Imagine telling 2010 devs that in 2025, collapsing a div would require $8/ month

Trigger and immediate reactions

• Thread centers on JSFiddle making “collapse sidebar” a paid PRO feature (actually ~$28/month, not $8), and the feeling that a trivial UX toggle being paywalled epitomizes “enshittification.”
• Some mock the decision, saying no one will pay just for that and people will simply be annoyed or leave. Others joke about copying the pattern into their own apps.
• Several note JSFiddle’s poor mobile UX, making the paywalled layout control feel even worse.

Monetization vs basic usability

• One side argues basic UI affordances (like collapsing a sidebar) should not be locked behind paywalls; better to use ads, donations, or genuinely “premium” features.
• Others counter that donations rarely fund even a single full‑time maintainer, ads are hated (especially by developers), and almost any feature can be framed as “premium.”
• A pragmatic view: treat the free version as a demo; if you care enough about details like layout, you’re the target paying user.
• Some suggest workarounds (user scripts via TamperMonkey) or switching to alternatives / self‑hosted tools (e.g., JSBin).

Expectations that software be free

• Long subthread on how consumers expect software to be free while also expecting high dev salaries. Comparisons drawn to music, news, and other digital goods with near‑zero marginal cost.
• Debate over whether developers’ high pay is justified by software’s scalability vs. being distorted by low interest rates and tech bubbles.

Open source and “fairness”

• Complaints that commercial services heavily use open source without giving back, met with replies that permissive licenses explicitly allow this; if you want reciprocity, use copyleft.
• Some criticize open‑source authors who release under permissive licenses and then feel entitled to funding; others call for regulation or new funding models to pay contributors fairly.

Markets, monopolies, and enshitification

• Broader critique that many companies now invest effort in deliberately making products worse to create upsell pressure.
• Disagreement on whether this reflects monopolies, brand inertia, or simply consumers preferring “shitty but free” over fairly priced, high‑quality tools.
• Several conclude many web tools like JSFiddle simply can’t sustainably fund salaries without either heavy ads or exactly this kind of enshitification.