Today's threads (a thread)
Inside: Enshittification, the audiobook (the Kickstarter); and more!
Archived at: https://pluralistic.net/2025/08/25/disenshittified-audiobooks/
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Discussion
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@pluralistic Thank you for this very long thread, I really appreciate all the detailed information because there's so much about this I don't know. I am having to start to rely on audiobooks and I saw the problems quickly. I have Libro.FM and Libby for now. I'm only using a phone, not computer and realized I don't even know where an audiobook would show up if I bought it from a website?? Either way, I will be checking out your Kickstarter right away😊
@Star12Mt @pluralistic audiobookshelf is a mighty good alternative.
Enshittification, the audiobook (the Kickstarter): A disenshittified audiobook about enshittification.
https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic/115089897292071274
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Hey look at this
* A Different Kind of Tension https://jonathanlethem.com/
* Why the Internet is Turning to Shit https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/why-the-internet-is-turning-to-shit
* Did this Kid Use AI to Fake Research About How Great AI Is? https://skepchick.org/2025/08/did-this-kid-use-ai-to-fake-research-about-how-great-ai-is/
* Is it illegal to not buy ads on X? Experts explain the FTC’s bizarre ad fight. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/08/is-it-illegal-to-not-buy-ads-on-x-experts-explain-the-ftcs-bizarre-ad-fight/
* Nomad Cycles: E-Bikes made with soul, not just to be sold! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nomadcycles/nomad-cycles-e-bikes-made-with-soul-not-just-to-be-sold (h/t Nathan)
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#20yrsago Court: DMCA can’t prohibit third-party repairs https://web.archive.org/web/20050912004536/https://www.corante.com/copyfight/archives/2005/08/24/fed_circuit_smacks_down_bad_dmca_decision_re_independent_repair_techs.php
#20yrsago Chinese government mandating 3-hour caps on MMO playing https://www.gamespot.com/articles/china-govt-steps-up-limits-on-online-gaming/1100-6131845/
#20yrsago ItPlaysQuake: reviews of Quake-ports on odd hardware https://web.archive.org/web/20051122053035/http://www.itplaysquake.com/
#20yrsago DRM != SSL https://memex.craphound.com/2005/08/24/drm-ssl/
#20yrsago FBI stages fake wedding, invites mobsters, arrests gift-bearing guests https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-aug-23-na-gang23-story.html
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#20yrsago What the *&^%#!? is an “open source DRM?” https://web.archive.org/web/20050903070248/https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/003928.php
#20yrsago Why some “piracy” can increase overall revenues https://longtail.typepad.com/the_long_tail/2005/08/just_enough_pir.html
#15yrsago Play a digital version of a lost “perception-altering” Freemasonry board-game https:/www.dpoetry.com/fires/
#10yrsago The FBI kept files on author Ray Bradbury: “Definitely slanted against the United States” https://memex.craphound.com/2015/08/24/the-fbi-kept-files-on-author-ray-bradbury-definitely-slanted-against-the-united-states/
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#10yrsago Car information security is a complete wreck — here’s why https://memex.craphound.com/2015/08/23/car-information-security-is-a-complete-wreck-heres-why/
#5yrsago Quantifying the meritocratic delusion https://pluralistic.net/2020/08/23/visionary-art/#meritocratic-delusion
#5yrsago Chinese sf guidelines https://pluralistic.net/2020/08/24/raise-the-spirits-of-scientists/#taikonaut-futurism
#5yrsago Don't use Bridgefy at protests https://pluralistic.net/2020/08/24/raise-the-spirits-of-scientists/#threat-models
#5yrsago Concretizing "Main St vs Wall St" https://pluralistic.net/2020/08/24/raise-the-spirits-of-scientists/#main-st-wall-st
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Saturday's threads: Friction cannot be reduced, it can only be redistributed; and more!
https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic/115078491981129915
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My latest novel is "Picks and Shovels," a historical technothriller set in the Weird Era of the PC, about Ponzi schemes, techbros, and the dawn of enshittification:
https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865908/picksandshovels
--
My next nonfiction book is "Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It," out from MCD/Farrar, Straus and Giroux on October 7:
https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374619329/enshittification/
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My ebooks and audiobooks (from Tor Books, Head of Zeus, McSweeneys, Beacon, Verso and others) are for sale all over the net, but I sell 'em too, and when you buy 'em from me, I earn twice as much and you get books with no DRM and no license "agreements."
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Upcoming appearances:
* #Ithaca: AD White keynote (Cornell), Sep 12
https://deanoffaculty.cornell.edu/events/keynote-cory-doctorow-professor-at-large/
* #DC: Enshittification at Politics and Prose, with Rohit Chopra, Oct 8
https://politics-prose.com/cory-doctorow-10825
* #SanFrancisco: Enshittification at Public Works (The Booksmith), Oct 20
https://app.gopassage.com/events/doctorow25
* #NewOrleans: DeepSouthCon63, Oct 10-12
http://www.contraflowscifi.org/
* #Chicago: Enshittification with Kara Swisher (Chicago Humanities), Oct 15
https://www.oldtownschool.org/concerts/2025/10-15-2025-kara-swisher-and-cory-doctorow-on-enshittification/
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