Your point is a good one but let me offer some tweaks that make paying for stuff not look as bleak. 1. Bundling multiple subscriptions is a long-time practice

Your point is a good one but let me offer some tweaks that make paying for stuff not look as bleak. 1. Bundling multiple subscriptions is a long-time practice and if more services were paid offerings we'd likely all buy some bundle that gave us most of what we wanted at a reasonable price. 2. Paying for services will reduce the number of services around... which may be a good thing when so many offerings are sub-par. 3. With more paid offerings, we will be more deliberate about how we spend our time, which is what advertising-based models make us forget we are really spending. And as you age you realize that the time you spent watching ad-supported drivel was more expensive than if you had just paid directly for the things you really needed and spent the rest of your time on things that matter - friends, family, experiences, learning etc.