Outwatered Fish reviewed Enshittification by Cory Doctorow
A cross-section of late stage capitalism
5 stars
In Enshittification, Cory Doctorow does a deep dive into the recent history of platforms (and, by the extension of smart devices, a lot of the tools which affect our daily lives), examining how they have near universally deteriorated in quality. It is a very thorough inquiry, starting with an examination of the process by which a platform enshittifies, then moving to a diagnosis of that which has whithered away in order to allow the phenomenon to take place (competition, regulation, tech worker's power, by employing walled gardens, IP law and exploitation thereof, among others). Towards the end, Doctorow employs as call to arms for society's members as a whole, calling the reader (or listener) to organize and create a united front againt tech bosses, advocating the joining of the fediverse (hence my creation of this account), and imposing legislation that treats platforms truly as end-to-end intermediaries, transmitting the content that …
In Enshittification, Cory Doctorow does a deep dive into the recent history of platforms (and, by the extension of smart devices, a lot of the tools which affect our daily lives), examining how they have near universally deteriorated in quality. It is a very thorough inquiry, starting with an examination of the process by which a platform enshittifies, then moving to a diagnosis of that which has whithered away in order to allow the phenomenon to take place (competition, regulation, tech worker's power, by employing walled gardens, IP law and exploitation thereof, among others). Towards the end, Doctorow employs as call to arms for society's members as a whole, calling the reader (or listener) to organize and create a united front againt tech bosses, advocating the joining of the fediverse (hence my creation of this account), and imposing legislation that treats platforms truly as end-to-end intermediaries, transmitting the content that someone wants to send, to they who want to receive it.
The audio book was narrated by the author, and the language he employs is frank, sarcastic, and so overwhelmingly genuine. You get the impression that this man so deeply cares about this subject, to the point where it almost reads as an info dump, in a good way. It very much reads as a critique of late-stage capitalism, and by extension late-stage feudalism. What isn't these days? (and for good reason).
This book is a must-read that I would recommend to anyone in a heart beat. 5/5.
Favourite quote: "For a guy with a dick-shaped rocket, Jeff Bezos sure hates our kidneys"