Enshittification on Top:
` While reading through a recent Quora post that caught my attention, I was reminded of a wickedly sharp piece from Ars Technica cataloguing how beloved internet services and platforms are steadily going to hell. Cory Doctorow coined the term enshittification for this exact trend—when companies gut the user experience to chase short-term profits. What follows is a condensed version—about half the original length—for copyright reasons. Some original language has been preserved, while other sections have been trimmed or reworded. Dashes indicate removed passages.
As Internet Enshittification Marches On, Here Are Some of the Worst Offenders
Adapted from Ars Technica, Feb 2025
Two years ago, Canadian writer Cory Doctorow coined the word enshittification to describe the rot taking over online platforms. It resonated instantly.
“We’re all living through a great enshittening,” Doctorow wrote. “The services that matter to us… are turning into giant piles of shit.”
Doctorow blames this on the systematic erosion of four constraints on corporate power: competition, regulation, self-help, and tech workers. And when those fail? The poop hits the fan.
Take Amazon: When Diapers.com rejected a buyout, Amazon tanked diaper prices to drive them out. Once the competition was gone, prices rebounded. Literal enshittification.
📺 Smart TVs
Smart TVs have become surveillance billboards. Companies like LG now ship remotes without input buttons but with shortcuts to ad-filled webOS apps.
“Suddenly, buying a dumb TV seems smarter than buying a smart one.” —Scharon Harding
Even budget brands like Roku sell hardware at a loss, making money by harvesting and selling your data. The consumer experience? Almost an afterthought.
🗣️ Google Assistant
Once helpful, now half-deaf. Google Assistant’s decline has been slow but unmistakable. Simple tasks—turning on lights, setting alarms—frequently fail.
“Your Assistant is hard of hearing, takes a lot of days off, and knows it's due for retirement.” —Kevin Purdy
While Google pivots to AI, they’re quietly letting their voice assistant rot. You can’t buy real help for $50 anymore.
📄 The PDF
PDFs once offered a reliable way to share documents. Now? They’re bloated, buggy, and miserable to work with.
“I now wish the journals would just give me a giant PNG.” —John Timmer
Academic PDFs are especially bad: text is often unselectable or garbled, thanks to the dark magic of footnote formatting.
🚴 Televised Sports
For a brief, shining moment, GCN+ streamed nearly every pro cycling race for $40/year. Then Warner Bros. Discovery bought it.
Now US fans need three different streaming services to watch the same races—at a cost of over $550 annually.
“The new monthly price is the same as we used to pay for a year of the superior service.” —Eric Berger
Even the Tour de France is vanishing from free TV. Formula 1 and NFL games are also slipping behind paywalls. Bad news for fans, great for shareholders.
🔍 Google Search
Once the gold standard, Google Search now forces users through AI-generated sludge before showing actual results.
“Sponsored posts were mildly irritating—AI is now a forced detour.” —Ashley Belanger
Searching a quote used to pull up the exact document. Now, AI "summarizes" it, often missing the point entirely.
📬 Gmail’s Gemini AI
Gmail keeps nagging users to try Gemini AI, despite disclaimers warning it might not be accurate.
“I still haven’t found the ‘not ever’ option.” —Dan Goodin
Even after turning off smart features, the Gemini icon lurks at the top of every email. Thanks, I hate it.
🪟 Windows 11
Windows 11 didn’t invent forced Edge installs or silent telemetry—it just doubled down on them.
“Most of the stuff you hate about Windows 11 actually started with Windows 10.” —Andrew Cunningham
Updates now break peripherals, introduce weird bugs, and pile on AI tools that few asked for. Microsoft says 2025 is the “Year of the PC Refresh.” Most users say “pass.”
🗣️ Online Language
Internet-speak is devolving. Words like “cringe” are everywhere. Every job change is “personal news.” Every AI startup is “revolutionizing” something.
“LinkedIn jargon causes me the most despair.” —Jacob May
In the chase for virality, originality has died. Everyone's mimicking everyone else. No wonder the robots are taking over.
If you’ve got your own stories of digital disappointment, you’re not alone. The enshittening is real—and it’s probably in your inbox, on your TV, and under your mouse right now.
