- @Sentien
I stumbled across this older article while researching the Alan Kay quote that is also the title. It happened to apply very well to the blog series I'm writing for the startup I work for. The whole company started as one person's research project, and eventually made it to a tin startup launching a hardware+software product this year. Alan Kay was right (no surprises there); if you're serious about software, make your own hardware.
"...these things now mean you’re in fifteen conversations with fifteen different people, all at the same time, none of whom are in the room, all of whom need your attention." I think the biggest issue with our smart tech is that none of it is designed to combat the current 'attention economy.' Most of our phones and apps are meant to fight for and hold our attention, not help us focus on important things.
Interesting, if you're interested in hardware design/startup journeys.
This whole conflict was wild to watch play out on Twitter. The antitrust investigation could mean big things for both Apple and app developers in the EU.
It's true that receiving notifications can cause distractions, which will then affect your focus and the task that you're working on in the moment. Do any of you try to stem the tide of notifications? If so, how do you do it? Or maybe you don't have this issue at all :)
I think Post Box from Google's Digital Wellbeing experiments is a fantastic idea, it just needs some more development on their side. Minimalist Android launchers can also help, and of course you have plenty of app options as well.
"The future of privacy is likely to be complicated." Almost an understatement. On one hand people might argue that loss of privacy is the logical exchange for today's technology, but on the other hand, it's the company's responsibility to create the solutions users want. More demand for privacy ought to result in responsibly designed tech, no?
It's quite eye opening to consider today's attention economy--how easy it is to get distracted by notifications on your phone for example--and its effects on mindfulness. Distractions are quite costly when you're learning! Does anyone take steps to reduce distractions while reading or studying something new?
Elon Musk's August 28th Neuralink update is rapidly approaching. This article is from 2017; when it comes to technology, three years can put the most exciting tech out of date. I'm interested to see what Neuralink will do differently and whether or not they've found a way to meet the challenges that have caused failure for other projects before them...