Episode #194: The Evils of En$#!+tification

In 2022, one-time BoingBoing.com editor Cory Doctorow coined the term "Enshittification" to describe a phenomenon with which every internet user is intimately familiar. Also referred to as "Platform Decay," enshittification is (according to Wikipedia): "a re-prioritization pattern where online product and service providers experience a decline in quality over time." In other words, That Thing You Like is great at first, and then morphs into a lesser version of itself. Think: apps that de-activate features, websites that install paywalls, DRM *yoinking* a book off of your e-Reader over rights issues, and video games that wedge in ads and microtransactions. Clearly, we can't have nice things. So in this episode of FYF, Saint and Jim take a look at the well-worn idea of "They changed it, now it sucks."