1169
Google fucked a whole generation with Chromebooks, and now they're fucking the next generation with AI
(slrpnk.net)
this post was submitted on 21 Jun 2025
1169 points (90.7% liked)
Enshittification
2923 readers
173 users here now
What is enshittification?
The phenomenon of online platforms gradually degrading the quality of their services, often by promoting advertisements and sponsored content, in order to increase profits. (Cory Doctorow, 2022, extracted from Wikitionary) source
The lifecycle of Big Internet
We discuss how predatory big tech platforms live and die by luring people in and then decaying for profit.
Embrace, extend and extinguish
We also discuss how naturally open technologies like the Fediverse can be susceptible to corporate takeovers, rugpulls and subsequent enshittification.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
The switch to PCs did happen in the late 90's but not reacting to some walled garden from Apple.
In the 80's, schools saw computers as a tool to teach general skills to students. The Apple II was a machine to run Number Munchers and Oregon Trail on. Especially for younger kids, "computer skills" weren't really taught.
By the late 90's the tide had shifted. Computer literacy was becoming a requirement in more and more jobs, and IBM with their Microsoft-based PCs and the ecosystem they accidentally created had a massive grip on the business world. So schools needed to start teaching classes in Windows and Office.
Apple made a big comeback with their pivot to the fashion and jewelry industry but never recaptured the hold on education they once had.