Relevant/important watch for everyone who’s not already familiar: https://youtu.be/AHX6tHdQGiQ “Ink Cartridges Are A Scam”

He talks about basically the computer coding “bricking” the system if you try to do anything other than spend more money on their racketeering; their “razor and blade cartridges” profit model of selling the one item for cheap then price-gouging the fuck out of a required component to keep it working

As I have learned more about the Fediverse, and begun exploring all its depths, I have similarly thought about that paradox between, as @JubilantJaguar@lemmy.world mentioned,

just the internet as it was designed to be. A network, not a broadcasting medium. A place for connecting people
versus the fragmentation we’re all seeing

It sucks, but as I see it it’s just kinda like the “growing pains” as we shift towards Web 3.0 and Decentralization, away from corporate overlords, figuring it all out communally, the balance between ourselves being monetized like the whole “If something is free, you are the product.” line gets at