I wrote a book about computing, out soon.
First, we're starting a publishing company. Second, I wrote a book about computing, out soon.
Alexander Obenauer
Research into the future of personal computing and more.
Latest posts
Thinking about the interfaces with which we think
Today, I’ve got a new essay to share with you. It will land in a few parts, and part one is up now.
A new experiment, and an Ink & Switch collab
I've got two projects to share with you today. OLLOS: An itemized personal computing timeline; and Embark: Dynamic documents for making plans.
An understanding of time in the OS of the future
Today's lab note is an early investigation into time: how should our operating systems understand time, and what do they need to get it right?
How semantic zoom supports agency in personal software
As we learn more about what makes us and our lives unique, today's rigid software interfaces become more frustrating — not less!
A gestural environment for the OS of the future
One of the most glaring insights from living in my own OS’ user environments is simply that it takes too long to unearth insights!
Making the OS of the future more helpful
While exploring an OS which is made up of all the items in your digital life, it's easy to wonder if things would become a mess rather quickly. In the latest lab note, I explore ways in which an itemized OS might help us keep organized, without the tedium.
How can the OS of the future support our best, even when we're in a rush?
Watching how others interact with their computers has long been a fascination of mine. There's so much to glean from lots of little details as someone goes about their life and life's work on their personal computing devices.
WonderOS and other things I'm working on
For the last year or so, I've been working on a longer-term research project that experiments with building itemized environments.
2023: Now it's getting interesting
This morning, I published my annual update, with reflections and updates after the first year of a membership program, and how the core work is evolving in its next year.
A new way to think about notifications in the OS of the future
One more lab note for 2022. In it, I'll share with you an odd thought; a new way to think about notifications in the OS of the future that I've been tinkering with lately.
Exploring more fluidity in our digital workspaces
Earlier this year, we explored fluid workspaces — a way to navigate our OS of the future with greater ease. Today, we're expanding on that concept with a new way to think about our digital workspaces and how they might be reified within our itemized systems.
Dynamic Island and other ways OSs become ours
The latest iPhone's new feature, Dynamic Island, follows a long line of ways OSs have allowed system and third-party software to inject new functionality over the decades.
New ideas for interfaces in the itemized OS
Once I started using some of the views for workspaces in my itemized OS, I quickly felt limited by some of the basic concepts.
Interface ideas for the OS of the future
When designing my "OS of the future", there are lots of interesting interface ideas to consider. Some of them become consistent patterns that could appear throughout the system.
What are the fundamentals with which personal computing is done?
As we've explored the idea of an itemized OS of the future, we've considered something with immense flexibility; but how does the user make that flexibility work well for them?
The future of personal computing software
How should systems of the future reify their functionality? How should they make their primitives available to users? Who has the ability to evolve these systems long into the future?
The future of personal computing hardware
What if you could have your own, personal computing network? And what kinds of devices could you add to it?
What might the internet look like when we introduce items?
This week's lab note begins a series of notes on the itemized internet.
What might the internet look like when we introduce items?
This week's lab note begins a series of notes on the itemized internet.
Treating the transformation of data as an important piece of data itself
What if the operating system of the future could treat the transformation of data as an important piece of data itself?
Finding higher-level primitives for development in personal computing
The amount of double work done in software development today is unnerving.
Diving back into our concepts for the future of the OS
With something simple, but powerful.
Automation in the OS of the future
The way our itemized OS of the future is designed could very well open up the potential for some of the most compelling automation available in personal computing.
Actions in an itemized OS of the future
Let's get back into exploring ideas for the future of the operating system — we've explored the flexibility our personal computing environments gain with items, and today we're extending...
Expanding the exploration
2022 is officially here, and there's lots to explore. I've published an article on where my core research work is headed this year.
Notifications in the OS of the future
Notifications stand to be one of the most important things in our personal computing domain. But in today's OSes, this sacred space fails to achieve that ideal because it is home to others' priorities over our own.
Actions and automations in the OS of the future
As I begin developing the concepts I've laid out in my Lab Notes so far into an environment anyone can use, some thinking around how the system works internally needs to be ironed out.
Web browsing in the OS of the future
Before we get into the future of the OS, I have a new project to share with you. Longtime subscribers already know of my fond love for music.
How can the OS of the future be a better companion in our day?
How can the operating system of the future be a higher-gear companion to our knowledge work and life’s pursuits?
Dates in the OS of the future
We have explored lots of different ways our items become containers to other items in the operating system of the future, but one of the most important will...
Why does personal computing matter?
An update to last week's lab note, plus... Why the operating system? Why personal computing?
Bringing these concepts to life
To explore the concepts in my lab notes futher, I've built a plugin for the notes app Obsidian. Check out the video.
How can the OS of the future tailor itself to you?
My next lab note is live now. It explores one of the concepts that shows what the operating system of the future can do to adapt itself to each user's workflows.
Constructing the OS of the future
In my lab notes so far, we've explored a handful of new and renewed concepts for the operating system of the future. There are more to come, but today I wanted to pause and consider the bigger picture.
Let's explore The Graph OS
It's been some time since I've sent you one of my lab notes, which are my favorite thing to produce each week. Diving back in today with a new one.
Charting a new course for my products
During the pandemic, I thought lots about what my life's work is. Researching the future of personal computing is where I've landed. How Mail Pilot fits into that is now clear.
The need for art
The deeper I get into research on the future of personal computing, the more convinced I become of the need for art in society.
As a kid, I found two things that were pure magic to me
Computers simultaneously mesmerize *and* disappoint me. I think this is why computer science is ult...
Why is our thinking on computers so restrained?
The computers we use are so capable, it’s almost hard to even fathom what we can do with them. We largely have not explored completely new models for computer thinking native to the digital realm. We only use concepts native to the physical world, simulated digitally.
Everything I’ve learned about my OS so far
It's been a while! For the last month, I've been busy preparing an article that sums up almost everything that I've learned about my OS so far.
How will we organize our things in the OS of the future?
Today's lab note jumps into an initial thought on the topic, leveraging the fundamentals of the OS as described in the first few lab notes.