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From: anthk <anthk@openbsd.home>
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: Re: the computer built to last 50 years
Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2025 11:23:37 -0000 (UTC)
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On 2025-03-17, Salvador Mirzo <smirzo@example.com> wrote:
> I loved this paper.  I became very interested in the ideas for offline
> use.  In fact, my participation here will change: I'm going to get
> articles a few times a week so I can answer them in a more offline
> manner; less frequent than I do today.
>
> I also looked around the web for standard laptops with an e-ink screen.
> Couldn't find much.  I like all the power I currently have.  I own a
> Lenovo 15IMH05 and I'm happy with it, but maybe I should own a much
> cheaper one that comes with a black-and-white screen that shines a lot
> less light, but still allows me run a BSD system on it.
>
>                   The computer built to last 50 years
>                          by Ploum on 2021-02-04
>
> How to create the long-lasting computer that will save your attention,
> your wallet, your creativity, your soul and the planet. Killing
> monopolies will only be a byproduct.
>
> Each time I look at my Hermes Rocket typewriter (on the left in the
> picture), I’m astonished by the fact that the thing looks pretty modern
> and, after a few cleaning, works like a charm. The device is 75 years
> old and is a very complex piece of technology with more than 2000 moving
> parts. It’s still one of the best tools to focus on writing. Well, not
> really. I prefer the younger Lettera 32, which is barely 50 years old
> (on the right in the picture).
>
> Typewriters are incredibly complex and precise piece of machinery. At
> their peak in the decades around World War II, we built them so well
> that, today, we don’t need to build any typewriters anymore. We simply
> have enough of them on earth. You may object that it’s because nobody
> uses them anymore. It’s not true. Lots of writers keep using them, they
> became trendy in the 2010s and, to escape surveillance, some secret
> services started to use them back. It’s a very niche but existing
> market.
>
> Let’s that idea sink in: we basically built enough typewriters for the
> world in less than a century. If we want more typewriters, the solution
> is not to build more but to find them in attics and restore them. For
> most typewriters, restoration is only a matter of taking the time to do
> it. There’s no complex skills or tools involved. Even the most difficult
> operations could be learned alone, by simple trial and error. The whole
> theory needed to understand a typewriter is the typewriter itself.
>
> By contrast, we have to change our laptops every three or four
> years. Our phones every couple of years. And all other pieces of
> equipment (charger,router, modem,printers,…) need to be changed
> regularly.
>
> Even with proper maintenance, they simply fade out. They are not
> compatible with their environment anymore. It’s impossible for one
> person alone to understand perfectly what they are doing, let alone
> repair them. Batteries wear out. Screen cracks. Processors become
> obsolete. Software becomes insecure when they don’t crash or refuse to
> launch.
>
> It’s not that you changed anything in your habits. You still basically
> communicate with people, look for information, watch videos. But today
> your work is on Slack. Which requires a modern CPU to load the interface
> of what is basically a slick IRC. Your videoconference software uses a
> new codec which requires a new processor. And a new wifi router. Your
> mail client is now 64 bits only. If you don’t upgrade, you are left out
> in the cold.
>
> Of course, computers are not typewriters. They do a lot more than
> typewriters.
>
> But could we imagine a computer built like a typewriter? A computer that
> could stay with you for your lifetime and get passed to your children?
>
> Could we build a computer designed to last at least fifty years?
>
> Well, given how we use the resources of our planet, the question is not
> if we could or not. We need to do it, no matter what.
>
> So, how could we build a computer to last fifty years ? That’s what I
> want to explain in this essay. In my notes, I’m referring to this object
> as the #ForeverComputer. You may find a better name. It’s not really
> important. It’s not the kind of objects that will have a yearly keynote
> to present the new shiny model and ads everywhere telling us how
> revolutionary it is.  Focusing on timeless use cases
>
> There’s no way we can predict what will be the next video codec or the
> next wifi standard. There’s no point in trying to do it. We can’t even
> guess what kind of online activity will be trendy in the next two years.
>
> Instead of trying to do it all, we could instead focus on building a
> machine that will do timeless activities and do them well. My typewriter
> from 1944 is still typing. It is still doing something I find
> useful. Instead of trying to create a generic gaming station/Netflix
> watching computer, let’s accept a few constraints.
>
> The machine will be built to communicate in written format. It means
> writing and reading. That covers already a lot of use cases. Writing
> documents. Writing emails. Reading mails, documents, ebooks. Searching
> on the network for information. Reading blogs and newsletters and
> newsgroups.
>
> It doesn’t seem much but, if you think about it, it’s already a
> lot. Lots of people would be happy to have a computer that does only
> that. Of course, the graphic designers, the movie makers and the gamers
> would not be happy with such a computer. That’s not the point. It’s just
> that we don’t need a full-fledged machine all the time. Dedicated and
> powerful workstations would still exist but could be shared or be less
> often renewed if everybody had access to its own writing and reading
> device.
>
> By constraining the use cases, we create lots of design opportunities.
> Hardware
>
> The goal of the 50-year computer is not to be tiny, ultra-portable and
> ultra-powerful. Instead, it should be sturdy and resilient.
>
> Back in the typewriter’s day, a 5 kg machine was considered as
> ultraportable. As I was used to a 900 g MacBook and felt that my 1,1kg
> Thinkpad was bulky, I could not imagine being encumbered. But, as I
> started to write on a Freewrite (pictured between my typewriters), I
> realised something important. If we want to create long-lasting objects,
> the objects need to be able to create a connection with us.
>
> A heavier and well-designed object feels different. You don’t have it
> always with you just in case. You don’t throw it in your bag without
> thinking about it. It is not there to relieve you from your
> boredom. Instead, moving the object is a commitment. A conscious act
> that you need it. You feel it in your hands, you feel the weight. You
> are telling the object: « I need you. You have a purpose. » When such a
> commitment is done, the purpose is rarely « scroll an endless stream of
> cat videos ». Having a purpose makes it harder to throw the object away
> because a shiny new version has been released. It also helps draw the
> line between the times where you are using the object and the times you
> are not.
>
> Besides sturdiness, one main objective from the ForeverComputer would be
> to use as little electricity as possible. Batteries should be easily
> swappable.
>
> In order to become relevant for the next 50 years, the computer needs to
> be made of easily replaceable parts. Inspirations are the Fairphone and
> the MNT Reform laptop. The specifications of all the parts need to be
> open source so anybody can produce them, repair them or even invent
> alternatives. The parts could be separated in a few logical blocks : the
> computing unit, which include a motherboard, CPU and RAM, the powering
> unit, aka the battery, the screen, the keyboard, the networking unit,
> the sound unit and the storage unit. All of this come in a case.
>
> Of course, each block could be made of separate components that could be
> fixed but making clear logical blocks with defined interfaces allows for
> easier compatibility.
>
> The body requires special attention because it will be the essence of
> the object. As for the ship of Theseus, the computer may stay the same
> even if you replace every part. But the enclosing case is special. As
> long as you keep the original case, the feeling toward the object would
> be that nothing has changed.
>
> Instead of being mass-produced in China, ForeverComputers could be built
> locally, from open source blueprints. Manufacturers could bring their
> own skills in the game, their own experience. We could go as far as
> linking each ForeverComputer to a system like Mattereum where
> modifications and repairs will be listed. Each computer would thus be
> unique, with a history of ownership.
>
> As with the Fairphone, the computer should be built with materials as
> ethical as possible. If you want to create a connection with an object,
> if you want to give him a soul, that object should be as respectful of
> your ethical principles as possible.  Opiniated choices
>
> As we made the choice to mostly use the computer for written
> interaction, it makes sense, in the current affair of the technology, to
> use an e-ink screen. E-ink screens save a lot of power. This could make
> all the difference between a device that you need to recharge every
> night, replacing the battery every two years, and a device that
> basically sit idle for days, sometimes weeks and that you recharge once
> in a while. Or that you never need to recharge if, for example, the
> external protective case comes with solar panels or an emergency crank.
>
> E-ink is currently harder to use with mouses and pointing devices. But
> we may build the computer without any pointing device. Geeks and
> programmers know the benefit of keyboard oriented workflows. They are
> efficient but hard to learn.
>
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