Y’ever twist your arm trying to pat yourself on the back? Or taught someone a lesson by learning it right in front of them? Or told yourself something in confidence but then spilled the beans? Okay, so this universe does have a sense of humour, right?

We see the same stupid, greed-head, get my boat this quarter thinking, repeated in variations.

EARLY .COM

It’s the clicks, that’s where the money is. Count the clicks. We have more clicks. Charge more for ads. Run ads about clicks.

LATER…

It’s the links, that’s where the money is. More links to your links. We have more links. Charge more for ads. Run ads about links.

STILL LATER…

It’s the likes and the boosts, that’s where the money is. Count the likes and the boosts. We have more. Charge more for ads. Run ads about who likes who and who boosts who.

LATELY…

Maybe ai could click things, and link things, and like things, and boost things for us. Then people can vote on how good of a job the ai are doing, clicking and linking and liking and boosting. That’s where the money is. Charge more for ads. Ads about which are the best ais!

Here is my business decision making process that is also the reason why I am not hired to make business decisions.

1. Is this step one of enshittification?

• Yes? Stop doing it or even planning it.
• No? Go to 2.

2. Can it make us money?

End of process.

You can see that most jump right to 2.

Continuing this train of thought…

Of course, I’m working from the luxury of believing I understand how this stuff works for my ends. Currently I compose my content on my devices and I store it there, and back it up locally. Then I post this material to my domain, bkryer.com. So folks can go there and read it and look at it. Then, instantaneously really, it is shared to people on micro.blog…and anyone who follows me there…or subscribes to my rss feed(s)…or follows me on deadbird where they can belittle or ignore it (☠️🙃🤪❥)…or the hairy elephant (mastodon, ho ho, I’m so funny) where they and I are mostly peers, in discussion at least, and I have no need for boost…and Tumblr, if I connected to it…or Flikr, if I connect to it…and so on. And not just services that can’t buy a vowel, but many others, via scripting and such.

So I have my private source, and my public domain. I can easily push from one into the other. I can interact with any/everyone on all the places where I’m bkryer, which is any/everywhere.

Thanks micro.blog for making this so easy. It is worth more than a $10 shake.

Half the time I just want to tell Siri to go lie down for a minute.

I’ve got this bug problem.
— Upson Pratt, via E.G. Marshall, Creepshow, 1982

..and by this I do not mean to refer to UI elation. I’ve been osx’ing for years because it rings my ui/ux bells.

No, I’m talking about up another level. Elation because, not only is use and experience great, but because my data is mine, first, in principle and practice. Because I can talk to anybody with internet dialtone, like I used to do with the old ‘i’-less phone to any/every1 on the ‘phonenet’, and they me. Can we do this with at addresses @any1ne reliably? Great, but then @any1ne must be @any1ne EVERYWHERE. Or am I missing out on something?

Didn’t anybody notice that isp “built-in” email spam protection, simple basic easily implemented, near costless, did not show up until spam was a problem for the vendors? Business efficiency demands the software is tuned for cash flow first and user elation later, if ever.

I think the reason so many of us in the language business are rightly worried about fAI (fake AI, aka Language Thingies) is because they can replace us. Not you, you’re special, but all those other talentless jokers—where’s that fork, cuz they’re done.

I do take some solace in the fact that this infatuation with fAI productivity will generate an information landscape with ever increasing amounts of bullshit. This will promote EVERYONE to the role of Quality Assurance Analyst in some sense, whether they want to be one or not. And with that promotion comes all the demands of resilience to tedium and arcane expertise that the role requires. Which will be discovered to be more difficult to fake than many had assumed. And so a new value proposition comes into view: “Can you tell me if that is worth the time?” rather than “Can you write something that is worth the time?”. Essentially, an editor, rather than a writer; oh, and a relevance ninja, and a fact ax, and…

PB & J
Proud Boys and Justice. Delicious!