I share your sentiments @exyle. I remember the early days of the internet, before everything was monetized...even the early days of Facebook when they didn't make you pay for outreach on business pages. I had a really loyal readership (many of them turned into friends) before they made you pay dearly for post outreach.

I hope the big difference here with Steemit is we're dealing with crypto-currency. I can see numbers of crypto enthusiasts growing exponentially and a circular economy being created as more apps are created on top of the platform but think corporations will shy away because it's crypto, at least I hope so. I hope Steemit can retain its magic. Thanks for your comment!