Why consumer choice is stripped away and how the tech industry profits from it

Only regulation moves the needle. switching costs probably compound faster than frustration. Every quarter you stay on a platform, your exit cost goes up a little. Not enough to leave today, but enough to make leaving next quarter harder too. Companies don't need you to like the change. They just need you to not leave this quarter.

Because of how silent enshittification is becoming the norm, whenever I find a new service or program or app that I like I always wonder how long I actually have to enjoy the app before it starts removing features, ends interoperability, shuts down their APIs, or sells out to someone else who will do it for them. I'm not necessarily an open source ideologue, but it's the only type of software I feel moderately safe with making a part of my digital routine.

Let us all reflect on AI with a core point this article is trying to make: that we build habits around a product. The industry goal is to have our dependency. What a fabulous position to be in where we can’t think or code without a subscription their LLM assets.

"Moloch whose mind is pure machinery! Moloch whose blood is running money! Moloch whose fingers are ten armies! Moloch whose breast is a cannibal dynamo! Moloch whose ear is a smoking tomb!"

What an angry blogpost!