I'm willing to leave folding phones in the past. I can't imagine these ones are especially durable, with the two screens that stretch across a folding body. People weren't having a whole lot of luck with the Nintendo DS back in the day, either, and that had two separated screens and reinforced plastic hinges.
I've had a Galaxy Fold 4 since release (last september), and I haven't personally had any durability issues whatsoever. The thing here, though, is that Samsung is scheduled to release its fifth generation folding device in about a month or so, while the Pixel Fold is Google's first try at a folding device.
The Flip and Fold 4 are probably the most refined foldable devices at the moment, and I've been really happy with mine. Google is a couple of years away from this level of refinement, so it doesn't exactly surprise me that the first Pixel Fold is "meh".
Yep, there's a serious risk to being an early adopter of a Google product in general. IMO this is definitely a Google problem and not a foldable phone problem in general, I've had the Fold 4 since launch and have had no concerns over its durability. I also don't see foldables going anywhere - being able to open it up into a tablet form is amazing for any type of media consumption that's not simple texting.
Don't worry - when Apple makes a folding phone it will be "revolutionary" and then within a few years it will be impossible to find a mainstream or flagship phone that doesn't fold.