Ads suck hard, but avoiding them was just one of the plethora of advantages of early streaming. Early Netflix had what felt like infinite content, on demand, for a fraction of the price of cable. That’s why the majority of cord cutters ditched cable; price. Avoiding ads was definitely a factor but it was hardly the main one for most of us.

The modern streaming industry has embraced ads in a way that feels somehow grimier than cable because the ads are targeted and we all know it’s greed that’s put them there.