[flir]

Value engineering. When you can't grow by selling more widgets, your only real choice is to make (almost) the same thing, but cheaper.

But Cory's a polemicist. He'd absolutely prefer the memorable word he coined himself to the acceptable, drab one that already exists.

(Plus value engineering is only one way to enshittify a product. There's also subscription models, selling data, jamming ads in everywhere... the advantage of Cory's word is that it captures everything).

[Voultapher]

I'd suspect value engineering to bounce off most people as some abstract concept, enshitification is so much more visceral and evokes an emotional response that matches the feeling of platforms turning to shit.