zlacker

>>pictur+(OP)
This enshittifcation is endemic. Corporations cannot just release a good product and support it. The better the product is and the larger the customer base becomes, the higher the likelihood that some business planner is going to see dollar signs and try to squeeze the product for everything it’s worth. And every time this ruins the product. And we’re here with a proprietary phone OS and proprietary apps. Proprietary firmwares on proprietary hardware. And we are completely at the whim of these companies.

And the option is what, buy a Zigbee dongle and a raspberry pi run some code written by unpaid enthusiasts? 3D print a case for it and mount it on the wall, running updates and fixing it ever few months when some package update breaks it?

I like the concept of lights that run from an app. I don’t have any of the physical Hue switches for my system and it’s fine. But I do not want an app that abuses me, and I do not want to maintain some fragile project made from slapped together code. I want robust open hardware with open source software.

I’m convinced that we can achieve this, but it won’t be with the current model of business and engineering we have today.

>>Taylor+We
I observed this enshittification happen at my tech company. When we were smaller, the C-Suite bent over backwards to keep the product good and sane.

Then they went public. This attracted a lot of new managers and ladder hoppers.

As a public company, the board, the C-Suite, the immense layers of management all were incentivized to boost stock prices to boost their own compensation.

They did this ethically during the low interest rate environment. But with higher interest rates, the only way to maintain growth is via scummy nickel and diming.

So execs and all the management layers do nothing but enshittify the product so that the gravy train can continue for at least a few more quarters.

Thus, customers are left hanging with shitty products.

Imo, the solution is to never buy long-term subscriptions from public companies with listed stocks, if possible.