:: COMPARE ::
The short answer
Planned obsolescence degrades a product you own. Enshittification degrades a position you are locked into. The lock-in, not the decay, is the actual mechanism — you stay because leaving costs you your data, your audience or your history.
Side by side
| Aspect | Enshittification | Planned obsolescence |
|---|---|---|
| Target | A platform position | A product |
| You can leave | Technically | Yes |
| Needs two sides | Yes | No |
| Ends in | Collapse | A new purchase |
What each one means
A platform decaying into something worse for everyone on it. Doctorow's model gives three stages: good to users, then abusive to users to please business customers, then abusive to those business customers to claw the value back for the platform itself.
Full definition of Enshittification →The contrast above sets out how Planned obsolescence differs from Enshittification on the points that actually matter.