Tell us what’s on your mind
Adverts do not keep the internet free
There are countless flaws in John Young’s argument that adverts keep the internet free (Letters, Issue 675). I’ll name a few. Netflix charges £4.99 a month for streaming with adverts (pictured), as does Disney+. ITVX has adverts, but to watch shows streamed live you need to pay for a TV licence. The same applies to Channels 4 and 5.
Amazon has provided the biggest dent in the argument by introducing adverts in Prime Video. Has it done this so it can offer Prime Video for free? Of course not. It’s part of an industry-wide move to create a two-tier internet. There’s first-class for those who can afford to remove adverts; and second-class for those who can’t.
I’m afraid to say that for those who hate adverts, worse is to come. This new business model creates an incentive for companies to keep increasing the adverts it shows. The more annoying and frequent they become, the more viewers will cough up for the more expensive packages to avoid them.
Les Mansfield
Death of passwords has been greatly exaggerated
I can understand why some readers are worried about the potential problems of passkeys, but I think that reports of the death of passwords have been greatly exaggerated (to paraphrase Mark Twain). Passkeys are a classic example of technology moving too fast for a sceptical public. This often happens when the enthusiasm of tech companies collides with the reality of users not being ready to ditch something they’re comfortable with.
Passkeys will only be a success if people start using them after being nudged to do so, or if tech companies force them to by axing passwords completely. The latter scenario seems unlikely to me, simply because it would leave millions of people unable to sign in. That’s not very inclusive from an industry that claims to prioritise inclusivity.
As we’ve seen with the digital phone U-turn (see Star Letter), public concern can prompt authorities to take action. I predict the same will happen with passkeys. When it seems obvious that many people – most of them vulnerable – will be left behind, companies will be put under enormous pressure to keep passwords as a safe and manageable option.
Arthur Kenyon
Store digitised media for generations to come
I read with interest the process of digitising audio cassettes in Issue 673 (page 35). I don’t think enough thought is given to how you need to store the resulting digitised media. I’m now in my 80s and can well remember all the
