I’ll put an offender on blast: Max.
A couple of months ago I subscribed to the highest tier, ad-free plan. Around a week into it, we started getting ads for different kinds of sports shows, interrupting the shows and movies at random spots just like traditional ads on television.
First thing first: Back in the days when we rode our Dimetrodons to school both ways uphill in fallen volcanic ash, we called it Cinemax and HBO was separate. And neither one of them had ads show up in the middle of their content because they were premium channels.
Second thing second: When I contacted customer service about it, they actually had the audacity to tell me that those aren’t ads, they are previews for other content offered in their service.
So to me, whether it is a bug in their system or the definition of ad has changed in the ensuing millennia since I first learned its meaning, the fact that there are even ads in premium media services like these is a prime example of enshittification to me.
Ads on a service I directly paid for was the line for me as well. I have no tolerance for that nonsense and it boggles my mind that anyone else does either.
If even a tenth of the subscriber base for any of these services cancelled because of ads they’d be gone so fast you’d get whiplash, and yet most people just put up with it.
Bad article. Weak, had a chance to put actual offenders on blast with their platform but just softballs it with “general concepts” they feel are shitty. Aside from google stuff like search that is the most softball answer. And more likely google isn’t one of their advertisers
Ars itself has become pretty enshittified. It doesn’t hold a candle when compared to itself 10 years ago. Also, they mentioned Doctorow several times but apparently they couldn’t be arsed to put even a single link to his blog… why?
They fear Cory, as should they all.
Even the part about Google Search only highlights the AI crap and skips over the real problem of increasingly worse search results. The whole article is more of a rant from a user’s perspective and there aren’t any real insights.
Another space where they avoid offending advertisers, who are the real thing that ruined google search (along with seo bullshit).
Like if the only change to google search was the ai blurb I don’t think people would care nearly as much. They care because the actual results are heavily weighted to be sponsored results above all else for the entire first page, and the second page is designed to redirect you to images or other things that push you to start a new search (thus seeing new sponsored results). What you wanted to find is meaningless, it’s solely about shoveling products and services down your fucking throat
About the PDF chapter: you (and the publishers) use it wrong. PDF was never intended for processing, only for representation; think of it as a digital print. Scientific stuff should be published in an e-book format instead.
I don’t know if that has been enshittified or was has always been shit in the first place but:
Annotation Apps
Seriously, how hard is it to make an app that let’s me make markups, use a stylus, and share that across devices.
Exhibit A: Xodo
It was once free, with all the good features, but then they took those features away and implemented a subscription model.Exhibit B: Drawboard PDF
Once, came free with a Surface Pro or was a buy once use forever software, until Microsoft took a away all the bought licenses and locked most features behind a paid subscribtion.Exhibit C: Saber
Its free. It doesn’t use Windows Ink. Why even bother?Exhibit D: Adobe Acrobat Reader
Hahahahahahaahahaaaaaaaaaaahaaaa *Wheeze* hahahhhahaahahahaaaaaExhibit E: Microsoft One Note
Aneurism Simulator. You know how printing things suck because printers never play along? Microsoft decided to solve this problem by making printing out One Note sheets properly almost impossible on the software level. Also it can’t open PDFs properly or have normal A-Format pages. Either infinite drawing space or nothing.Exhibit F: Samsung Notes
Actually decent. Free. Android Only. But at least it keeps the annotations separated from the PDF so you can still edit them after transfer. Good choice.While right on a lot of things, how was windows not shitty from the beginning?
this list is more concepts then actual enshittification. No YouTube, no reference to Google searches less helpful results. No reference to ad overload plaguing more services. No reference to crappy TOS’s with artibution clauses. It’s just using an excuse to say AI bad and rehash concepts learned back in 2015 with the drive to drop cable.
Arse Technica is the prime example of enshittification
I don’t get it, why you’re being downvoted for saying something true? Ars was much better years ago
