Humane Computer

This blog is focussed on personal computing, but the artefacts we sit down and use everyday are impacted by changes elsewhere in the tech ecosystem. I’ve spent the last 5 years working in the blockchain space, and I think it’s maturing to the point where we can start

Last month saw the news that Microsoft was shifting Edge’s rendering engine from its proprietary one to Chromium. Opinion on Twitter seemed to be split between joy at Microsoft finally embracing an open-source, standards compliant engine, or horror at the thought of browsers becoming an anti-competitive monopoly controlled by

Many years ago I read The Humane Interface by Jef Raskin which completely upended my notion of computing. It showed a vision of a world of computing which was radically different from the prevailing paradigms. Until then, I hadn't even realised that it was even possible to question core artefacts

For a long time I've held this conviction that hierarchical file systems are a disaster. Over the years, there have been many attempts at building systems which avoided them: the entire hypermedia lineage from Vannevar Bush's Memex with trails, through Ted Nelson’s work, and on to efforts like HyperCard,

I often have this vague sense that the artefacts of computing that we see today are often small, fragmented facets of some deeper “truth”. One area that I keep coming back to is the similarities and overlaps between file systems, objects, and Web resources. Files, organised into directories, appear in

Marc Andreessen of Netscape announced a set of new products that would help transform their browser into what he called an "Internet OS" that would provide the tools and programming interfaces for a new generation of Internet-based applications. The so-called "Internet OS" would still run on

An application program is a computer program designed to perform a group of coordinated functions, tasks, or activities for the benefit of the user.  — Wikipedia Recently, I needed to create a presentation for work to introduce a lot of technical material to groups of people as efficiently as possible. Google

IBM 2250 with lightpen, 1965 — (source) Apollo Guidance Computer’s DSKY, 1966 — (source) Englebart’s NLS with the first mouse and the keys, a chording keyboard, 1968 — (source) Xerox Alto with the same inputs as the NLS, 1973 — (source) Symbolics's LM-2 with the “Space Cadet Keyboard”, 1981 — (source) The Canon

I have spent the last 20 years still trying to figure out how to make computers as reliable as I want them to be (they are not nearly there yet) and how to make them simple to use (a goal that has met with even less relative success). Despite some

An interface is humane if it is responsive to human needs and considerate of human frailties. If you want to create a humane interface, you must have an understanding of the relevant information on how both humans and machines operate. In addition, you must cultivate in yourself a sensitivity to