Anyone reading this would be forgiven for thinking that in the past, exit rows were allocated randomly - when the reality was that most of the seats were allocated to either airline staff or friends of staff long before the flight by friendly ground crew. Now, EI for example, apart from charging for bags are also asking 15-odd Euro for an aisle seat - how the mighty have fallen to lower than the pond-scum they used to look down on, but as a mate said, at least you can get one now if you're prepared to shell out for it.
Note the subject of safety hasn't been mentioned once in all this, and I can count on one finger the number of airlines where I have been properly briefed while paxing in an exit row. You'd be surprised how many people are weirded out by sitting by an exit door until told it can't be opened in flight.