1080p to 4k was a big improvement in my opinion. I still have a mix of 1080p and 4k equipment. 4k to 8k is real minor to me because 4k TVs are varying degrees of HDR now. Brightness range per zone/pixel and wider color gamut. 8K someday because someday the only TVs you should be buying for the price will be 4k but content picture quality, 4k with quality HDR brightness, contrast, color gamut - minor difference. Just need high quality sources. When I encode something, I use fairly high bitrate AV1. Another 5-7 years and I expect to be encoding everything new at AV2

Chat control is definitely going to pass eventually in my lifetime. Resiliency for secure and private communications will continue to develop. Anonymity will be needed too. Right now our governments instead of trying to inspire patriotism through improving living standards for the masses are focusing on information and communication control

You can buy the cheapest brand and run a different OS than the companies software. Like I have a TerraMaster NAS. Use what you want on it