I think this reflective attitude is actually part of the root cause of how we got into this mess. Google was able to bootstrap off the entire "open internet" an

I think this reflective attitude is actually part of the root cause of how we got into this mess. Google was able to bootstrap off the entire "open internet" and "information wants to be free" mindset, without ever really solving the dilemma of "information wants to be free, but time, electricity and bandwidth isn't". Or "information wants to be free, but what if someone wants to make a living synthesizing and peddling new information?". Instead we ended up with all of our costs being hidden away and borne through advertisement, or other indirect forms of bundling. No ordinary person knows the value or cost of what their interacting with in these "free interactions", or even the value of their interactions. This gives all of the incentives and cover required for fresh bullshit to happen. I'd actually argue that despite all the downsides of paywalls, paywalls are at least in principle up front with what's happening. Incentives and costs are clear. In other words, I'd argue that Google (especially) has managed to doubly exploit our love of "free". Obviously the ordinary person loves free, but Google was also able to for a long time to also coast off and exploit enormous amounts of good-will amongst the professional developer ranks by aligning itself with "information wants to be free".