They won’t kill it, just like it hasn’t died so far. The content, viewer demographics, and algorithm continue to shift. There’s too much money with all the ads and subscription fees. Most people view some content on it by default.

Its gonna be the new cable TV in a way. Kinda sucks, some good stuff on it, but mostly slop filled with ads. And everyone will still use it. Even if they block all 3rd party access, people like me are still going to use it to some limited degree. There will be a video about how to fix a random plumbing fitting that is leaking in my house, or how to fix some random thing on my 15 year old car.

I feel like this is basically what happens to half of the GDP generated by the US healthcare system. There’s a shit ton of complex rules around payment, so insurances companies and providers basically jerk around with a shit ton of money while everyone gets fucked.

I actually use it for creating thumbnails for a sorta niche application. The resulting files are quite small and the quality is fine. I do remember it being a pain in the ass to deal with ~10 years ago.

I’m looking at Fairphone 6. EU based, has an option called /e/os which is basically degoogled Android, and it also has full support for Ubuntu Touch (Linux phone).

I’m actively looking for a new phone that has 0 Google in it, and am looking ad de-Googling the rest of my life.

I remember being genuinely hyped about Gmail in 2008. Now, I don’t want them accessing any of my data.