My opinion remains that the developers @ned and the like are fixated on the "Smart Media Tokens" to compete wit the likes of EOS. But here are two telling points.
@dan Larimer managed to launch EOS before the SMT's even though Steemit had a two year head start.
In the two years since its launch, third parties, such as busy.org, D-Tube, D-Sound, ect, have done more for the user experience, new features and services than the main developers.
"But we are about producing the platform under the other services..." whine the developers. But as you most rightly point out, Steemit.com is the first contact most people have with the network, and that experience is often difficult. Many people simply never come back.
The network lives and dies by its user base. Again as you said, HELLO!, where's the marketing and promotion?
I could go on, but I think you covered it all.
This is all very depressing, I have been advocating Steemit around and, even after having found a few positive points (that I actually can't even be sure of), I start again to loose faith!
How will I dare now trying to invite more people here when they can't perform more than 1 post and 10 comments a day, they'll indeed not stay and I can't delegate for everyone, and it simply shouldn't be like that. These top people cannot be dumb to the fact they don't know it's important for new users to have a good experience. Period.
I spent nights reading topics like this one https://steemit.com/steemit/@davemccoy/steemit-the-anti-social-network#@whatsup/re-davemccoy-steemit-the-anti-social-network-20181007t181112798z
It's unbelievable that they seem to sabotage such revolutionnary concept for greed.
At the same time, that is a problem of today. People create these platforms and transpose the real world in, they could come up with more equal systems, but they choose to create an olygarchy.
I really hope I am just wrong but to see so many mature users having the same vision, is absolutely discouraging :(
People are the real world. So put a bunch of humans together, you are going to replicate conditions that you see elsewhere. You are up against human nature. That is the reason the way the world is. Utopia is a world for ideal humans. None of us are ideal, therefore, we do not live in an ideal world.