I won't pretend to feel better, but am hopeful this could be a turning point. It concerns me though that he says they spend more per user than the top sites to run the site. I am unsure how this could have been viewed sustainable, and am curious why the costs are so high given this does not have many of the bells and whistles those other sites offer.

It was asked (and ignored) in Neds post why money was not set aside from all of the Steem they have been selling all year to not be dependent on current market sales.

I am ignorant when it comes to programming and block chain, and some of what I have been witnessing seems to contradict what I hear bandied about since coming here. Talk of how Steemit.inc is not needed, that the dapps and tokens will make this the premier chain. So I have to wonder where all this activity is that is supposed to make Steemit.inc expendable, as I don't see it. Steemit is the premier app on the chain after 2+ years. I question why this is so if the chain is so great for apps. Will all the apps have the same problem of being the most expensive to run as Ned said about Steemit and this is the reason why none have come along and replaced Steemit as the main app?

It seems contradictory when I hear that Steem is the cheap (cost) chain to run on, yet it is the most expensive once an app is running on it.

I am sure much of this is my ignorance talking, but it doesn't add up. Just as it didn't when I heard again and again that they didn't care about the first couple million users (the birds in hand) and were focused on the next 100 million. Seems smarter to strengthen the foundation before building the house.

I am here for the long haul regardless, but I sure hope this falls out in a way that much is reevaluated regarding who is important. Investors need to trust that the ship is being steered right, and creating FUD through a disconnect and poor management decisions is not a step in that direction.

Everyone bitches that the alts are tied to what Bitcoin is doing. This will change if a chain ever gains so much value as a use that so many are investing in the value offered and not speculation. Steem is one of the few chains I have seen that has the potential to do this, and it upsets me that it might never realize it.