Game of Thrones may be for the mindless but it sure is entertaining to watch, definitely more entertaining than this thread.
I had no idea I was being ruined. I've been building antennas like mad for the past several months and now have a considerable investment in portable masts, guy lines, baluns/ununs and batteries. I wondered how I would go about breaking into HF on my budget and the constraints on what one can do around one's home. Low power and a very efficient antenna are about all I can manage at home, don't even ask about running a wire out the window, let alone slap up a 40 ft tower with a yagi and rotor. But I can take it on the road and have been furiously outfitting my station to get out, away from the QRM and work HF. I'm not in it for the certificates or awards, but just to do it. My father loved Ham Radio and so do I. I've returned after a 40 year break and I'm doing what I can with the sunspot cycles and such. I like FT8 and may give FT4 a try, but they are not the end, only the beginning.
Try it for contesting. You'll be hooked. Like I am. Pretty much all I use it for. Along with the occasional DXpedition QSO.
And they supported the radio manufacturers and you haven't. They were able to make qso's that you couldn't with their modest equipment. They are growing the hobby, you are looking the wrong way in the mirror.
When I came back to the hobby in 2012 I went straight to CW, my all-time favorite mode, still. But I kept an open mind and worked some SSB, decided it wasn't horrible, liked it, just not as much as CW. Then I took the plunge and figured out how to do RTTY and really enjoy that for contesting ( along with CW and SSB ). Still, CW, SSB, and RTTY, in that order. I thought about trying digital, but there were so many modes. I acquired and implemented the hardware and software to do digital modes, but, did I mention, so many modes. As a veteran operator but new to digital I had trouble figuring out what mode to use when and where. But there is hope for even dinosaurs. FT8 came along and it was easy to use, so I tried it. Decided it was okay, maybe even better than okay, so added FT8 as my fourth mode of choice. Being able to do FT8 with very weak signals and compromise antennas is a real plus, also its popularity means I can work a lot of people who aren't on CW or SSB or RTTY. That means more prefixes, band-mode-counties, etc. This year I will reach 1,000+ QSOs on all four modes ( of course I will have the usual 10,000+ on CW ). Will I try FT4. Yes. Will it supplant FT8, doubt it. Will FT8 supplant CW, SSB, or RTTY, definitely not. It is simply one more tool in the toolbox. I can see using FT4 for some contests and FT8 off-peak. But I will still prefer CW, SSB, and RTTY. Don't mind if some folks only do FT8 or FT4 or whatever appeals to them. Diversity in our hobby is not a bad thing. Have I ever tried digital modes other than FT8 ( I don't consider RTTY a digital mode, though apparently ARRL does ( was working toward RTTY DXCC when I realized they had changed it to digital DXCC )). Yes. I tried JS8 and couldn't find anyone to work. Maybe some day. Haven't tried any of the others. Would be nice to have one "digital software" package that not only works with the more popular digital modes, but also identifies what mode you hear/see so you can work it if you like. Or maybe just a software package that identifies the mode for you. Maybe that would be too easy.
Oh I see you don't have the sarcasm font installed on your computer. Hard to recognize that font without it.