Enshittification - Part 2

I liked the first podcast with Cory Doctorow so much that I listened to a second one: "Capitalism ruins everything".

Roughly the same subject as the previous podcast, with a particular focus on mergers and acquisitions that create giants which become de facto monopolies.

A few new ideas that stuck with me:

• "Chickenization" describes the horizontal and vertical integration of some industries, on the model of chicken farming: the big agribusiness group tells farmers which breed to raise, how to feed them, how to lay out the space, what time to turn the lights on and off... The farmers have no power. Without knowing it, they can be part of an "experiment": overnight, the chickens die. For the farmer, it's a tragedy; for the group, one more data point to gain more control.
• When buyers consolidate into large groups, sellers have no choice but to do the same to fight back, which leaves the end consumer with even less choice.
• Amazon lost $100 million in one month giving away baby diapers... to sink a competitor that had started delivering diapers. A warning to every entrepreneur.
• Artists' individual copyright can't protect them against large groups when the negotiation is that lopsided. Collective rights look like a better way.
• Microsoft may have won the 2001 antitrust case, but Bill Gates's deposition was devastating for him and for his company. The punishment is the process, not the outcome. That's why most large groups prefer to negotiate. Even so, we need faster solutions than lawsuits that sometimes take decades.
• Not having a map doesn't mean there's no path. Sometimes you have to feel your way to find the openings: that's the foundation of hope.

This guy, Cory Doctorow, a former science fiction writer turned activist, is fascinating. I'm going to follow him more closely.