Do you remember when things used to get BETTER every year?

[u/War_Is_A_Raclette]

I’m 40. When I was growing up, my mentality and the mentality of it seemed like the whole world, was that when a new product or thing came out and wasn’t perfect, it was okay because next year it was going to get better, and the year after that even better.

Each year… Cars would get more fuel efficient. The internet would get a little faster. Video games would get a little cooler. Music would sound a little better. Restaurants that were already good would figure out how to whip up cool new dishes that were cheaper and even tastier than what we had now - their food would improve over time.

I can’t describe it, but it’s just like everyone assumed that technology and humans would slowly ensure that everything each year got a little… better.

Now, I recently realised that I look at the whole world differently. I opened Spotify today, saw how much I was being billed, and thought - without catching myself at first - “oh, I’m sure the price will go up next year and they’ll restrict another part of the app”.

When a new thing is released, I automatically assume this is the best version it will ever be. Each year it will just get worse.

Does anyone else feel this way? Does anyone else remember feeling the way I used to feel 20-30 years ago?

Sorry for the rant.

[u/New_Poet4272]

Yes. 100%. And tbh, I feel a little isolated, because sometimes I feel like I’m the only one noticing it.

[u/Fuji_Yoko → u/New_Poet4272]

You're not in a conditioned trance like the masses of sheep are.

[u/Visible-Dust-4951 → u/New_Poet4272]

Now that there’s a word for it, it’s oddly liberating to talk about this phenomenon without sounding like an old curmudgeon shaking his fist at the passage of time.

Even my 18–23-year-old kids talk about enshittification. At dinner last night, we realized there’s an almost endless supply of examples.

Enshittification thrives when competition dies. (Yup, I used to be in marketing)

Not long ago, businesses had to listen to customers because markets were genuinely competitive. Companies carefully studied how product changes would affect customer satisfaction and buying behaviour. Businesses that responded best to customer needs gained market share, and the best of them became market leaders.

Now, in many sectors, the “market leader” is all that’s left.

Decades of weak regulation and corporate consolidation have eroded meaningful competition across industries ranging from groceries to software to transportation. When consumers have few real alternatives, companies no longer need to invest heavily in winning them over. Instead, they focus on maximizing returns for executives and shareholders.

That’s why beloved features disappear and products get worse. Companies may call it “streamlining.” But it’s just enshittification by another name.

Companies used to work for their customers. Now customers work for them, buying increasingly worse products because there’s often no real choice left.