Ad blockers as master keys

The Internet can be an ugly space, especially if you’re not using an ad blocker. The clutter, the inconvenience, the distraction can be too much to bear. I know someone has to pay the bills to keep the lights on, but I will gladly have my ad blocker up every where I go online. But my favorite feature might not even be fewer ads.

I truly love ad blockers because they allow you to venture into the walled gardens of The New York Times, Wired, Slate, The Economist, or wherever else you want to go. It’s so simple and I believe relatively few people understand just how easy it is to gain access to articles behind paywalls.

All you have to do is disable JavaScript.

That’s it. You don’t even need an ad blocker to do it, but it is nice to have a quick click get you there. It’s an added bonus that ad blockers can remember your preferences for certain sites, making it painfully easy to read any article.

The Web is built with JavaScript, so of course if you just tell a website to not use it you will gain access to the goods. Sure, it’s not perfect—maybe some graphic isn’t going to be rendered properly if images are lazy loaded or if there’s some cool interactive chart. But that’s a pittance to pay for feeling like you have the janitor’s keys in your hand and can gain entry into any room you wish.