4 ms·

Cory is kind of the Jello Biafra[1] of technology. If you go back and listen to some of Jello's older spoken word albums... damn. The guy is right, a lot. Also

by jzb 3y ago

Cory is kind of the Jello Biafra[1] of technology. If you go back and listen to some of Jello's older spoken word albums... damn. The guy is right, a lot. Also extreme and definitely not for mainstream audiences -- which is unfortunate because those audiences really need to hear his message. But it's delivered in a way that is wholly unpalatable to anybody who's not already close to his thinking. [1] Former lead singer of the Dead Kennedys, continues to dabble in music with various bands / backing bands and has a YouTube series called "What Would Jello Do?" Also did a lot of spoken word shows but may have cut back on that in the COVID era.

jzb 3y ago
In case this is unclear: This is not an insult in any way. I have a lot of respect for Cory and Jello. They are, however, only for certain audiences and rely a lot on shock value and stylings that go over well with those audiences and work against them with others.
- 23B1 3y ago
  Oh I think the role of the 'jester' is super-important; humor (and music!) is an incredible carrier medium for cultural commentary. And I hate tone policing. I just think Cory Doctorow should grow the hell up. I've been reading his stuff for like, what, almost two decades now(!). Edgelords were fun up through the mid-2000s and then the rest of us grew up, realized shock value was for teenage boys, and learned to prefer well-constructed and thoughtful arguments over angst and vitriol.
  - vintagedave 3y ago
    What poorly constructed and non-thoughtful arguments does he make? His site pluralistic has lots of interesting long-form-twitter essays. https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/02/self-incrimination/#wei-bai-bai https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/02/self-incrimination/#wei-b... is one I'm reading now. It's clearly, bluntly stated (good, makes it hard to avoid) and cites lots of examples. He doesn't seem to go for shock value (to me.) That said, the term 'enshittification' is not shocking to me because of the swearword; I think we're all used to calling things BS, for example. I don't use terms like that at work, or at home, but that's personal taste in communication; it's not shocking and sometimes they are the most accurate and succinct terms.
    - 23B1 3y ago
      I'm not going to re-litigate every single one of Doctorow's many good and awful arguments. What I can say is that I can't say "enshittification" on a quarterly earnings call – y'know, to audiences with the power and authority to affect actual change.
      - datavirtue 3y ago
        Perfect collary, if you can't say things like that in a group, that group is incapable of change anyway.
        johnnyanmac 3y ago
        so your local/state/national government and workplace (which may or may not be the very places accused of enshittification) can't cause change?

by jzb 3y ago

jzb 3y ago

In case this is unclear: This is not an insult in any way. I have a lot of respect for Cory and Jello. They are, however, only for certain audiences and rely a lot on shock value and stylings that go over well with those audiences and work against them with others.

23B1 3y ago
Oh I think the role of the 'jester' is super-important; humor (and music!) is an incredible carrier medium for cultural commentary. And I hate tone policing. I just think Cory Doctorow should grow the hell up. I've been reading his stuff for like, what, almost two decades now(!). Edgelords were fun up through the mid-2000s and then the rest of us grew up, realized shock value was for teenage boys, and learned to prefer well-constructed and thoughtful arguments over angst and vitriol.
- vintagedave 3y ago
  What poorly constructed and non-thoughtful arguments does he make? His site pluralistic has lots of interesting long-form-twitter essays. https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/02/self-incrimination/#wei-bai-bai https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/02/self-incrimination/#wei-b... is one I'm reading now. It's clearly, bluntly stated (good, makes it hard to avoid) and cites lots of examples. He doesn't seem to go for shock value (to me.) That said, the term 'enshittification' is not shocking to me because of the swearword; I think we're all used to calling things BS, for example. I don't use terms like that at work, or at home, but that's personal taste in communication; it's not shocking and sometimes they are the most accurate and succinct terms.
  - 23B1 3y ago
    I'm not going to re-litigate every single one of Doctorow's many good and awful arguments. What I can say is that I can't say "enshittification" on a quarterly earnings call – y'know, to audiences with the power and authority to affect actual change.
    - datavirtue 3y ago
      Perfect collary, if you can't say things like that in a group, that group is incapable of change anyway.
      - johnnyanmac 3y ago
        so your local/state/national government and workplace (which may or may not be the very places accused of enshittification) can't cause change?