We’re a New Wave Band featuring David Powers

What's the opposite of punk in the tech world? It's called ens#!**ification and it's pervasive. David Powers joins to break it down.

In the world of punk music, there’s probably no greater insult than to be labeled a sellout.In 1980, the Dead Kennedys were assuredly not sellouts.Invited to the 1980 Bay Area Music Awards to play their indie hit, California Über Alles, the Kennedys did exactly what you would expect a punk bank opening for the likes of Eddie Money and Huey Lewis to do – they threw up a metaphorical middle finger and after the opening chords of California Über Alles, they began playing Pull My Strings.The song is a lighthearted insult to the music industry practice of payola and the artists who sell out to become stars.

The tech platforms that dominate the world today were once very punk – they were disruptive and had loyal followings.But not only did they sell out, in doing so, they’ve degraded the usefulness of the platforms and the only reason people stay is because there are few alternatives.There’s a name for this and David Powers joins the show to discuss how it applies to platforms from Uber to Amazon.

We discuss:

The term coined by Cory Doctorow to describe this lifecycle
The 4 steps of this lifecycle
Examples including Uber, Reddit, Twitter, and Amazon
Whether paid platforms are the solution
How DRM affects authors
How the gaming industry has fallen prey
Whether OpenAI is already part of the lifecycle

Connect with David on LinkedIn

CX Riot Radio

Music courtesy of Big Red Horse