people talk about "enshittification" as everything getting worse, which it is. but the really damaging part of it is that we are forced to cede control over our tech and hand it to people who see consumers as exploitable resources without much power to switch to something else
Comments
Displaying 0 of 4 comments
Nora Reed
In response to this posti think if we can expect what we get from kilns, from sewing machines, from bicycles, and apply that to the other things we depend on, we could be in a better place with our relationship to technology
so much of the trauma of living in the modern world is about lack of agency, a death by a thousand cuts of the indignity of having our lives controlled by microsoft, by facebook, by google and apple
by Nora Reed ;
@nora I still remember as a kid, one of our earlier TV came with schematics.
by DrYak ;
@nora Right on. I think the corollary to this is the realization, for tech workers and users alike (ntm market analysts etc), that there is no separate destiny for digital tech that requires it to grow in unbounded exponential arcs of performance, influence or profitability — that there is good, honourable work to be done producing apps like we produce stereos and telescopes, which nobody thinks have to be revolutionary all the time. Without that story, #enshittification would wilt.
by Sasha Akhavi ;
@nora Well... Older sewing machines. Though even industrials, while repairable, aren't necessarily easy. And it's sadly starting to become a dying art to be able to fix the non-electronic components - more because it requires skills and knowledge that aren't really being taught anymore (except by people already doing the work, which means it's only accessible to people with a good enough relationship with those people and while those people have the time and ability to teach it - so it might as well be inaccessible).
And domestic sewing machines are becoming more and more of a crapshoot, but they mostly seem to be thriving through suckering newbies or people with little time and lots of money. There's a reason for the thriving market in vintage machines. (Unfortunately, the companies already managed to lock in some truly outrageous regional pricing long ago, by making the power supplies impossible to swap out - though I'm extremely distrustful of adaptors.)
With that being said, I also hate how so much of the modern world is so goddamn fragile. I'm always shocked to see videos like a GoPro surviving being dropped in the ocean, because I've gotten so used to new stuff being of the 'blink at it the wrong way and it shatters in a zillion unfixable pieces' level of durability, unless you specifically look for something that can take heavy use (if that exists in the category you're after). Even if you can repair something easily, what good is it if you're repairing it every couple of days? But maybe I'm just weirdly rough with my belongings, IDK.
by Mre. Dartigen [maker mode] ;
Likes: 0
Replies: 4
Boosts: 0
Dragon-sided D
In response to this post@nora It's explicitly not *everything*
Only corporate software being used primarily as a way to suck money from consumers as efficiently as possible
Not software written with pride
Mentions: @nora@blob.love
Likes: 0
Replies: 0
Boosts: 0
AAA365
In response to this post@nora you’re right though it just increases appreciation of Mastodon all the more. You need to raise your shit shield 🛡️(*Credit coffee with Karen on YouTube) up and fill your life with enprettyfication keep positive Nora.
Mentions: @nora@blob.love
Likes: 0
Replies: 0
Boosts: 0
llewelly
In response to this post@nora sometimes I think people say "enshitification" when we'd all be better off calling nazification.
@llewelly i think that might be somewhat overbroad but any single word is going to lack nuance and require definition
by Nora Reed ;
Mentions: @nora@blob.love
Likes: 0
Replies: 1
Boosts: 0