@doctorow.pluralistic.net nails the problem exactly, again: why monopolies aren't good pluralistic.net/2026/09/07/h...
pluralistic.net
Pluralistic: How corporate America built a better Roach Motel (07 Sep 2026) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
![Cartoon strip by me who is Stephen Collins. The imagery of the comic starts off with a single electron and then each panel zooms out one step - first to the microchip, then the OLED screen, then the iPhone, the person holding the iPhone, and onwards
Script:
An electron, forged in the first fire of the Big Bang
Courses through a deeply intricate maze of transistors and diodes
mined with unfathomable ingenuity from our planet’s deep geological past
and assembled from all over the world
Into a device perfected through centuries of technological evolution
to perform a beautifully synchronised pixel dance on an OLED screen
in an intricate moving pattern of shifting light
[Show a phone screen with an Instagram post featuring Ryan Gosling and bearing the legend:]
WATCH RYAN GOSLING EAT A PASTY FOR THE FIRST TIME!
whose choreography is powered by an global information network of unknowable complexity
which is specifically tailored to the interests of the being observing the screen
who is a member of the most advanced species on Earth
[Show a shlubby looking GUY idly looking at the Ryan Gosling/sausage roll Instagram reel on his phone while sitting in his pants and a stained t-shirt and eating a massive bag of crisps]
with a brain perhaps more capable of reconfiguring these signals into conscious thought than any other for billions of miles around
[Guy has a thought]:
“Mmm…"
in this endless, silent void.
[Pull back to show the Earth as a tiny blue dot among the stars with a thought bubble coming from it]
"… I want a pasty.”
[ends]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4m3we4apbjayclzcnhwe3pfp/bafkreib3pvgcc2tqqiiqs7tlguoez3mhdsmfscnwyxffltcsm4mxbgcyw4)
![4-panel comic. (1) PERSON 1: This stick is one meter long. PERSON 2 WITH SHORT HAIR: Cool. PERSON 3 WITH WHITE HAT: That’s a nice stick. (2) PERSON 1: This rock weighs one pound. PERSON 2: I’d believe it. PERSON 3: Looks like a normal rock. (3) PERSON 1: This battery is one volt. PERSON 2: Seems fine. PERSON 3: Might need a recharge. (4) PERSON 1: This capacitor is one farad. [2 and 3 leaning away attempting to shield themselves] PERSON 2: *AAAAA! Be careful!!* Person 3: Put it down!!](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cz73r7iyiqn26upot4jtjdhk/bafkreih7d3cewqllnapj5oi7cdxjj6qentr2s3tdbijwaik7shmbtrxiji)
