In my opinion the well has been poisoned. I do pay for services for which trustworthy providers exist (mail, vps, git, small software, indie game studios). I

In my opinion the well has been poisoned. I do pay for services for which trustworthy providers exist (mail, vps, git, small software, indie game studios). I also put 50 dollars a month aside to donate to various open source projects I enjoy, because they are valuable to me, and the money actually goes to the devs. I would gladly pay for many "mainstream" services as well, if I actually became a customer by doing so. Unfortunately most large corporations will still track me, abuse my data, show me ads and spam (and distribute) my mail address and phone number even if I pay them. Hell, even TV manufacturers started doing this crap. Many large scale IT companies don't even want to build a sustainable business. Why pay those? If one of them goes down a replacement will pop up, their value typically only comes from a large userbase, which doubles as the only reason for a lack of alternatives. In many cases they even create negative value for me due to factors like peer pressure. Take my money and then leave me alone. If you refuse to do that, it typically means I'm the one creating and providing value nowadays. And then it becomes highly debatable which one of us two deserves to get paid here.