Perhaps, but it exploded in the tech industry as soon as Steve Jobs died.

Whatever his faults, he had a high bar for user experience, a massive megaphone, and the respect of journalists, industry leaders, and the public.

Apple's market differentiator, under Steve Jobs, was that it wasn't shitty.

Jobs would regularly mock competitors publicly for the way in which they 'enshittified' their products (in words of the time, obviously). And his reputation was such that people listened.

We have a dearth of authority figures today; there's nobody around to shame bad actors.

> We have a dearth of authority figures today; there's nobody around to shame bad actors.

Worse. The bad actors have become the authority figures.