Talk:Enshittification - Revision history

AnotherConsumerRightsPerson: /* non-monopolistic decay */ Reply

2026-03-29T07:33:16Z

non-monopolistic decay: Reply

← Older revision		Revision as of 07:33, 29 March 2026
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	::Thanks. Agree. [[User:CrookKilla\|CrookKilla]] ([[User talk:CrookKilla\|talk]]) 03:33, 4 March 2026 (UTC)		::Thanks. Agree. [[User:CrookKilla\|CrookKilla]] ([[User talk:CrookKilla\|talk]]) 03:33, 4 March 2026 (UTC)

	== non-monopolistic decay ==		==non-monopolistic decay==

	I think I've found an instance of panic-driven enshittification (rather than monopoly/power-driven): https://danluu.com/cpu-bugs/ . TLDR: Intel cut costs on testing, so CPUs are more unreliable, but they can ship/deploy faster [[User:Rudxain\|Rudxain]] ([[User talk:Rudxain\|talk]]) 05:19, 29 March 2026 (UTC)		I think I've found an instance of panic-driven enshittification (rather than monopoly/power-driven): https://danluu.com/cpu-bugs/ . TLDR: Intel cut costs on testing, so CPUs are more unreliable, but they can ship/deploy faster [[User:Rudxain\|Rudxain]] ([[User talk:Rudxain\|talk]]) 05:19, 29 March 2026 (UTC)

			:Not sure if that'd be a consumer rights issue, but could still be mentioned to show that not all enshittification is intentionally anti-consumer rights [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson\|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson\|talk]]) 07:33, 29 March 2026 (UTC)

Rudxain: /* non-monopolistic decay */ new section

2026-03-29T05:19:45Z

non-monopolistic decay: new section

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:19, 29 March 2026
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	:And while I distinctly remember him approving broader use of the term for cases that don't strictly fit that pattern but fit the "sense" of the word about technology getting worse — this is the page about the word and its definition. Sticking to the canonical interpretation makes sense to me. Especially when this wiki has (or can/should have) pages on more specific issues where only they apply. [[User:D-side\|D-side]] ([[User talk:D-side\|talk]]) 13:13, 27 February 2026 (UTC)		:And while I distinctly remember him approving broader use of the term for cases that don't strictly fit that pattern but fit the "sense" of the word about technology getting worse — this is the page about the word and its definition. Sticking to the canonical interpretation makes sense to me. Especially when this wiki has (or can/should have) pages on more specific issues where only they apply. [[User:D-side\|D-side]] ([[User talk:D-side\|talk]]) 13:13, 27 February 2026 (UTC)
	::Thanks. Agree. [[User:CrookKilla\|CrookKilla]] ([[User talk:CrookKilla\|talk]]) 03:33, 4 March 2026 (UTC)		::Thanks. Agree. [[User:CrookKilla\|CrookKilla]] ([[User talk:CrookKilla\|talk]]) 03:33, 4 March 2026 (UTC)

			== non-monopolistic decay ==

			I think I've found an instance of panic-driven enshittification (rather than monopoly/power-driven): https://danluu.com/cpu-bugs/ . TLDR: Intel cut costs on testing, so CPUs are more unreliable, but they can ship/deploy faster [[User:Rudxain\|Rudxain]] ([[User talk:Rudxain\|talk]]) 05:19, 29 March 2026 (UTC)

CrookKilla: /* Some stuff to expand on/include? Keep to the narrow definition on the page? */ Reply

2026-03-04T03:33:30Z

Some stuff to expand on/include? Keep to the narrow definition on the page?: Reply

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:33, 4 March 2026
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	:Enshittification per Cory Doctorow is a higher-level pattern that ''composes'' these practices into a pattern of major development stages of a whole bunch of different services (lock-in end-users, exploit end-users for the benefit of business customers, exploit business customers for the benefit of the platform — platform becomes a pile of shit, hence enshittification).		:Enshittification per Cory Doctorow is a higher-level pattern that ''composes'' these practices into a pattern of major development stages of a whole bunch of different services (lock-in end-users, exploit end-users for the benefit of business customers, exploit business customers for the benefit of the platform — platform becomes a pile of shit, hence enshittification).
	:And while I distinctly remember him approving broader use of the term for cases that don't strictly fit that pattern but fit the "sense" of the word about technology getting worse — this is the page about the word and its definition. Sticking to the canonical interpretation makes sense to me. Especially when this wiki has (or can/should have) pages on more specific issues where only they apply. [[User:D-side\|D-side]] ([[User talk:D-side\|talk]]) 13:13, 27 February 2026 (UTC)		:And while I distinctly remember him approving broader use of the term for cases that don't strictly fit that pattern but fit the "sense" of the word about technology getting worse — this is the page about the word and its definition. Sticking to the canonical interpretation makes sense to me. Especially when this wiki has (or can/should have) pages on more specific issues where only they apply. [[User:D-side\|D-side]] ([[User talk:D-side\|talk]]) 13:13, 27 February 2026 (UTC)
			::Thanks. Agree. [[User:CrookKilla\|CrookKilla]] ([[User talk:CrookKilla\|talk]]) 03:33, 4 March 2026 (UTC)

D-side: /* Some stuff to expand on/include? Keep to the narrow definition on the page? */ Reply

2026-02-27T13:13:58Z

Some stuff to expand on/include? Keep to the narrow definition on the page?: Reply

CrookKilla: /* Some stuff to expand on/include? Keep to the narrow definition on the page? */ new section

2026-02-19T19:43:10Z

Some stuff to expand on/include? Keep to the narrow definition on the page?: new section

New page

== Some stuff to expand on/include? Keep to the narrow definition on the page? ==

When companies gradually make their existing products less functional to push sales of new ones, and avoid providing customer service to customers, is that enshittification? What are some other good terms for that?

While enshittification is the trendy term for this decay in digital services, there are several other established and more specific terms for the practices you described:

1. [[Planned obsolescence|Planned Obsolescence]]

This is the most common term for deliberately designing products with a limited lifespan to force consumers to buy newer models. It includes several sub-types:

* '''Functional Obsolescence:''' Engineering products with technical limitations or using inferior materials so they break or fail sooner than they naturally should.
* '''Systemic Obsolescence:''' Using software updates to make older hardware incompatible or slower (often called "software bloating" or "throttling").
* '''Contrived Fragility:''' Choosing fragile materials or suboptimal layouts specifically to increase wear and tear.

2. Service Degradation

This refers to the intentional lowering of quality or accessibility in customer support and services.

* '''Support Decay:''' When companies eliminate human support for everyone except high-paying "enterprise" tiers, leaving regular customers to deal with chatbots or non-existent service.
* '''Customer Irrelevance:''' A hallmark of late-stage capitalism where companies feel they no longer need to compete for customer satisfaction because they have achieved a monopoly or "lock-in".

3. Other Descriptive Terms

* '''Platform Decay:''' A more polite or academic synonym for enshittification, used to describe the systematic decline in quality of major internet platforms.
* '''Crapification:''' Another synonym used interchangeably with enshittification to describe once-useful products becoming "crap" as they prioritize rent-seeking over value.
* '''Adversarial Commercialization:''' A term used to describe when a company stops treating customers as peers and starts treating them as a "leash to be yanked" for more money.
* '''Rent-Seeking:''' When a company focuses on extracting value from existing users (through fees, subscriptions, or gated features) rather than creating new wealth or value.

[[User:CrookKilla|CrookKilla]] ([[User talk:CrookKilla|talk]]) 19:43, 19 February 2026 (UTC)

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:13, 27 February 2026
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	== Some stuff to expand on/include? Keep to the narrow definition on the page? ==		==Some stuff to expand on/include? Keep to the narrow definition on the page?==

	When companies gradually make their existing products less functional to push sales of new ones, and avoid providing customer service to customers, is that enshittification? What are some other good terms for that?		When companies gradually make their existing products less functional to push sales of new ones, and avoid providing customer service to customers, is that enshittification? What are some other good terms for that?
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	This is the most common term for deliberately designing products with a limited lifespan to force consumers to buy newer models. It includes several sub-types:		This is the most common term for deliberately designing products with a limited lifespan to force consumers to buy newer models. It includes several sub-types:

	* '''Functional Obsolescence:''' Engineering products with technical limitations or using inferior materials so they break or fail sooner than they naturally should.		*'''Functional Obsolescence:''' Engineering products with technical limitations or using inferior materials so they break or fail sooner than they naturally should.
	* '''Systemic Obsolescence:''' Using software updates to make older hardware incompatible or slower (often called "software bloating" or "throttling").		*'''Systemic Obsolescence:''' Using software updates to make older hardware incompatible or slower (often called "software bloating" or "throttling").
	* '''Contrived Fragility:''' Choosing fragile materials or suboptimal layouts specifically to increase wear and tear.		*'''Contrived Fragility:''' Choosing fragile materials or suboptimal layouts specifically to increase wear and tear.

	2. Service Degradation		2. Service Degradation
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	This refers to the intentional lowering of quality or accessibility in customer support and services.		This refers to the intentional lowering of quality or accessibility in customer support and services.

	* '''Support Decay:''' When companies eliminate human support for everyone except high-paying "enterprise" tiers, leaving regular customers to deal with chatbots or non-existent service.		*'''Support Decay:''' When companies eliminate human support for everyone except high-paying "enterprise" tiers, leaving regular customers to deal with chatbots or non-existent service.
	* '''Customer Irrelevance:''' A hallmark of late-stage capitalism where companies feel they no longer need to compete for customer satisfaction because they have achieved a monopoly or "lock-in".		*'''Customer Irrelevance:''' A hallmark of late-stage capitalism where companies feel they no longer need to compete for customer satisfaction because they have achieved a monopoly or "lock-in".

	3. Other Descriptive Terms		3. Other Descriptive Terms

	* '''Platform Decay:''' A more polite or academic synonym for enshittification, used to describe the systematic decline in quality of major internet platforms.		*'''Platform Decay:''' A more polite or academic synonym for enshittification, used to describe the systematic decline in quality of major internet platforms.
	* '''Crapification:''' Another synonym used interchangeably with enshittification to describe once-useful products becoming "crap" as they prioritize rent-seeking over value.		*'''Crapification:''' Another synonym used interchangeably with enshittification to describe once-useful products becoming "crap" as they prioritize rent-seeking over value.
	* '''Adversarial Commercialization:''' A term used to describe when a company stops treating customers as peers and starts treating them as a "leash to be yanked" for more money.		*'''Adversarial Commercialization:''' A term used to describe when a company stops treating customers as peers and starts treating them as a "leash to be yanked" for more money.
	* '''Rent-Seeking:''' When a company focuses on extracting value from existing users (through fees, subscriptions, or gated features) rather than creating new wealth or value.		*'''Rent-Seeking:''' When a company focuses on extracting value from existing users (through fees, subscriptions, or gated features) rather than creating new wealth or value.

	[[User:CrookKilla\|CrookKilla]] ([[User talk:CrookKilla\|talk]]) 19:43, 19 February 2026 (UTC)		[[User:CrookKilla\|CrookKilla]] ([[User talk:CrookKilla\|talk]]) 19:43, 19 February 2026 (UTC)

			:Enshittification per Cory Doctorow is a higher-level pattern that ''composes'' these practices into a pattern of major development stages of a whole bunch of different services (lock-in end-users, exploit end-users for the benefit of business customers, exploit business customers for the benefit of the platform — platform becomes a pile of shit, hence enshittification).
			:And while I distinctly remember him approving broader use of the term for cases that don't strictly fit that pattern but fit the "sense" of the word about technology getting worse — this is the page about the word and its definition. Sticking to the canonical interpretation makes sense to me. Especially when this wiki has (or can/should have) pages on more specific issues where only they apply. [[User:D-side\|D-side]] ([[User talk:D-side\|talk]]) 13:13, 27 February 2026 (UTC)