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My McLuhan Lecture on Enshittification (pluralistic.net)
9 points by sssilver on Feb 25, 2024 | hide | past | favorite | 2 comments


Yeah whatever, https://youtu.be/UGFWf1lWVP4?si=7L6QoIXsPDdUVn8Q just Subscribe and less texting, thanks


> After all, isn't "enshittification" the same as "capitalism"?

> Well, no.

Well, yes. CD splits enshittification into three phases (EEE, kind of) but does not so with capitalism. He argues that capitalism brought us the internet and doesnt elaborate further on his favorite cherry (on ISP's aggressive monetization or net neutrality, etc.) but he ignores that profit driven platforms brought us value in their early stages too. So big-tech good again or still very much unlike capitalsim or what? (Please dont fall for this short sighted argument.)

I really dont like CW enshittifying the much needed systemic discussion in order to monetize his brand (this is unfair, i know). In the end its all about incentive structures which is inherent to the system.

> I think that the enshittification framework goes a long way to explaining it, moving us out of the mysterious realm of the 'great forces of history,' and into the material world of specific decisions [And why they are made everywhere, not just in big-tech!]

Maybe some day CD will discover enshittified US life expectancy or climate/environment or any other big-corp non-digital service.




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