Amazon just split Prime Video into tiers, forcing 4K viewers into a rebranded Ultra subscription from April 10. This looks like standard streaming enshittification, but the timing matters. Whilst ByteDance routes around export bans and ships broadcast Chinese affiliation signals to avoid blockades, Amazon fragments viewing quality by geography and wallet size. Streaming was supposed to democratise access. Now it's becoming as stratified as physical borders.
Four stories today reveal the same infrastructure: nationality, quality access, computational power, and personal identity have all become toggleable features rather than fixed attributes. Ships broadcast false flags. Streaming services tier reality.
Companies route around borders. Founders lose their own names. The fixed categories that organised the 20th century are now fluid product features you switch on when needed.
For people who’d rather be early and wrong than late and safe.