"Car companies are on the forefront of postcapitalism, and they understand that digital is the key to rent-extraction."

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/24/rent-to-pwn/#kitt-is-a-demon

#enshittification #autoenshittification #rentextraction #latestagecapitalism #endstagecapitalism

I enjoyed this thoughtful piece by Cory Doctorow @pluralistic reflecting on the long history of conflict between those who want the web to be a commons for all to enjoy and contribute to, and the corporations who want to enclose the commons so that they can extract rent.

https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/23/semipermeable-membranes/#free-as-in-puppies

#web #RentExtraction #commons #fediverse

They didn't block new features for shits and giggles, though - the method to this madness was #RentExtraction. The iron-clad rule of the Bell System was that anything that improved on the basic service had to have a price-tag attached. Every phone "feature" was a recurring source of monthly revenue for the phone company - even the phone itself, which you couldn't buy, and had to rent, month after month, year after year, until you'd paid for it hundreds of times over.

5/