tamaranth | 2026/040: Enshittification

2026/040: Enshittification — Cory Doctorow

Compared with the climate emergency, genocide, inequality, corruption, democratic backsliding, authoritarianism and sustained racist, homophobic, misogynist and transphobic attacks, the internet is just a sideshow. But the internet ...is the communications medium we will use to organise to save our species and planet from their imminent eradication. We can’t win these fights without a free, fair and open internet. [introduction]

Audiobook, read (with vigour and enthusiasm) by the author. Doctorow's foundational argument is something most internet users will agree with: that big internet sites, such as Facebook, Amazon, and the-site-formerly-known-as-Twitter, have become much less usable and user-friendly over recent years. (I would add Del.icio.us, Vinted, Goodreads, LiveJournal...)

Doctorow tracks the process of 'enshittificaton' through case studies of Facebook, Twitter, Amazon and Apple. He describes it as a process in three stages. First, the platform is good to its users; then it's good to its business partners; and finally it's good to the company itself, clawing back all profits. Some really eye-opening examples, clarifying the trend towards charging for 'premium' features that used to be standard.

Back in the days of the 'good internet', there were various factors reining in the bad behaviour of big companies: competition, regulation, self-help (a.k.a. the right to repair, or at least fix issues, and to use non-approved components), and the ethical stance of the workforce. All broken now -- Doctorow mentions at one point that this book was still being written when Trump's second term began, tolling the requiem bell for regulation and anti-trust. I wish he had come up with better solutions than 'unionisation, activism, opt out'. Oh, and stop using Amazon. (Readers may note my recent book links now point elsewhere.)

Sometimes repetitive, often very funny, a horrible catalogue of appalling behaviour on the part of big business. I'm appalled, but (mostly) not surprised, though the cradle company that charges a monthly 'subscription' for formerly-standard features was a new low.