Wait, so all of that talk of ushering an era of innovation and new opportunities was just a lie, and the thing needs dinosaur-era stuff like ads and online shopping to survive?
Seems disingenuous.
I don't get it.
"AI is the new electricity", right? Disruptive. A new era.
The lightbulb company should be so disruptive that it completely occludes the huge profits of the old and obsolete candle business.
If your electricity company starts selling candles, something is wrong at a very deep conceptual level.
I'd rather a product that exists with ads, over one that's disappeared.
The fact is, personal subscriptions don't cover the bills if you're going to keep a free tier. Ads do. I don't like it any more than you do, but I'm a realist about it.