A Day in the Life of an Ensh*ttificator

When the wrong family tradition survives. :joy:

1 Like
Spoiler

1 Like

Because it’s in color?

I was mostly thinking of the device in itself, but yes, perhaps a bit. A color photo would make perfect sense, since it is a familly photo album, depicting the passed-on tradition.

(Color photo and the device I won’t name actually historically overlapped, btw. – Not that it really matters.)

At a time when people had to stop breathing for a minute to get a sharp picture. So this is clearly a modern photo. Not sure if the bike itself counts as enshittification, it was considered modern and “a good idea” (until someone came up with a better one).

Perhaps it’s just me.
I’ve always considered them to be one of the shittiest ideas ever.

Even chocolate macaroni can’t beat this one.

1 Like

Oh absolutely, it’s just that those didn’t replace “better bikes”. Just different bad ones. Like
 you can’t really enshittificate shit. Because it’s already
 well, literal shit.

1 Like

Time travel.
. . . . . . .

Too easy. At least in one direction.

This (boneshaker) was invented before the penny-farthing bicycle :

There :slight_smile:

(Perhaps “fart” has something to do with it.)

1 Like

Damn. This might be a genuine case of enshittification then.

1 Like

Penny farthings were an improvement on previous designs[1]: the bigger front wheel meant you could go faster and the ride was more comfortable. It wasn’t till the introduction of chain and gears that the design was superseded.

[1]: Safety excepted


Yes ; of course. Being able to go faster on a much more dangerous contraption is by anyone’s eye a clear improvement. :rofl:

As for comfort, perhaps, 
 but didn’t people need a ladder and/or assistants to get up on it, and a good fall at destination?

Obviously enough people thought the compromises were worth it!

As for mounting them, I presume that most people who can afford them had servants for that sort of thing – though are they really more difficult to mount than a horse?

I’ve just looked at the Wiki page ( Penny-farthing - Wikipedia) and it suggests that they have a ‘mounting peg’ to help. The PFs, not the horse, of course


1 Like

The horse doesn’t need to run to stand up straight.

. . . . . .

Meanwhile, out of curiosity, I’ve researched the question.
There was a peg, midway the main frame.
You’d run, pushing the bike forward, then climb up, praying, stepping on this peg.
To get down, it was the same in reverse, blind. (Assuming you made it to your destination.)

Pretty sure it is rather a case of rich people appreciating the height.

1 Like

This is madness. I’m definitely team horse.

1 Like

Well, you probably had to be fairly well off to afford them in the first place!

1 Like

Well, yeah. No medicare back then. (Side expenses.)

. . . . . .

LOL :

Guys, buckle up, you won’t believe this. Someone actually fucked up horses and bicycles at the same time! Now that’s some efficient enshittification! More than 130 years ago.

2 Likes

That’s it. I’m having nightmares tonight.

2 Likes