Enshitification –must-read!
Food, clothing, cars, social media… you name it:
Every industry has reduced itself down to around 5 main “competitors” who control it.
Every industry has reduced itself down to around 5 main “competitors” who control it.
“Enshitification” is the consequence – expensive crap all around us.
You have probably seen the “funny” video of two vendors of melons or eggs adjusting their pricing, ending up with one buying the other’s supply and raising the original price once there is no competition left. That has happened around us a lot already.
The next step is quality. Next to raising prices, you can lower quality and, therefore, production costs to maximize margins/ profits. That has been happening also. It has happened in the food industry as well as in textile and also in the internet.
The next step is quality. Next to raising prices, you can lower quality and, therefore, production costs to maximize margins/ profits. That has been happening also. It has happened in the food industry as well as in textile and also in the internet.
I remember when I moved to Munich in 1996, that there were bakeries at every second corner. They were all a bit different, had their own bread, sweets own quality and prices. So there was a great choice where to go.
Then came Müller Brot. They were cheaper, had a good selection and the quality was really ok. And they popped up at more and more locations. Probably using economies of scale and investment money, they were able to keep prices low and quality high, driving many of the small bakeries out of business.
I haven’t counted, and there are definitely exceptions, but the general feeling when I visit Munich today, is that there are 5 bakery chains to chose from, considerably more expensive than pre-Müller times (adjusted for inflation and the Mark to Euro change, of course).
Then came Müller Brot. They were cheaper, had a good selection and the quality was really ok. And they popped up at more and more locations. Probably using economies of scale and investment money, they were able to keep prices low and quality high, driving many of the small bakeries out of business.
I haven’t counted, and there are definitely exceptions, but the general feeling when I visit Munich today, is that there are 5 bakery chains to chose from, considerably more expensive than pre-Müller times (adjusted for inflation and the Mark to Euro change, of course).
The following Financial Times article is a must-read if you are remotely interested in the future of the information our society is built on: https://www.ft.com/content/6fb1602d-a08b-4a8c-bac0-047b7d64aba5?segmentid=dcee0941-6e02-a9de-5643-b340f3ef2e3a