(2018-05-10) Ohno Small Computing Artisanal Computing

John Ohno: Small computing, artisanal computing. A computer is both an expression of our worldview (i.e., an art-work) and an extension of our mental space (like a journal, mood-board, scrapbook, sketchpad, or face). When it works, it’s an auxiliary brain lobe with a slow connection. The degree to which it functions as an extension of our mental space (outboard brain) is dependent on the degree to which it’s representative of our umwelt.

Programming reproduces a worldview (opinionated?), and the problem is that the worldview reproduced in most cases is too much of a monoculture, with barriers to representation in the form of implicit and explicit hurdles & gatekeeping. (This is part of the reason I think “small computing” is so important: users should have enough control to make the code they interact with representative of THEIR umwelt.) (NeoVictorian Computing)