My solution to that is simple: I click away immediately. I don't watch the ad and don't see the video either.

I do that as much as possible. Some adds do jump into your way and try to hide the close button. Video links always include advertisements and their start that you have to watch anywhere between 10 to 30 seconds off before your desired content.

Have you tried these exercises on the NYTIMES there are some that are pretty bawdy.

Usually I get to the NYT via a tweet link so I don't often get their semi-opaque mask. When I do and care enough, I try googling the topic. If that fails and I still care enough, I switch to an anonymous browser or diddle cookies. Gotta really care to go that far. There's not a ton of stuff a Canadian wants to see in the Times that would justify the very high prices they ask.

Perhaps we can set up a Google group or Yahoo group if this site is taken down. This is where answers are useful rather than hot air.

Good idea Irene, but who has the membership mailing list?

Anyway, should that happen, why not set up a similar, but alternative site? What are the financial implications of doing so?

+1 for a Google group, this forum is the best!

No replies. Wakey wakey all y'all!

Lets hope this stays up, if not, Google group would probably be best. I have had issues with the Yahoo group for GraphicConverter.

Late to the party, again: two points to make (I'm 67).

First, freetards. Count me as one of them. With the internet and Google, you could type in your problem and you could get your answer. Computers, cars, health, whaterver...

Printed media became a luxury, considering the rising cost. And they had to raise the price - everything has gone up in price.

Second, OSX. When I first bought my first Mac (a beige G3) I had to learn 8.5 and how to maintain it. 9 wasn't a whole lot better, but I needed it to stay on the internet. I relied on the mags and internet to keep on top of troubleshooting methods and solutions.

OS 10? Ever since 6.8, I have never had a problem that didn't stem from messing with something that I shouldn't have. I have two friends who I used to maintain Macs for. I went to their place yesterday to update and fettle their computers for the first time in almost a year. They have been running perfectly. A 10.6.8 G5 and a 10.8 .? iMac.

The point being, I suppose, that most of us just keep hanging around out of habit. Younger people might hit on this site from a Google search when they have the odd problem, if they haven't already gone to Apple's site (dreadful as it is).

Older members might remember that there used to be a social side to these tech websites, too, that has ebbed over time.

My 2 cents.

I want to state again (while we exist) our 97 active members versus almost 95K members are still vibrant. In the same way great small teams come together to solve big problems.

That said counting active I would say the biggest decline came when Apple set up their one boards. Couple this with the Myriad of other forums, some I am sure much better attended.

That is the real question what is kept/keeping traffic from coming here as much. For one, forum button on Macworld, broken, only hints button works and both burried at bottom of website where No one will see, as opposed to Top banner.

Do a google search on "Mac help" and see what you get.

No other site compares to this one.

I still miss the Info-Mac Digest arriving in my mailbox :(

Remember, the name of this place is MacOSXHints Forums. Notice the MacOSXHints part. Have you noticed the decline in quality of the front page that drives traffic to this area? Without a strong and thriving hints front page, the forums will slowly die.

Also, I think it's telling that the majority of the folks here are over 40, including myself. Traditional discussion forums are no longer in vogue. Everyone has migrated to social networking platforms like Facebook and Twitter, and as for highly technical discussions, I see a lot more of that on mailing lists. Forums are kind of dead. Nothing specific to this place, just in general, although I would pont back to the issue of having a vibrant front page to drive traffic to your forums. The MacRumors forums are still thriving, because the news on the MacRumors front page keeps people engaged. The old-school forum can't survive on it's own.

There's always MacRumors forums.

I'd rather see a migration to a sub-Reddit (r/mosxh?) than have to spend time at the MacRumors forums.

Signal to noise on MacRumors is pretty bad. In many ways MacRumors is a perfect example of the issue with size versus quality. There's a lot of great content there, and some great contributors and staff, but the snark and noise gets in the way. In the last year or so the tone of the discussion in a lot of topics has taken a trip south. Things that used to be frowned upon have become commonplace. It has affected the culture of their forums negatively, IMO.

Karstorff makes a really good point -- this community, while apparently small, is serious and tends to stay on topic and civilized.

Snark, schmark. It's the interface that bugs me. But it looks that's where we're headed.