That's a good question, and I think we haven't explored alternative solutions enough.

As for me, I'm happy to pay for Netflix, Nebula, my VPN, and other services. I still pay, but I'm disappointed in Spotify, who is pushing more and more soft ads even on supposed ad-free plans.

But a YouTube Premium subscription would be financing this ad machine and the decisions that come with it. Have you watched Shorts? No thanks.

Blocking ads just pushes more ads on others and/or into embedded sponsorships.

if nobody pays for YouTube then YouTube will go away.

I'm prepared. I own a 10tb hard drive that is half-filled with YouTube videos I've backed up. That's 13,000-odd videos in 360p, all raring to go once YouTube bites the dust.

Defending YouTube because we're afraid it will "go away" is the same Stockholm Syndrome that paralyzed people on Twitter for so long. I welcome a change that forces people onto more P2P-oriented services, the status-quo is obnoxious and unsustainable.

I get the sentiment that Youtube viewers shouldn't have to put up with each of Google's whims, but the comparison seems overly reductive:

Would you also be fine with your favorite newspaper going out of business because you have all of their issues of the last 20 years in your basement?

First I would archive, copy and redistribute the last 20 years of back-issues to the world. Then I'd see how I feel.

Great, you've a solution for the past. How will creators be incentivized to make and distribute future videos, that you can then download somehow?

Good question. Youtube is convenient central repository of videos, but if it didn’t exist I imagine people would just use google to find videos on other video hosting sites.