What I learned about 'enshittification' when I worked on “Dino's Stash.”
”Dino’s Stash” Now complete, in repository, art, lyrics, alternate mixes, credits included!
I worked on this song and just put it in the repository. I hope you check it out. I am very proud of it. While you are there, I included art, credits, lyrics, alternate mixing, and even a compressed version if you just need the download of the mp3. Something for lots of kinds of music fans. The folks who work with me to make music are stellar personalities and kind friends. They also play! They also write for the magazine! I have always wanted to be in a kind of “club.” This music/magazine gig feels like a good form of that. Beats nazis.
The crew is in the folder too, but I wanted to list them here. I love working with these people.
Keri – words, narration,
Kelly – bass, keyboards, words, narration, mixing
Marc Schuster – drums
John Gilbert from Voodoo Planet – guitars
Bkbirge – mastering
Dino DiMuro – sound effects
Chris Triggs – Single art and loads of art for the magazine
*All these folks have also written in The Horse’s Mouth Magazine.
Is software shitty, just me?
I have been transitioning my software brands and requirements. I’ll continue to do so until computing is better or gone entirely. I will not settle for what Apple seems so confident I will settle for in the software or OS department. Some of the design is careless and lazy. It really holds me up. I download things, but I can’t find them. I often can’t tell if the computer registered my click from a mouse, or if it is working. This is because there’s no onscreen indicator anymore to inform me it is working. Hourglass, anyone? What kills me in creative states more than anything is needlessly losing work. This has happened more frequently. I now save both incoming and outgoing projects locally, and in two online storages. I have to. There’s a good chance I will lose it otherwise. It wouldn’t be my fault. Shit just disappears now…like on the norm.
Losing 30 minutes of creative improv writing or music is crushing. It is a sinking feeling of defeat. I won’t ever remember it and pull it off. I don’t have that kind of memory. I might get close, but I get so bummed I lost that session or a few pages, that is all I can think about. I don’t think there’s any excuse for a software developer to release updates or “improvements” that cost me time and sadness. I was talking about this with a friend; he said, “Have you heard of ‘enshittification’?” I had heard it. But I did not realize how well thought out and absolutely spot on it is. I just thought it was something folks said on the web.
Asking google about a word I learned and it’s correlations to indie music..
Enshittification, Cory Doctorow, fun reading.
I asked Google, “Please list ways I’d come into enshittification making an indie rock song.” If you don’t know the word and Cory Doctorow, who invented it, the book is cheap. I tried to link one, but obviously that isn’t going to work right now. Google AI has read it; try and keep up.
“But things are supposed to change..”
Things change over time. I hope. Technology makes things easier and kind of fun. It is also good for business. Ideally, we are able to provide a better life for future generations, but we are very out of practice at doing that. It is almost as if generational trauma is playing out some new undiscovered territory en masse. The ripples of bullshit that flow in the bloodlines of our family trees have reached an all-new peak involving brands, beliefs, and yes, enshittification. This is not the change we hope for, or at least I hope for. But it is the change we get.
My understanding of terms changes over time, that’s an okay change.
I am just learning this term, so my take now may be different or expanded in a few months. But at this point, I feel good about where my brain is at regarding computer usage, making music, and writing lyrics. I haven’t reached nirvana or anything. But I certainly feel on the right track, leaving Apple’s ecosystem. It sucks. I can’t help it. I wish it didn’t. But I am trying to do artwork and protest work, and it seems firmly against that lately. I get over-corrected to a criminal level. I dread having to use the iPad. I just loathe everything about it except the TAPE 16 DAW Beta. haha.
I messed up, learned a thing. I had to admit messing up to learn it. Why I am cooler than software devs.
I messed up my first mix of this tune and sent it out prematurely, not checking it like I should have. Maybe these software devs are like me. Maybe they feel pressure and excitement and they press send too soon. But I doubt it. They want money. I am not after that with any of this crap I do. I think chasing that with my artistic abilities creates, yes, enshittification. See, I always want to be interested in what I do, so I leave the money out of it. Otherwise, I am just interested in making money. I think that’s boring when I spot that in others, so I try to avoid it. I would much rather be broke than boring. So of course, I am a musician, not a developer. Glad for that.
Kelly Kintner