I wrote for c|net back in the mid-1990s, but I got paid a salary so my articles (some of which are still out there) were not tied to my income. I did not say that things hadn't changed, I was simply demonstrating that it wasn't impossible to make money on Medium at this late stage of the game. I also used to be a food and wine critic for The Alamedan online newspaper, but again, my payment did not come from how many people read my stuff. The Alamedan paid me for each article and that was it. Your experience is different because we have been working with different kinds of systems. I did not intend to imply that I disagreed with anything you wrote except that it isn't possible to make money on Medium unless you got in early. Yes, there are better and easier ways to make money writing online. I'm glad you found them. As I mentioned in my comment, you might not want to do some of the things that have worked for other people. There are quite a few things that I, too refuse to do. We're all just doing the best we can. My comment was not entirely directed at you but at those aspiring to write here in general.