zergblush

As a heavy app user, I absolutely abhor the bait and switch, on top of annoyances such as in-app subscriptions (I don’t mind one time in-app purchases for keeping permanent feature upgrades).

In this case, it sounds like their users may have been feeling baited and switched, having invested their time into the product only to have to pay to continue using it without watermarking.

If my understanding of the above is accurate, then they may have already destroyed their trust relationship with their current users..

He’s sketching out a main point that a few are subjugating the rest using some sort of apportioned rights (in this case, runaway technological inertia and money leading to a positive feedback loop of even more inertia)

I think you’re missing the forest for the trees by concentrating on the historical robustness of his feudalism reference

My immediate thought was that he meant something more like corporate city states ala cyberpunk themes presciented by blade runner and shadowrun

He’s providing an economics type analysis.