What really is the point of this article? Can someone wake me up when we are ready to let go of this passive income bullshit, worshipping the 'entrepreneur' as someone who can pull money out of their ass crack by finding and statistically needling their way into some exploitative niche and start focussing on things which have real social purpose and meaning and value to their creators and users?
First off, to group "24/7 on-call Wordpress support" with passive income is... well, a very, very long stretch.
on things which have real social purpose and meaning and value to their creators or users
"Someone I can turn to when my website blows up because of this new plugin I added" most assuredly provides meaning and value to WP Curve's customers. Also, I'm not sure who's exploiting who in that relationship.
But you're right, Dan should shut down WP Curve and the customers who are paying him real money to solve real problems and focus on more meaningful things.. like maybe building a social discovery app.
"statistically needling their way into some exploitative niche" ...wow. Providing real support to website owners who need it (and are willing to pay for it) is exploitation?
In reality, WP Curve provides an alternative to hiring a web developer by the hour to provide support when needed. It's actually a much more efficient model for all parties (client and developer).