Week 1524 - One Pull-up and One Classic Example of Enshittification

The Concept Explained

Counting Down to 90 - Week 1579

Why 1579

Bhavin's WritingsBhavin Jankharia

Audio

None

Text

The Pull-Up

I finally am able to do one pull-up and I wrote about this.

The Pull-Up

The pull-up is the apex exercise, the grand-daddy of them all. If there is one movement to focus on, it would be this, the only one where it “you-versus-you”, pulling up your own body weight. In the 60th year of my life, I have finally managed to do one, consistently and hence this ode to pull-ups.

AtmasvasthBhavin Jankharia

Enshittification

This is a term coined by Cory Doctorow sometime in 2022 to describe how big tech and other companies and services lock-in customers and then screw them because the customers don't have a choice. He has also recently published a book on the subject - here is a New Yorker review.

The Age of Enshittification

In a new book, the technology critic Cory Doctorow expands on a coinage that has become bleakly relevant, in Silicon Valley and beyond.

The New YorkerKyle Chayka

I have been an Amazon prime user now for many years. This allows "prime" delivery service and access to the entire Amazon Prime library including movies, shows, etc.

Last week, while watching the season finale of Gen-V, the episode started being interrupted by ads every 10 minutes. I can understand if you are not a paid user, but a prime membership means no ads. I rechecked online and found that if I paid another Rs. 649, then I could avoid seeing those ads. Amazon had quietly introduced ads even though I pay for Prime and then added an escape route, provided I pay more.

This is classic enshittification. Using the power they have because I am hooked to their shows and movies (even if it were to be just one show) to extract even more money by creating unnecessary friction and then making me pay money to get rid of that irritant.

This is complete bullshit.