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The author names it The Rot Economy, which I think is a good, appropriate, and accurate name.

He touches on Enshitification theory (via @pluralistic ) but spends less time talking about the mechanism by which things are getting worse, and more time talking about the subjective experience of living through enshitification, and also about the growth mindset that enables it.

The analysis is good! The subjective experience of using technology today is deeply painful. We've allowed the shitty smug nerd in our heads to convince us that it's acceptable becuase we know how to deal with it, but it's still a struggle, an assault. It's still Bad.

Growth for the sake of growth is rot.

Seeing it spelled out in very clear terms, in very specific terms, sends a powerful message.

(Cont.)

The call to action section is the weakest part of the piece. It is not weak, but it is weaker than everything else.

I want to talk about that for a second, both what the author recommends and also what I recommend.

The author recommends putting a name to this rot, calling it out, explaining it to others, and identifying the people responsible. This is a great start! Google search didn't just get worse on its own, Prabhakar Raghavan instructed a team to destroy it. There is a person, a team of people, behind this decay.

I see the change for the sake of change / growth at any cost mindset in places where I really shouldn't, thought. Mastodon, for example. It seems like each new release has some new Growth Hack inspired assault. Eugen isn't doing it for exactly the same reasons, but the root is still a mindset that values Growth over every other metric.

We are in an abusive relationship with technology.

So, yes, give it a name. Explain it. Notice it. Be outraged by it.

But also, at every opportunity we have, we have to reject it. (I noted, as I read the original article that I was accosted and asked for my email address twice, the second time while reading a section about how invasive and useless that is)

There are places that the Rot has not yet reached. We must identify them, share them, and embrace them.

(Linux and BSD, the fediverse in general, peertube, physical media, jellyfin/kodi)

When The Rot comes to places that should have been safe, we have to destroy them. Starve them of the users that power them or actually burn them to the ground. If you don't sanitize the area, the Rot will spread.

That means Ubuntu. That means bluesky. That means, in many ways, mastodon as a software platform.