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Beyond enshittification, why does tech oftentimes suck? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by Hammocks4All@lemmy.ml to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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Sometimes I’ll run into a baffling issue with a tech product — be it headphones, Google apps like maps or its search features, Apple products, Spotify, other apps, and so on — and when I look for solutions online I sometimes discover this has been an issue for years. Sometimes for many many years.

These tech companies are sometimes ENORMOUS. How is it that these issues persist? Why do some things end up being so inefficient, unintuitive, or clunky? Why do I catch myself saying “oh my dear fucking lord” under my breath so often when I use tech?

Are there no employees who check forums? Does the architecture become so huge and messy that something seemingly simple is actually super hard to fix? Do these companies not have teams that test this stuff?

Why is it so pervasive? And why does some of it seem to be ignored for literal years? Sometimes even a decade!

Is it all due to enshittification? Do they trap us in as users and then stop giving a shit? Or is there more to it than that?

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[–] InternetCitizen2@lemmy.world 22 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Reputational damage isn’t something they understand

Is this really the case? I feel like they might, but are deciding that its "worth the cost of business"

[–] AdNecrias@lemmy.pt 10 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I'd think since companies get big enough they can just buy the promising competition before it becomes a problem, I'd say it's a worthwhile cost to them

[–] nilloc@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Yeah, lack of competition is driving a lot of this. Fixing bugs doesn’t increase their stock value. It doesn’t make the line go up.

Launching products and bragging about profits makes the line go up (especially just before a quarter or monthly report is due).

AT&T/Bell Telephone was like this for years until they were finally broken up (nominally). When cellphones came out and provided nationwide competition, long distance suddenly became free.

We need to bust up google, Facebook, etc. They have nothing to push them to be better, just CEO egos and investors to please.

[–] P00ptart@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Facebook as a product is over. It's like 90% ads. I almost never see my friends posts anymore.

[–] nilloc@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Its marketplace has been really popular in my area. Craigslist has all but dried up for may item types.

But they own Instagram as well don’t forget, and they have bought out many other competitors that we won’t ever get to experience.