Marco Bravo Mejías

Rebooting this blog

Marco Bravo Mejías — Sun, 08 May 2022 00:00:00 GMT

I always wanted to write, although it was never clear to me what to write about.

After reading How to Write More Clearly¹, I finally realized that writing has value in itself, so as long as you’re communicating something of value, something that you feel needs to be disseminated, someone out there will probably find it useful.

So here’s the why of this blog: I’m writing this in 2022, and as of late I’m feeling Personal Computers² are changing in ways that, to me, are regressive. They are contrary to the spirit of the Personal Computer revolution that started in the 70s and peaked in the late 2000s. This has been specially notorious with the invention of the smartphone, a device that’s getting increasingly locked down and restricted to use.

And here’s the what: I plan to share my experiences and knowledge to help others regain the true spirit of the Personal Computer era.

Footnotes

Download the PDF and read the whole thing — it’s well worth your time. ↩
Other devices like smartphones and tablets are also Personal Computers, since they are truly personal and are capable of running general purpose software. ↩

Computer Lib

Marco Bravo Mejías — Mon, 09 May 2022 00:00:00 GMT

In 1974 Ted Nelson, a visionary (or a hopeless dreamer, take your pick), self-published a book titled Computer Lib/Dream Machines. Personal computers had not even been invented yet ¹. For most people, computers were these all-powerful machines that evoked a feeling of awe. Laypersons did not use computers — that was a task for a scientist. The vast majority of people were content with letting those scientists and engineers (the “Computer Priesthood” in Ted Nelson’s words) decide how to use them.

Univac 9400 on Wikipedia

Ted Nelson wrote his book because he felt that computers in 1970 were no harder to understand than other day-to-day machinery. (He wrote that “Computers are as easy to understand as cameras.”) His book was essentially a manifesto against the centralization of computing hardware and for the dissemination of the know-how to write software for your own personal purposes.

Nelson’s central idea was that computers could and should be under your full control. Even a layperson could gain enough computer literacy to use a cheap computer on his desk for all kinds of creative purposes — instead of the Machine assuming control of your world, you gain control of the Machine.

Instead of the Machine assuming control of your world, you gain control of the Machine.

He was, of course, right. His ideas, paired with cheap desktop computers that started appearing in the late 70s, resulted in an explosion of amateur programmers using cheap Personal Computers (PCs) for all kinds of things. The invention of the web (in 1989) and Linux (in 1991) and their popularization in the late 90s accelerated the process. Millions of people in industrialized countries (and quite a few in developing countries) grew up in the 80s and 90s learning how to using cheap computing resources. This created an entire generation of so-called knowledge workers, which produced a massive spike in productivity in the 1990s and 2000s. This era lasted until maybe 2009 (I place the creation of blogs and RSS technology at the peak of this era.)

The following features defined the PC era:

You really own it — you have “root” access to it; this means you can the hack entire software stack down to the operating system.
Since it is open, you can install a free (as in free speech, not free beer) Operating System that will give you complete control of the software running on your PC.
You can build and install your own software for it; you just need to install a freely available compiler or interpreter, write your own program and distribute it on the internet, you don’t need to ask a central authority for permission.

Now contrast that with current smartphones and tablets, where none of the above is easy to do, because it is highly discouraged or made impossible by legal, technical or political reasons. We are regressing to locked down devices controlled by a new Computer Priesthood.

The motto printed on the cover of the book was “You can and must understand computers NOW.” I feel the current age calls for a renewed motto, “You can and must understand your devices NOW.”

Footnotes

The Altair 8800, the first personal computer, was released a year later. ↩

Rebooting this blog for the second time

Marco Bravo Mejías — Wed, 28 Aug 2024 00:00:00 GMT

A couple of years ago I decided to start writing again on this blog after a false start, but then, as always, plans never work out as expected.

Photo by Thom Milkovic on Unsplash

A substantial change in my life happened and blogging went down very fast on my list of things to do. Things are getting calmer now so I decided to give it another try.

The main focus remains the same: as I explained on a previous post, we need to take back both our personal computers¹ and the software we use from centralized control. We need to be able to use our devices as we see fit, not as the manufacturer or the software vendor wants us to use them.

“The purpose of computers is human freedom.”

—Ted Nelson

So, let’s see how this goes.

Footnotes

I’m using the term personal computer to refer to any general purpose device that can be used by a single person and it’s not usually shared with others. This includes desktops, laptops, tablets and smartphones. ↩