PotsandPlots

I’ve been a big fan of Cory Doctorow’s fiction for a long time, but I had never read any of his non-fiction. I was poking around on Spotify when I came across the audiobook of Enshittification. This had been on my want-to-read list since it came out, and so I clicked play.

The irony of listening to the book using Spotify on my Google phone was not lost on me, though the two of them aren’t, by a long shot, the worst offenders in the book.

Growing Information:

Plant With: Tech, Tech Bros, Modern Life Is Rubbish.

Grows Into: An examination of the enshittification problem and a manifesto to make things better.

Rating: Vibrant Annual 🌻🌻 (Check here for rating information.)

Audiobook notes – Well read by the author!

Available Now In Hardback, Digital and Audiobook (Affiliate Link)

The Review:

Cory Doctorow coined the term “enshittification” several years ago, and it has been one of my favourite words since I first heard it.

Enshittification essentially boils down to “the thing I was using (usually tech) used to be great, but now sucks.” Anybody who has used Facebook for any length of time knows exactly what enshittification is, but you’re bound to have encountered it in countless small ways across your daily life.

In Enshittification, Doctorow uses case studies to show it in action, and then outlines some ideas of how to work around it. The first part will make your blood boil, the second will leave you with the small hope that things might get better.

The bulk of the book was written before the election of Donald Trump, though not before Doctorow could offer some thoughts on what his election might mean for the consolidation or combating of enshittification. (I had sort of thought this would be wholly negative, but the book offers some reasons why, even under the orange narcissist man-baby, enshittification might yet be de-pooped.)

Should I Read This Book?

In short, “Yes.”

Enshittification outlines, with limited technical jargon, why and how companies design their apps, policies and algorithms to screw users, both end-users (us) and companies (the advertisers) as much as possible. I think most of us know that some pretty shonky practices are going on out there. Doctorow shows us the depth of the shonkyness.

The central tenet of enshittification is the cynical worsening of products we’ve come to rely on to maximise shareholder profits. Some of this boils down to “because Capitalism,” but Doctorow deftly explains how enshittification goes even deeper.

By halfway through the book, I was ready to throw away my phone, burn my Mac and never use Amazon again. Of course, in reality, I’m not going to do that – though I have been actively trying to do the last one as much as possible since I read Rob Hart’s The Warehouse.

The opening two-thirds of the books show how various systems were created and then gradually enshittified. The final third is a manifesto of sorts for how to fix them. Arguably, this boils down to the collective creation of a “new good internet” with better targeted legislation. (There is an interesting section on how current legislation is almost pointless, with examples about hacking your iPhone that sound like something Kafka would have discarded for being too nightmarish.)

I was left somewhat comforted that things could get better, but pessimistic that governments would manage to get their acts together before the goalposts shifted again. With AI already dominating the next wave of technology, the turning circles of legislative bodies feel like they’re too large to move into a position to make a difference.

Nevertheless, forewarned is forearmed, and reading Enshittification will, firstly, rile readers up, meaning they might think deeper before happily accepting the status quo. Secondly, it teaches us what to look out for, pitfalls to avoid, and ways to work collectively to prevent the creep of enshittification into every aspect of life.

Despite its dire warnings and gloomy report of all problems created by enshittification, I greatly enjoyed my time spent listening to Cory read Enshittification. He’s a humorous and warm writer. It’s hard to know whether Enshittification will bring about meaningful change, but reading it, I couldn’t help but think we need more Cory Doctorows in the world.