Alexander Obenauer
@alexanderobenauer.com
I'm exploring the interfaces with which we think & the future of personal computing
→ alexanderobenauer.com
→ alexanderobenauer.com
Here's how the case wraps start and finish:
They come into the bindery as a 4' wide, 24 yard long bolt of book cloth (paper-backed fabric), and end up as case wraps for the text blocks to be cased in.
They come into the bindery as a 4' wide, 24 yard long bolt of book cloth (paper-backed fabric), and end up as case wraps for the text blocks to be cased in.
November 11, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Here's how the case wraps start and finish:
They come into the bindery as a 4' wide, 24 yard long bolt of book cloth (paper-backed fabric), and end up as case wraps for the text blocks to be cased in.
They come into the bindery as a 4' wide, 24 yard long bolt of book cloth (paper-backed fabric), and end up as case wraps for the text blocks to be cased in.
Background: bsky.app/profile/alex...
It can be hard to discern and communicate why you're so drawn to some work. You're circling around something, but you're not sure what.
By your nature, you hold some principle that is in conflict with reality; you can see yourself circling around it.
By your nature, you hold some principle that is in conflict with reality; you can see yourself circling around it.
October 23, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Background: bsky.app/profile/alex...
Discerning what is at the core, and how to communicate it with others, has taken years. This might be the closest I've come so far.
Part 2 of The Interfaces With Which We Think is out now...
Start at the intro: alexanderobenauer.com/think/
Start at Part 2: alexanderobenauer.com/think/2/
Part 2 of The Interfaces With Which We Think is out now...
Start at the intro: alexanderobenauer.com/think/
Start at Part 2: alexanderobenauer.com/think/2/
The Interfaces With Which We Think
The concepts in modern operating systems — apps, windows, desktops, notifications, and so on — have so permeated our understanding of personal computing, it’s hard to imagine anything else, let alone ...
alexanderobenauer.com
October 23, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Discerning what is at the core, and how to communicate it with others, has taken years. This might be the closest I've come so far.
Part 2 of The Interfaces With Which We Think is out now...
Start at the intro: alexanderobenauer.com/think/
Start at Part 2: alexanderobenauer.com/think/2/
Part 2 of The Interfaces With Which We Think is out now...
Start at the intro: alexanderobenauer.com/think/
Start at Part 2: alexanderobenauer.com/think/2/
People — both in and outside of the field — often express that they believe this to be a solved problem, and my work potentially a waste of time. This always stirs up some clarity in me! Though it seems self-evident to me, it isn't to everyone.
October 23, 2025 at 2:26 PM
People — both in and outside of the field — often express that they believe this to be a solved problem, and my work potentially a waste of time. This always stirs up some clarity in me! Though it seems self-evident to me, it isn't to everyone.
... This is an elaboration that gets close to the core of why I care about our work. It's taken me years to realize, chipping away each time someone else asks, "but why should *I* care?"
alexanderobenauer.com/think/2/
alexanderobenauer.com/think/2/
The moral imperative for composable systems
Part 2 of The Interfaces With Which We Think • Many years ago, I stumbled into an app that allowed users to deeply customize maps...
alexanderobenauer.com
October 23, 2025 at 2:26 PM
... This is an elaboration that gets close to the core of why I care about our work. It's taken me years to realize, chipping away each time someone else asks, "but why should *I* care?"
alexanderobenauer.com/think/2/
alexanderobenauer.com/think/2/
It's the step before "inventing on principle": you're inventing on intuition, carving the seams of the principle you hold close but that you don't explicitly realize is motivating everything.
There are a lot of things that need to be fixed with software environments, but...
There are a lot of things that need to be fixed with software environments, but...
October 23, 2025 at 2:26 PM
It's the step before "inventing on principle": you're inventing on intuition, carving the seams of the principle you hold close but that you don't explicitly realize is motivating everything.
There are a lot of things that need to be fixed with software environments, but...
There are a lot of things that need to be fixed with software environments, but...
a few; in part it depends on the chosen definition of desktop metaphor, but it's interesting to look at many of them along a spectrum, increasingly distant from it.
working on a resource cataloging these with some colleagues now. hopefully out soon-ish!
working on a resource cataloging these with some colleagues now. hopefully out soon-ish!
October 22, 2025 at 3:49 PM
a few; in part it depends on the chosen definition of desktop metaphor, but it's interesting to look at many of them along a spectrum, increasingly distant from it.
working on a resource cataloging these with some colleagues now. hopefully out soon-ish!
working on a resource cataloging these with some colleagues now. hopefully out soon-ish!
Not too deeply yet - I've only explored ECS lightly in the past.
(For now, keeping the item store simple; but this would be an excellent starting line of investigation if/when the overall project is meant to scale beyond its current hatchling form!)
(For now, keeping the item store simple; but this would be an excellent starting line of investigation if/when the overall project is meant to scale beyond its current hatchling form!)
October 22, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Not too deeply yet - I've only explored ECS lightly in the past.
(For now, keeping the item store simple; but this would be an excellent starting line of investigation if/when the overall project is meant to scale beyond its current hatchling form!)
(For now, keeping the item store simple; but this would be an excellent starting line of investigation if/when the overall project is meant to scale beyond its current hatchling form!)
Congrats on this work @geoffreylitt.com @pvh.ca & co! It's quite the accomplishment.
Read it here: www.inkandswitch.com/essay/mallea...
Read it here: www.inkandswitch.com/essay/mallea...
Malleable software: Restoring user agency in a world of locked-down apps
The original promise of personal computing was a new kind of clay. Instead, we got appliances: built far away, sealed, unchangeable. In this essay, we envision malleable software: tools that users can...
www.inkandswitch.com
October 21, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Congrats on this work @geoffreylitt.com @pvh.ca & co! It's quite the accomplishment.
Read it here: www.inkandswitch.com/essay/mallea...
Read it here: www.inkandswitch.com/essay/mallea...
In this case, it's a visual (and mentally sticky!) metaphor for how we structure software as apps these days. It arcs to this enjoyable observation of present absurdity:
October 21, 2025 at 1:28 PM
In this case, it's a visual (and mentally sticky!) metaphor for how we structure software as apps these days. It arcs to this enjoyable observation of present absurdity:
Link to the intro & part one: alexanderobenauer.com/think/
alexanderobenauer.com
October 20, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Link to the intro & part one: alexanderobenauer.com/think/
It had well-defined actions, a pure function reducer, and a clear state tree.
I also did this for an interpreter, whose second version was modularized into feature modules that would allow me to perform this process fractally on each new feature: bsky.app/profile/alex...
I also did this for an interpreter, whose second version was modularized into feature modules that would allow me to perform this process fractally on each new feature: bsky.app/profile/alex...
Last month, I started a series diving into the implementation of a user environment for personal computing that I've been working on this year.
The second lab report is out now, on the environment's programming language.
The second lab report is out now, on the environment's programming language.
October 20, 2025 at 3:01 PM
It had well-defined actions, a pure function reducer, and a clear state tree.
I also did this for an interpreter, whose second version was modularized into feature modules that would allow me to perform this process fractally on each new feature: bsky.app/profile/alex...
I also did this for an interpreter, whose second version was modularized into feature modules that would allow me to perform this process fractally on each new feature: bsky.app/profile/alex...
This Canon Cat recreation went through that process. The vibe coded version started falling apart at 1k lines.
Quasimodes, cursor positions, and other state needed to be consistent; so did its many possible keyboard actions.
So I built the second version in a Redux style.
Quasimodes, cursor positions, and other state needed to be consistent; so did its many possible keyboard actions.
So I built the second version in a Redux style.
October 20, 2025 at 3:01 PM
This Canon Cat recreation went through that process. The vibe coded version started falling apart at 1k lines.
Quasimodes, cursor positions, and other state needed to be consistent; so did its many possible keyboard actions.
So I built the second version in a Redux style.
Quasimodes, cursor positions, and other state needed to be consistent; so did its many possible keyboard actions.
So I built the second version in a Redux style.
Glad it arrived! Hope you’re enjoying it
October 9, 2025 at 11:17 PM
Glad it arrived! Hope you’re enjoying it