The Total Ensh*ttifcation Of A Podcatcher.

DeathByOneVeryDeepCut

NotByObamaOnMaronVille

Enshittification, as defined by Cory Doctorow, codifies the decline and destruction of once fine landing places on the interwebz:

..."Here is how (online) platforms die: first, they are good to their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they abuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves. Then, they die."...

Today, the final stage in the process was reached by my (soon to be former) podcatcher, the Stitcher app:

...Satellite-radio provider SiriusXM said it will shut down its Stitcher podcast app at the end of August...

I have used the entirely free version of Stitcher for approximately three online epochs, starting back in the days when I had nothing but a little Nokia android device.

Even though I now have one of those ridiculously overpowered Tim Smith machines, I still favour Stitcher because it is the most straightforward podcatching app around (that I know of, at least). All I do is judiciously add new favourites and have them show up chronologically, in a single linear feed, as each new episode comes out. No fuss, no mess, no need to search through my own choices to find what I want, and no damnable algo-driven experiences appearing seemingly randomly whenever they want to for no good reason at all.

And I don't even mind the ads that come with the free versions of both the app and the podcasts I reel-in, especially those generated by the OG's who just read the copy out, straight-up, between segments.

So.

Why did 'Sirius', who bought the Stitcher for $325 million back in 2020, kill it?

Well...

...(Sirius, t)he audio corporation known for its satellite radio stations is shutting down Stitcher in an attempt to get customers over to its flagship subscription service...

Wow.

That's some bait and switch mixed in with all the bubbling crap.

.