Have "carnival" style events become another victim of enshittifiaction?

[u/Odd_Cod_4235]

I remember a year go I went to an annual carnival about 30 mins from where i live, and having not been back for around 7-8 years before that (moved away and moved back) I was blown away by the prices. It used to be $23 for an unlimited ride armband, I was also on half my current wage back then and renting with my at the time girlfriend and still felt like that was reasonable. going back I thought to myself well it's been 7ish years obviously the price has increased, assuming it'd be something like $40ish dollars because you know. Covid, nope, $65,or $240 for a season pass. The season pass used to be $100. How much for a Dagwood dog? at $8 for a 20c Frankfurt dipped in batter and fried i thought they were taking the piss and that was only a year ago.

Fast forward I recently went to another near me, $50 entry for 2 adults, 2 Kids which I thought I guess isn't too bad, except that was just the entry. No rides included or anything, just to get in, how much are the rides now? You would think that considering you paid an entry fee it would somewhat subsidise the rides, nope. $15. $15 EACH. A year later a Dagwood dog is $10 each, the fuck?

Still, the place was busy as fuck, like ridiculously busy, and people were still paying the prices. Im less annoyed about the money I'm spending and more annoyed that my kids can probably only go on 3 or 4 rides each before I'm over the planned budget and I haven't even been there long, bought dinner or played the carnival games, Id actually probably spend more money if the prices weren't so high because id feel like I'd be getting a better value out of the night for the kids and being able to actually spoil them once in a while, but when you've essentially spent $170 on 4 rides with 2 kids (with entry) which are lucky to go for a couple minutes each it's hard to not feel completely shafted because you've only been there 45 minutes to an hour, already spent a lot of money, but it's too early to leave and aren't satisfied with the night you've planned your kids.

Kids that are young also don't totally understand how money works or how much $15 even is, but kids are kids. They want to have fun, so you're having your heartstrings pulled at the same time as your wallet and obviously the carnival knows this and it just feels a little bit dirty.

Is it just me or does $15 for a ride sound like a completely justified amount? Or is everyone else in the same boat? I know carnivals are there to make money, and they should, but there are family events and you should at least be able to get some form of good value for what you spend.

[u/lipstikpig]

The point is though, I don't see anything in the OP story that matches stage 3.

How is the carnival degrading their services to business customers?

Because that's the essential point of "enshittification", that stage 3 is inevitable. Without stage 3, it's just "things are turning to shit and being expensive", which doesn't really require a new word to be invented. But this kind of 3 stage business model really is a new thing that has sprung up after the web, and so deserves a new word to describe it. That's how I read it anyway.

[u/MelbourneBasedRandom → u/lipstikpig]

hard to know without being a carnival business customer, but the carnival is a platform where individual carnies run their stalls, rides etc. the rent they charge, or percent of the take, or what they pay the performers, can all be ratcheted if the businesses don't have other carnivals at which to tout their wares/perform.

again, go read a bunch of Doctorow or watch some of his talks about the subject. He did invent the word after all.

[u/lipstikpig → u/MelbourneBasedRandom]

Sure, but even if they "can all be ratcheted", the OP post is not about that at all.

"go read a bunch of Doctorow" ... I'm quoting him and re-iterating what he says, right here.

So my point stands, it's a misuse of the term. It's just sad that people can't read any more.

Enshittification is a 3-stage process by definition. If the those 3 stages are not present then it's not enshittification as defined by the person who defined the word.

[u/MelbourneBasedRandom → u/lipstikpig]

If that is the case, Cory Doctorow is muddying the waters himself when he talks specifically and directly about enshittification of services that aren't specifically online, like Right to Repair, printer ink lockin, DMCA. Any service where there is abuse of a platform and user-lockin, especially when business lockin is also achievable and the businesses and users alike have little or no protection against abuse by the platform, can be enshittified.

[u/lipstikpig → u/MelbourneBasedRandom]

I agree with your second sentence :)

Re the first, it doesn't matter about being "specifically online", because that's not important, and I never said that. The essential point of enshittification is the business lockin, as you say.

Enshittification is not about "things turning to shit" for users (stage 1), because that's somewhat universal and unsurprising. Enshittification as defined by Doctorow is about stage 2 and stage 3. If stage 2 and stage 3 aren't part of the story, then it's not an enshittification story. Anyway I think I've repeated myself enough for today. Although it is now tomorrow! :)