Everybody talks about the ‘mobile experience’. Well, for me, the mobile experience sucks.
I am bombarded with ads (my trigger) on every app. I hate ads. I avoid them at all costs. I haven’t paid for television for over 20 years now, and I can tell you that ads are the thing I do not miss. When we’d go out to a movie, I would stay out in the lobby until the ads were finished so I could come in for the trailers. I studiously avoid billboard or bus advertising. It just drives me crazy.
I used to be able to avoid ads in Instagram by spending a day or so just reporting every single ad that came through my feed. This would last for months. I guess the policy was changed, because that doesn’t work. I can still avoid them if I use Firefox.
Facebook was the same. A couple of days of diligent reporting would get me a free pass for months. Now, it doesn’t seem to work. I’ve been reporting ads for a week and they just keep coming on every 4th post. That’s 25% advertising. It is the same if I go to the browser.
I’ve never been able to use YouTube on my phone without seeing ads. This isn’t a problem as I don’t consume that kind of content when mobile.
Now, I know that I have ad blockers on my Windows machine that take care of all of that and really want that kind of behaviour on a portable device.
I noticed these Panasonic Toughpad FZ-G1 tablets. They’re rugged and built for warehousing and other types of tasks, so I know they’re durable. Plus, they run Windows so I know I can get my favourite ad blockers to work.
Before I go this extreme route (these things are quite large), is there anything that I’m missing? Is there a fix to the ad problem on Android? A 10" or even a 7" ruggedized tablet is going to be bulky and heavy. I can tether it to my phone, which isn’t a problem, but I can also get one with a wireless pack if I want.
They’re quite expensive and hard to get when new, but I found a vendor who sells refurbished units starting around $500.
