t do that to me, please.
I beg of you.
And now, dear readers, back to your regularly scheduled blog cruising.
Theycallmejane's Blog 
Even with my computer that is a little newer than yours (no judgment from me here, Jane :)), I RARELY click on the videos. I’m just too impatient for that. I want to just skim quickly through the story and move on. I don’t have time for the 2 minutes of buildup that leads to the 27 second story. You are not alone. LOL
Not to mention that sometimes you have to sit through an ad before you actually get to see the video that the headline promised. Even with a newer computer (provided by my employer – I am too ch… frugal to purchase a new one myself), I sometimes have to sit through painful buffering as the video plays. I agree – just give me the text of the story!
It’s the ads before the video that drive me insane, by the time the actual feature appears I’ve lost interest and moved on to something much more worthwhile …. like what I can buy on Ebay.
LOL…I know *just* what you mean. My last computer (replaced earlier this year) was over 10 years old and filled to the gills with precious files and artsy programs that use up oodles of … RAM (???). As a consequence I’d got to the stage of walking away to do housework whilst it did its little bump and grind on loading stuff like videos! Multi-tasking you see! 🙂
It’s not the loading, it’s just the random noise coming from nowhere that gets me and videos as a whole. I prefer to read my news rather than watch it! 😉
Aggg, I have the same pet peeve! Just give me the text! I don’t want to watch the video! I’m glad someone else hates it just as much as I do…
I couldn’t agree more. Video should be something you ask for and allow on purpose. Not something they jam down your throat. It’s totally inconsiderate. How hard would it be for the makers of web browsers to provide a setting to allow a measure of control over this? “Require video/audio permission before playback?” Yes/No/Are You Nuts?
The future of technology is all about control, as is, the consumer’s lack thereof. They want to charge you for everything, like each listen of a song. They want to be controlling transmission. The free market will likely provide some pushback but I fear it will be too little.
As always, we’ll always have a “choice” – which really only means to stay out of the game altogether. For most of us, that isn’t much of a choice at all. I have to say this, though. When I see headlines that say things like, “Can the government track you through your cell phone?” I am very glad I do not own one! I can’t be tracked through something I don’t have.
It’s the ads that take forever to load up before the text of the story is loaded that irritate me. Life seems to be one big commercial anymore.
You can probably just press Ctrl+Alt+Delete to bring up your Task Manager and close the window. That way you can close the window and not have to restart your computer. I think there is also a way that you can block videos in your internet browser. You should Google it and see. I know if you are using Chrome or Firefox there are add-ons that can disable things, but if you are using Internet Explorer it’s much less customizable and may not have that option.
I am EXACTLY the same, and I have a brand new computer. Nothing irks me more than thinking I’ll be able to skim through an article only to have video launch. Bah….hate it.
Its definitely time for a Mac computer with a mac email address. Computer life will improve significantly.
Cheers.
Velva
I agree with Velva. Computer life did improve with a MAC. Then again, I had tripped over the coffee table, dropped my previous laptop, and the screen part became unhinged from the keyboard part. Waiting for a video to load was the least of my worries. I was having to hold the back on with my feet if I wanted to use both hands for typing. But yeah, there is the money hit…! (Speaking of which…I have noticed that things at the grocery store try to linger just below the $5 mark. HOLY CRAP! The only things that used to cost that much were meats and coffee!)
OK…first off…I totally agree. Automatic playing of videos is annoying. It reminds me of the mid 90’s when people thought that web sites with music were cool – which they were for the first 30 seconds of the first visit. Then you couldn’t turn the D&^% stuff off!
Second. You can pick up a new computer that will make your old one look like an etch-a-sketch for around $200. Use Open Office instead of MS products and you’re golden.
Third – if that doesn’t appeal – you should seriously consider ditching Windows and replacing it with Linux. It runs great on older computers and is FREE!
If you are interested in options 2 or three let me know – I’ll help you though it.
I hate those videos without warning too! I absorb information by reading, not watching. Sometimes I don’t have the speakers on or the volumn is WAY up (not my fault). Annoying.