Everything is turning into disgusting subscription services. Most recently I saw home printers that required a monthly subscription service in order to print.
So, how long before Windows is a subscription? They have already brought ads into Windows.
Yes, I think I’ll sign up for the…hm, the “Casual Gamer” tier, which allows 2 hours per week of gaming. Although I could always watch an ad to unlock 30 more minutes.
Something that the OP might be missing is that yes, subscription upsells are scummy, but the provider quite often can tout a long laundry list of things they feel justify the subscription, like cloud storage or constant support. If they’re not actually providing that, or literally no one finds the items useful, the backlash would not be relegated to enthusiasts on Lemmy.