I think that was the plan.

I tend to suspect the 'same'... Most communication between 'key players' give indication that steem/steemit was geared towards 'business' ventures primarily. Wasn't it Dan or Ned who stated that they felt "People shouldn't get paid for blogging"...??? It definitely was 'one' of them.

They also stated that their 'main interest', was to have APPs developed that would catch on with users, using the Steem blockchain to fuel growth. It is the way it is and that's fine in my opinion, as long as open honesty about 'intent' prevailed, which most new 'onboarded' users were misled into believing a false narrative.

Many of the top-dogs disagree with the above assessment posed by anyone in the past, and often with a snarling vengeance. Yes...they didn't always 'hide' behind fakery, greed and outright 'theft' at times...sometimes they were 'right in your face' with the truth that many innocents could not fully grasp, or 'believe'.

The 'believers' seemed stuck in an attitude of 'not' wanting to trust in their personal perceptions of what this place was, as apposed to what they were lead to 'expect' and 'hoped/yearned' for.

Perhaps Hive will be the 'Steem' that could have been, or 'Steem' in the future will transform into something of more value to the average user, in some unexpected way?

Personally...I'm not here or on Hive now to be an accusatory adversary, savior or martyr...I'm here for the experience, of which I'm hopeful will be/become mostly beneficial in whatever direction chosen. This doesn't mean I wouldn't get into 'the fight' at times...but, I'm always of the mindset "Nobody is preventing me from leaving" should I choose too, flipping the finger on my way out the door :>)

Note to Self: Time to stop this exceptionally gifted 'rant' now and smoke a bowl perhaps...