Went to https://play.google.com/console and it all seems to be okay. The two derelict apps already have package IDs and my info is on the identity tab. I think I may have visited that page a year or two ago in response to an email from Google. Or is there something else?
I paid the fee for a dev account near the beginning of Android. Haven’t had any apps published in over a decade, but from what I understand my account is grandfathered in so I don’t have to jump through as many hoops to get something published if I chose to, compared to newer accounts. Anyhow, since I have an account I suppose I’m unaffected by this decision. Still, it goes against the original spirit of Android as a free and developer-centric platform and I condemn it.
That’s the reality for a lot of people living paycheck to paycheck or living off credit cards. They could be doing better financially than they are if they cut expenses (people waste a lot of money and often don’t even question it or realize it) and could start saving for a rainy day. Then once they have that fund built up, possibly schooling or prepping a better job, but they might not have the motivation to do it. I don’t have the figures but there have been multiple news articles describing the number of people who couldn’t even absorb an unexpected $1000 hit.
With any luck there will be pushback somewhere that Google can’t ignore.