As a consumer I can watch videos for free on multiple services. I can create them for free on multiple devices with free software packages. And, as someone who battled multiple inane video and audio formats since the late 80s, now&#x27;s the only time in history where it&#x27;s fast, easy, cheap and trivial to distribute media that just works on any device.<p>I&#x27;m sure somebody will try to claim &quot;chilling effect&quot; based on one of those &quot;free&quot; not being Free. But things are better than they&#x27;ve ever been from the point of view that matters most: getting stuff done, getting stuff published, and getting yourself heard without forcing your audience to install stuff first.<p>Some tiny royalty payment pre-paid by the platform doesn&#x27;t destroy the experience. But forcing my mom to install some sketchy open source software with the wrong volume control UI then telling her to drag and drop my Happy Mother&#x27;s Day video onto a traffic cone sure does.