The problem is people have become so spoiled by the infantilizing FAANG-style walled gardens they've been locked into that there's almost zero chance they'll ever sacrifice even a tiny bit of that...
The problem is people have become so spoiled by the infantilizing FAANG-style walled gardens they've been locked into that there's almost zero chance they'll ever sacrifice even a tiny bit of that convenience to use something else, even if it would overwhelmingly be in their best interest.
Many people who are somewhat technically competent and know it'd be in their best interest are also unwilling to sacrifice convenience in deference to some nebulous ideal like "privacy" or "interoperability" until it directly negatively affects them somehow (and even then not always). It's human nature.
An excerpt from one of the links, his older article on IP. I think this highlights quite well why we need to revoke laws banning DRM circumvention, and pass right-to-repair laws to help keep...
An excerpt from one of the links, his older article on IP. I think this highlights quite well why we need to revoke laws banning DRM circumvention, and pass right-to-repair laws to help keep interoperability going.
Interoperability improves self-determination by safeguarding your ability change the your current situation by incremental steps: if you like your phone and the apps you have, but want an app that’s banned in its default app store, interoperability comes to the rescue, allowing you to add a second app store to your phone’s list of approved software sources. You get to keep your phone, keep your apps, keep all the data on your phone, and you get to install that unauthorized app.
Without interoperability, your choice is “take it or leave it”: if the app store blocks an app you want, the price of getting that app is throwing away your phone, all its apps, and some or all of the data you’ve painstakingly input into your phone. That unauthorized app needs to be pretty darned good before anyone would pay such a high price for it.
I enjoyed this post quite a bit, and I think it’s good that so many people (not just Cory Doctorow) are writing about “enshittification”, its causes, and effects. It’s important for tech people to...
I enjoyed this post quite a bit, and I think it’s good that so many people (not just Cory Doctorow) are writing about “enshittification”, its causes, and effects. It’s important for tech people to understand this and pay attention to what they can do to support better products and a better internet.
Someone at work told me about Obsidian a few months ago and I’ve been using it at home and work. Probably most people on tildes already know about it, but if you don’t, do yourself a favor and look into it. It’s a note taking app (and more) that uses local files, and the files are in markdown format so they are portable and usable by other current and future apps. It has many plugins that expand it in useful ways. But it’s definitely harder to understand and use for non technical people who may prefer Evernote even though their may all suddenly disappear or be held hostage since it’s in “The Cloud”.
One other important point made by the post is how the government has been allowing most of the mergers and monopolies that are causing these problems. Biden’s admin is doing better than most but it’s only a matter of a few years before we get another “cut taxes on the billionaires” admin that’s going to set things back more for the vast majority of us. So like everything else politics affects our lives a lot and most people are not paying attention or getting distracted by stupid shit like bud light and Barbie movies.
The problem is people have become so spoiled by the infantilizing FAANG-style walled gardens they've been locked into that there's almost zero chance they'll ever sacrifice even a tiny bit of that convenience to use something else, even if it would overwhelmingly be in their best interest.
Many people who are somewhat technically competent and know it'd be in their best interest are also unwilling to sacrifice convenience in deference to some nebulous ideal like "privacy" or "interoperability" until it directly negatively affects them somehow (and even then not always). It's human nature.
An excerpt from one of the links, his older article on IP. I think this highlights quite well why we need to revoke laws banning DRM circumvention, and pass right-to-repair laws to help keep interoperability going.
I enjoyed this post quite a bit, and I think it’s good that so many people (not just Cory Doctorow) are writing about “enshittification”, its causes, and effects. It’s important for tech people to understand this and pay attention to what they can do to support better products and a better internet.
Someone at work told me about Obsidian a few months ago and I’ve been using it at home and work. Probably most people on tildes already know about it, but if you don’t, do yourself a favor and look into it. It’s a note taking app (and more) that uses local files, and the files are in markdown format so they are portable and usable by other current and future apps. It has many plugins that expand it in useful ways. But it’s definitely harder to understand and use for non technical people who may prefer Evernote even though their may all suddenly disappear or be held hostage since it’s in “The Cloud”.
One other important point made by the post is how the government has been allowing most of the mergers and monopolies that are causing these problems. Biden’s admin is doing better than most but it’s only a matter of a few years before we get another “cut taxes on the billionaires” admin that’s going to set things back more for the vast majority of us. So like everything else politics affects our lives a lot and most people are not paying attention or getting distracted by stupid shit like bud light and Barbie movies.