Downstream: The Plan is to Make the Internet Worse Forever w/ Cory Doctorow

Novara Media

Philosophy, News, Politics, Society & Culture

4.8 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 8 December 2025

⏱️ 79 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Did you know that the standard of Google searches has actually gotten worse over recent years? Once you think about it, it makes sense. Highly effective search means fewer searches overall. And fewer searches means less ad revenue. The financial basis of Alphabet, which is Google’s parent company, is, of course, digital advertising. Which means […]

Transcript

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0:00.0	It's not just you.
0:09.0	Digital platforms are indeed getting worse.
0:12.0	Why do I have an AI pop up when I use WhatsApp?
0:16.0	Why is search on Amazon so bad?
0:20.0	Why is my Instagram feed not just filled with slop, kind of always was,
0:25.0	but increasingly with AI-generated slopper,
0:28.2	crocodile with the face of Donald Trump playing poker with Vladimir Putin on an elephant's body?
0:35.2	And why is there so much pornography on X,
0:38.1	given Elon Musk said he was buying X to get rid of all the pornography?
0:40.8	It's only gotten worse.
0:43.1	We often think about the world kings of Silicon Valley's digital utopians.
0:49.0	Well, here's the utopia they're really working on.
0:52.3	I want all of you to relax, I hope you're relaxed already, really,
0:56.0	maybe close your eyes and imagine this glorious future.
1:01.0	Imagine a world where every digital product,
1:04.0	every online platform,
1:07.0	resembles a printer.
1:10.0	Yes, a printer.
1:11.6	Those bizarre tamagocchi's that don't really work.
1:14.6	Overpriced, dysfunctional, frustrating.
1:18.6	They also don't seem to adhere to basic market economics.
1:22.6	HP printers have ink, which retails, if you would buy a gallon of it,
	...

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