I tend to feel… strongly. That applies to most aspects in life, including whenI find a company whose product(s) I really enjoy.
Those products tend to share common traits; they are often simple on the surface,but have surprising depth to them. They can mold themselves to fit my needs, butonce that mold is set, they get out of my way. But more than anything else, theytend to be reliable. I fell in love with Apple because, back in the mid aughts,their products really did just work.
I think my appreciation for a product crosses the rubicon into lovewhen it regularly and repeatedly demonstrates one trait: respect for the user.
Even an unreliable product can keep my trust, enthusiasm, and love, if I can tellthat those who make it have a deep respect for me.
Many years ago, Eero sponsored my podcast. They were kind enough to senda three-pack of base stations, and I have not looked back. Eero was simple to use,but powerful enough for the needs of a superdork like myself. It largely remainsso to this day.
However, a few years back, Eero fell victim to every corporation’s favoritething: recurring revenue. Eero started quietly pushing Eero Plus, asubscription service that I was largely uninterested in.
Over the years, this has gotten more and more aggressive, and, annoyingly,more and more has been gated behind Eero Plus. I love that I can see totalsfor downloaded and uploaded data in the app, but every time I want to digdeeper, I see this upsell, and I grumble.
This is not respect for the user. This is enshittification. It’s afoot gun.
As I write these words, I still use Eero in my house. I still recommend itto most people. But instead of an unequivocal, no-caveats “get this”, myadvice is now “get this if you’re not a power user”.
I plan to replace my Eero setup with Ubiquiti equipment later this year.
Sonos is the classic example of “once you experience it, there’s no goingback”. I was able to buy some Sonos equipment at a steep discount, and I waswoefully unsure if I had just wasted a still-considerable amount of my money.
Within the first 48 hours, I was a Sonos superfan, and started evangelizingtheir products to anyone who would listen. All it takes is walking a portablespeaker from one end of the top story of my house, past the music playing inmy office, past the music playing in the living room, past the music playingin the porch, to the backyard. Somehow — by ✨ magic ✨ — the musicwas perfectly synchronized the whole way. The speaker in my hands wasperfectly synchronized with the office, the living room, and the porch.Incredible.
While that still remains true today, the Sonos app has been an utter disaster.Around this time last year, Sonos put their own needs over their users’, andfoisted a completely-rewritten app upon their entire userbase. This app was(and remains!) deeply maligned. At this point, a year later, it’s usable, andI generally don’t have problems with it.
What was once an unequivocal recommendation to friends and family —“You should get a Sonos system; just tell me how much you want to spend” —has now become “well, I still recommend a Sonos system, but there’s some thingsyou should know…”.
It didn’t have to be this way. This is not respect for the user. While I wouldn’tgo so far as to say this is enshittification, I will say it’s 100% a footgun.
Indiana Lang said it extremely well:
We need systems that prioritize stability over flashy new interfaces, and functionality over form.
This week, the chickens that have been wandering around have come home to roost.Synology, of whom I’m such a fan that every time I bring them up onATP, Marco hits a vibraslap for both humor and emphasis.
Synology were kind enough to send me a filled, 8-bay network attached storagedevice back in 2013. Within a couple months I was in love. Having infinitestorage available really changes how you think about your digital life. Whilea Synology is not for most people, it’s 10000% for people like me. I wouldnot and did not stop talking about them. I’ve personally sold countless numberof Synology units by my enthusiasm alone.
This week, things finally changed, officially. Synology will berestricting features for those who do not use Synology-branded drives. Drivesthat are bog-standard enterprise hard drives, possibly with some customfirmware in them.
Why? For more revenue. Footgun.
I’m not sure if I was more of a fan of Synology or Sonos, but suffice it to say,I was a superfan of both. I just replaced my original Synology last year, andI’m sad to say that the one I just got is likely to be my last. While I lovehaving a place to store files, run Docker containers, and handle Dropbox,I don’t want to be on this ride. I don’t want to reward their greed. I’m out.
Whenever this Synology dies, I’ll be replacing it with a UNAS Pro.
Synology have turned off so many of their most ardent evangelists. Just sothey can sell some overpriced hard drives.
It doesn’t have to be this way, and we saw that earlier this year from Apple,of all people. The kings of margins; the kings of SeRvIcEs ReVeNuE.
Up until the recent release of the M4-powered MacBook Air, a simple questionalways had a difficult answer: “What computer should I buy?”.
The answer depended on what you were doing with it, how much you wanted to spend,how long you wanted to keep it, and more. Maybe it’s a MacBook Air. Maybe aMacBook Pro. And even if it is an Air, you should definitely upgrade the RAM, andpossibly the SSD.
It was complicated.
Now, as of the $999 M4 MacBook Air? “Buy a M4 MacBook Air. Upgrade the RAMor SSD, in that order, if you have the means. But it’s okay if you don’t.”
Done.
The opposite of a footgun. A problem solved. Solved by respect for the customer.
Capitalism sucks, but it’s the system we have, and I don’t know a better one.But as a small-time capitalist myself, I keep wondering why Callsheethas been so well-received in the market. A lot of it is luck, but I think itboils down to two simple facts:
- IMDB does not respect its users, which it demonstrates in new and fantastic ways every time you use itCallsheet does.
I endeavor to keep it that way, for as long as y’all will let me.
