I agree to some extent, but even before then hardware was getting expensive thanks to stuff like the Bitcoin mining craze. Harddrives have been getting cheaper on a dollar per TB basis for a long time (as they should), but I remember the days when it was cheaper to build a gaming PC than to buy a new console, and those days are long gone. And after COVID hit, greedflation set in to declare what the new normal is.
Not to sound snarky or anything, but since when do prices go down? If people were willing to pay the inflated price, there’s no incentive for them not to make that the new standard.
I saw a librarian say on a post that people should borrow from the library anyways, even if they don’t think that they’ll get to it before it’s due, because it means that they can use the higher rates of usage to argue for more funding. Getting something for free and helping the local libraries at the same time? Sounds like a win-win to me.
The best way to fight it is to simply be unmarketable as a community. This is how Verizon ended up having to sell Tumblr for less than 1% of the price they paid for it like only 3 years later. If the cost outweighs the benefit, fewer people will bother trying.
How many fingers am I holding up? If your answer is 6 or more, I have bad news for you and your data set.