It doesn’t have to be a choice between all users managing their relays vs. full blown relay centralization.

As others have said in different ways, we can also have a system where for the default user, “relay autopilot” intelligently figures out which relays to connect to based on the most common ones that their follows use, while also evenly distributing the load between the relays.

There can then be an “advanced user mode” for those who want to manage their relays manually.

On the relay side, multiplexing/mirroring can make it so that relays can sync with other relays.

With this system, you get a scenario where you average user doesn’t need to worry about relays, but it also prevents the need/trend of relays centralizing and keeps the load evenly distributed.

As for funding of relays, I imagine long term, they’ll be a mix of free volunteer run relay, paid relay, and free ad-supported relays.