total block on _old_ tablets - Android 4.4 specifically, and I am sure many people on HN would be horrified to see those anywhere close to internet. New tablets are fine.

As for "more user-friendly captchas" - I have seen some of those (like AliExpress' slider) but I doubt they will work as well as hydrants. And with new AI startups (1) slurping all the data on the web and (2) writing realistic-looking spam messages, I am sure anti-bot measures would be more important than ever.