Notice how you subconsciously called Next a product.

What's wrong with that? I have no illusions that Next.js is part of a larger strategy to get me to pay money for services. I feel the same way about VSCode and Azure, or Github and Copilot, etc. I don't have any problem with paying money for products that deserve it.

How is it not a product? It is produced and used. Many types of software are also products, whether they're VC funded or not.

I am not arguing that it is not. I very much agree Next is a product because it very much fits its definition: "an article or substance that is manufactured or refined for sale.".

But this is wrong by definition: "Many types of software are also products, whether they're VC funded or not."

So you start using a product just because other people tell you they are popular? That doesn't strike me as the best rationale to make a decision.

That's not the argument being made. Nobody said that.

Just like I never made the argument claimed either.

What did you mean by "I stopped paying attention" then? Was that a metaphor? It looks like you made the argument I claimed quite clearly.

Stopped paying attention to the hype? I never claimed to use next.js. How did I make that claim quite clearly exactly?