Hardware

It's the principle that short-term shareholders have priority above all else--which is a fallacy--that drives these behaviors, start-ups have also always been dependent on VC who require more onerous terms and the growth of tech has almost blended these two as to be inseparable this point.

Companies are required to act in the best interest of shareholders legally--but this does not define they must enshittify their product or service no matter what in the short term as it destroys in in the long run, from Boeing to Google. There is a clear case waiting a public company waiting to be brave enough to fight it, that the long-term interest of shareholders should be equally(it not more heavily) weighted in decision-making. It would remove so much awfulness that companies approach the world with--from not caring about compliance, safety, quality,etc.