Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It
by Cory Doctorow
338 pages, Hardcover
Published October, 2025 by MCD
This might end up being a shorter review than many I post in part because I don’t feel as compelled to express myself as long windedly over non-fiction. This is in part research for a novel I may or may not write. The internet turning to shit is indeed one of the things I wanted to explore. I have lots of respect for Doctorow even though I have never connected strongly with his work personally.
The first half of this book ( that I get the sense was complied blog entries is a very helpful look at how technology, and the companies that provide easily turn to shit. He starts with Facebook, which of course did not start with good intentions, but was a good product for a while. Capitalism comes along ruins it. This connects dots and really help show casehow it went bad.
Doctorow sees a pattern of “Enshitification” that happens also to Amazon, the iPhone, and Twitter. The last of which he seems to be able to live with more than I could.
There is a short section on the pathology, which is OK. The third part the epidemiology, and this is where I felt the wheels spin in this book a bit. Still some very important stuff here.
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