Why is it depressing? It would be nice if SV was a give-guys-millions-to-make-cool-free-stuff industry, but that's not much of an industry. Revenue has to come from somewhere. Apparently, people are more willing to see ads than pay to use the product. If that's what's depressing, then your problem is not with SV but with what people want.

Agreed. That's actually the best analysis. Instead of Television taking up 4 hours a day of family time, you have the same amount of computer time (though not always video, it's the same exact principle.)