Is enshittification real or are we just getting older?

One idea: "free" was never a business model, it was a loan, and enshittification is the repayment.

Users wanted free stuff, but the reason it felt so free for so long is that investors were paying the bill during the cheap money decade.

Uber rides were subsidized, streaming was underpriced, apps ran at a loss for years. We got used to a price that was never real.

When rates went up in 2022, the loan was called in, and users are the ones repaying it with attention, data and ad breaks.

My bet: it grows, but splits the internet in two.

The next frontier just opened: AI assistants.

A chatbot that knows your problem before you search is the most powerful ad slot ever built 😁.

Why it splits?

Notice who's excluded: no ads for Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu plans. That's the pattern everywhere.

My prediction: a clean paid layer for people who can afford five subscriptions, and an ad-soaked free layer for everyone else. Privacy and attention become luxury goods.