Our computers are faster than ever. If you’re an Apple user, you know how incredibly efficient and powerful their M‑series devices are. Computers are more capable than ever; Framework’s laptops are as customizable as building a PC from scratch. Tinkerers with 3D printers and a penchant for pain (patience) regularly share their latest cyberdecks built around a Raspberry Pi, the super affordable credit‑card footprint computer.
For a kid who grew up reading Dick Tracy comics and had his mind blown by the projects regularly featured in Popular Mechanics/Popular Science magazines, I never could’ve imagined the tech‑rich world we live in today (we’re overdue for flying cars though). I have a small computer on my wrist that monitors my vitals! And it shows me the weather forecast! And it tells time! It’s nuts! My introduction to computers were heavy beige or light gray boxes with equally heavy and unwieldy CRT monitors connected to modems that screamed as they brought us online (ghosts in the shell machine were warning us of what’s to come).
State of GreedCorp™
The professional world is built on proprietary tools from (almost assuredly) Western conglomerates. The free versions of these tools and their clones are subsidized by the collection and sale of user data to data brokers who then sell access to their massive data hoard to advertisers. It’s a disgusting cycle but because our working and personal lives overlap, intentionally extracting oneself from this treacherous flywheel is a feat in itself. Short of selling your belongings and living “off the grid,” there’s no easy way to do this.
It’s foolish to set out to replace these entrenched processes and behemoth incumbents outright, that leads to immense frustration and burnout. Instead, it’s useful to think of alternatives that can live alongside the aspects of GreedCorp™ as you’re able to wean yourself off them. Companies like Light Phone, Metalabel, and Neatnik (among others) do their best to provide alternatives while outlets and publications (like the one you’re reading, thank you!) get the word out. I cannot help but be optimistic in the face of waves hand dispassionately all this.
The way my mind works, I’ll keep toiling away at possible solutions to annoying problems subconsciously until there’s enough meat to work with. My frustrations with the modern computing landscape and the state of GreedCorp™ led to an ambitious solution; systemSOFT.
Enter systemSOFT
I’m endlessly fascinated by Jonathan Fitch’s “Jonathan Computer” concept (developed at Apple in 1985) and Lennart Ziburski’s “Desktop Neo” interface (released in 2016). systemSOFT is a combination of these, with my personal API concept (shared in late 2019) being the glue that gives this next‑generation computing vision legs.
The idea of modular hardware architecture is as ambitious now as it was in ’85! Apple leadership at the time feared launching an open system that could run competitor operating systems because that would “entice” a significant number of customers to leave their ecosystem. Fast‑forward 40 years and not much has changed. Imagine what computing would look like today if the Jonathan was given the chance to get to market. I want this. We need this.
Operating systems haven’t deviated from the desktop interface paradigm since their inception. In that time since, the rate with which we generate files has increased to a ridiculous degree. When’s the last time your organized your Downloads folder? I’m not judging you, I’m judging us both. I made a zsh script that organizes my Downloads folder in accordance with the Johnny Decimal system, but I rarely use it. Even when I do, I lack the discipline to then go into my Index (what I call my Johnny Decimal directory) and categorize further. The mental load of doing this is daunting, my computer should be doing it for me!
Desktop Neo is the post‑desktop interface that could work for me; it replaces folders with (automatic) tags and good search. Application windows are full height and the interface scrolls horizontally. The trade‑off is that its opinionated design removes the character and individuality that great apps have. However, if you’re the type of person that customizes everything on your system to have a particular theme (like Dracula, Monokai, Solarized, &c), this trade‑off could be a plus (imagine being able to theme your entire system at once, from more than two themes and a handful of tints).
Finally, the personal API concept underpins everything you’d do with your system. Have an idea for a blog post? Write to a text file, hit “publish,” and it’s online. Bookmark the link to that insightful deep dive you stumbled upon. Subscribe to your friends’ bookmarks. Scrobble the music you’re listening to. Update your status like we used to do on AIM. Share pictures and videos with elderly family who couldn’t care less about the color of their bubbles. All this, backed by your own data store that itself is backed up and accessible via apps you control.
For the majority of folks, this is enough and that’s great!
In essence, the personal API provides the foundation for you to extend existing functionality or design a wholly new experience that fits YOU. It makes sense for automobiles and aircraft to standardize the operation of vehicles but, the vehicle for your mind, your computer, should conform to your mental models (or at least give you the tools to bend reality to your will).
I know nothing about hardware and even less about 3D printing. Honestly, I’d prefer if someone else built the future of computing I want to use and gave me the pre‑order link. As I mentioned before though, we’re 40 years in and I’m nearly 40! systemSOFT is the change I wish to see and I’ll keep plugging away, slowly filling in my knowledge gaps. If you want to check‑in periodically, updates will be posted to systemsoft.works.
Vision for the future
Lately I’ve come around to the idea that we have to leave the old ways behind and start fresh, equipped with the lessons we’ve learned up to now. Reform from the inside of these mega corporations, while noble, is akin to watching paint dry or measuring the speed of pond water; borderline pointless and rife with those who put career over community. Corporate America’s loathsome “survival of the fittest” individualistic playbook is not for the faint of heart.
The tech‑literate of us, programmers and developers (even you, dear reader), have a responsibility to build and help form alternatives to the problematic monoliths that ail the world; structural and societal. Knowledge sharing is imperative and a global right.
Drew Lyton imagines a future where non‑profits and cooperatives could provide hosting services with a comfortable free tier. When you outgrow that tier, you pay for more storage through metered usage like a utility. Data portability guideline adherence prevents lock‑in, which is great for everyone (even companies, you win when you have the best service). GreedCorp™ enthusiastically announced support for data portability between their platforms while dragging their feet on this for ages; we gotta stop relying on them for the change we need.
However you go about this is up to you, my only ask is that you try.
Paul Webb is a millennial technologist who longs for the return to the Y2K aesthetic. Forever a dreamer, he spends his time building for the internet and yapping about Megaman Battle Network on his homepage, webb.page.
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