Not the parent, but tech-savvy consumers are willing to pay more for a better service. If there was an email provider better than gmail, with no spying, total transparency etc, many here would switch in a heartbeat even if it costs $5/month.
Not sure why GP assumed this must be free of charge; tech-savvy consumers also tend to have money.
If there was a cloud provider with solid infrastructure, full transparency and insight to the network down to server cams, all based on free software, would you have paid extra for it?
This is, in fact, what I did when I switched to Fastmail. Others looking for absolute security over convenience have gravitated towards ProtonMail. I also discovered other perks to having a paid email service... like getting customer support.
Not sure why GP assumed this must be free of charge; tech-savvy consumers also tend to have money.
If there was a cloud provider with solid infrastructure, full transparency and insight to the network down to server cams, all based on free software, would you have paid extra for it?