Enshittification

Ha! It was on my to-do list to make this very post pointing to that terrific Enshittification article. Well done.

A great example of enshittification is what is going on with streaming services. They will not be happy until they kill the golden goose unleashed by cord cutting.

1. Make it nice for customers to draw them in. Low cost, quality service, relaxed attitude.
2. Once they’re ensnared, jack up the prices, add restrictions, add more and more advertisements just to the point where people start to bale.
3. Stick it to the suppliers (content providers and creators), just to the point where people start to bale.
4. Play customers and suppliers against each other.

We’re solidly in phase 2, heading toward phase 3.