The point is not that paying $4 a month rent isn’t useful to some people. It’s that another group of people want to own a computer that doesn’t beg for rent at all.
The old macOS provided that the new Mac, not so much.
The old macOS didn’t provide any cloud storage option, and the new one does, for a fee. That seems like progress, not begging for rent or a reason to be nostalgic.
I agree with you in principle. I just take exception to the claim that this is somehow worse than Windows where you have pervasive 3rd party ads (including telemetry) and no way to opt out.
Frankly, I am rather pessimistic with the industry as a whole. Problems never seem to stay solved. There is constant churn, constant disruption of workflow and UI patterns. Constant change for its own sake and no reflection on what is really important.
I haven't seen an ad in in Windows system so far.
Onedrive is MS cloud and backs up your files for free.
Mac has full on telemetry where it logs every program you use every time you use it amd may stop you from using it.
Apple is building the biggest add network in the world and it needs captive audience for it, Mac will be small fish there but it will be locked inand down just like the iPhone or ipad.
It seems like after a certain level of complexity product design is a very difficult thing to do.
My guess is that few people have the skill to really get product refinement just right over the long term. So you end up with either stagnation, where people are afraid to improve things or random unnecessary changes that make stuff worse.
Is there an option like that on Windows?