HBR IdeaCast The Trouble with Tech Companies (and Their Strategies)
223 snips
Oct 7, 2025 
Cory Doctorow, a journalist and digital rights advocate, discusses the troubling decline of major tech companies like Facebook and Google. He introduces his concept of 'enshittification,' explaining how platforms lure users but eventually prioritize shareholders over quality service. Doctorow emphasizes the negative impact on consumers and society, illustrating how lock-in mechanisms keep users trapped. He offers insights on collective action for reform and points out recent global enforcement as a beacon of hope for a more equitable digital landscape.
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Three-Stage Platform Decline
- Platforms initially prioritize end users to build scale and lock-in.
- Once users are locked, platforms shift value to business customers and then shareholders.
How Lock-In Works
- Lock-in arises from many mechanisms: legal, technical, and social.
- These switching costs prevent users and businesses from leaving even when platforms worsen.
Printer Ink Example
- Doctorow uses printers to show software locks making cartridges expensive and switching hard.
- Firmware access controls create legal penalties that enforce vendor lock-in.
