Despite all the discussion last year about Medium's changes, I missed this completely. You're right, it seems to have slipped beneath the radar. I shared a story link via X / Twitter last week - but a connection commented that they could only read a bit and then were paywalled. I was going to explain about the monthly "free reads" when a search for details brought me to your article.

Now, I guess Medium might say that it's not really "paywalled" because - people can create a free account and read. But we all know there are no free accounts on the interwebs - if you don't pay with currency, you pay with your data.

For all the reasons you've outlined, this is such a pity for the Medium community and for the future of the Medium platform. Thanks for sharing this balanced, informative, well-written piece. I could have highlighted almost every sentence. (In fact, I almost have... oops, sorry!)