Staying away from controlled airspace and not filing IFR isn't as easy as it sounds. Especially for people who live near larger cities or small businesses that operate an aircraft. For some, the upgrade is cheap, for others not so much.
And has been mentioned before, the service is anything but free, not to mention that like most of the residents of the United States I pay taxes on my income.
The only consolation with this is the adoption time frame. Allowing 10 years for owners to upgrade is a significant step forward over some of the earlier proposals. Though nothing inside of an aircraft can be considered cheap, hopefully the time frame and volume required will help drive cost down slightly.
What irks me is that this proposal seems like a way for the FAA to try and save some money by shutting down some of its radar facilities. By requiring ADS-B, the FAA will be able to lower their costs by operating less equipment on their end. So, how do they do this? Push the cost onto the pilots. I suppose I'm just grumpy today, but I fail to see how this is a significantly better approach.
