You can't have the conversation without money. Anything else is a land of wishful thinking, simply because it takes money to run the service.
I did not commit to app.net, but I am philosophically backing them. I think the meta-goal is right, even if this particular incantation is (or isn't) the right one.
I'm with you on the meta-goal being "right". And I didn't say to exclude money from the equation, Dalton and his team deserve to be paid for their work: once they actually solve a real pain point. Right now the pain looks a lot like fear & hope to me, two things that make people do silly, unsustainable things with their money.
Hence, the money being an intentional distraction (red herring) from the real issues.