The mainstream audience is cheap. They have built up an entitlement of free internet, and it won't change. Look at Reddit Gold - there are 250+ million Redditors and less than 100k Gold subscribers. That's an almost inconsequential 0.04%. I mean, there are already more Steemit users already than Reddit Gold subscribers.

So I feel Steemit, Inc. should continue to offer free accounts, however, I totally agree users would need to power up to gain access to a lot of features. There's already restrictions for low-SP accounts, so it's on the right track. Just need better communication, reasons and motivating for powering up. Right now, a new user won't know to Power Up. There's not even a simple list for why one should Power Up anywhere on the site. I'm not saying turn it into nagware, but when a user registers, there must be a page which gets them up to speed with the benefits of Steem Power.

And of course, tie into PayPal and Fiat credit cards, bank accounts etc. That'll make a huge difference.