2025-05-17

• Finished [[Platform Capitalism]] (audiobook).

  • I'll need to give it another listen, as not all of it went in - listening while distracted.
  • But seemed good. A lot more academic than [[Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism?]]. The latter was more engaging, but (maybe?) less rigorous. I appreciate this book's succinctness.
  • Some things that stuck out from this listen:
    • It has a good historical overview of where platforms came from and how they came to dominate.
    • It has a useful typology of platforms.
    • Platforms primarily gain their advantages from data.
    • Trying to force platform capitalists to respect privacy is impossible - it's part of their DNA.
    • Over time platforms try to control the whole stack.
    • Over time, platforms slowly converge to offering the same services.
  • There's a tiny bit at the end on possible ways to counter platform dominance. Very small, but worth noting.

• [[Public platforms]].