So glad someone said it. All these "just pay for YouTube Premium" comments make me sad. Killing all competition with effectively endless funding for your own thing, then charging for the only game in town should be illegal.

It's extremely expensive to store and distribute every video online. Plus, I use it like 10x a day. I dunno, that makes it worth it for me over Netflix which I use maybe once a week.

I believe in paying for things I enjoy. I don’t use YouTube enough to pay for it, but I pay for other services, books, and content.

When you love something, the payment is patronization. You want the thing to continue to exist.

If you don't like YouTube, you can watch TV instead, it's still there. Or read a book. "Extortion" – give me a break... Video creators choose YouTube because it gives them a chance to make an income from their videos, or at least an easy way to upload and host them.

This is why people should never be given anything for free, ungratefulness and entitlement is the only reward. I'll greatly enjoy when everything is behind a cheap paywall, giving creators their fair share and leaving penny pinchers in the dust.