> But I can’t help but feel that the effort meant something.
Each person that put in the effort is one additional review point.
Thinking, Writing, Editing, Proofing, Publishing, Distributing, Selling...
At every step, a human had the opportunity to say "no, this is bad". And the fact that they didn't is a vote of quality and reputation.
These days presumably every step can be automated without a human in the loop at all, and it's up to the buyer to discover "no, this is bad", but at that point their money is already spent.
Each person that put in the effort is one additional review point.
Thinking, Writing, Editing, Proofing, Publishing, Distributing, Selling...
At every step, a human had the opportunity to say "no, this is bad". And the fact that they didn't is a vote of quality and reputation.
These days presumably every step can be automated without a human in the loop at all, and it's up to the buyer to discover "no, this is bad", but at that point their money is already spent.