True, new systems devalue craft, shift power, and wreck cultures and scenes. But didn’t the piano…
Author: Paul Ford
What Modern Humans Can Learn From Ancient Software
Retrocomputing is about more than nostalgic nerdery. It’s also a way to keep your tech in…
Forget Disruption. Tech Needs to Fetishize Stability
Breaking things is an ethos for the bored, for people who live in reasonable climates and…
Life Is Great in the Age of No Secrets
It was fun looking at the world as a huge conspiracy theory, but then I realized:…
The ‘Form’ Element Created the Modern Web. Was It a Big Mistake?
A little HTML widget gave us all-powerful Amazon and Facebook. There's no closing Pandora's text box…
Time Got So Much Weirder. The World Needs a New Lexicon
Our days aren’t ruled by the sundial or the pendulum clock anymore. They’re measured in binges…
I Finally Reached Computing Nirvana. What Was It All For?
Breakfast, it turns out. The answer is breakfast.
The Best Way to Learn Online? Be a Lurker
The internet has made me immune to a coherent narrative. In order to truly understand anything,…
A Grand Unified Theory of Buying Stuff
So you've acquired a new thing. And now you want accessories. Ask yourself: Will the potential…
The Most Efficient Way to Debug the Simulation
Look, some of these tickets just have to be marked WONTFIX so everyone can move on.