Today is my birthday. At 46, I'd like to think that I'm at 50% of the journey, but there's no way to find out, other than wait and see. That's ok, waiting and seeing is essentially fun anyway.

It's time for a change. Information technology (IT) makes no sense. Consumerism is not what computers should be about. Nor Windows. Nor Java. Nor dot-com, dot-net, or all the me too www's. Computers in the home are a nightmare to set up and to do anything meaningful with. Computers in business are a failure. Fun jobs are killed, techies rule, and senseless RSI-inducing mouse clicking is the norm. The purchase of a computer and the adoption of any sort of software system just start the depreciation and incompatibility clocks ticking. New companies introduce hype after hype, only to vanish or be taken over before anything of substance is accomplished. A faster pace than ever, with far too few advances to look back to or take pride in. Even when something creative emerges, it ends up buried in bloatware or killed by legalities. There is no art in IT, there is no cultural progress whatsoever. IT does not help mankind - not the west, not the east, not the rich, not even the poor. What a shame, there is so much untapped potential.

Alan Cooper wrote a book called "The Inmates are running the Asylum" [1], and describes where things went wrong and why. He says it well.

This page marks my intention to start making a difference. Not by dismissing IT, which is my life and joy, but by questioning how it is used and by presenting alternatives. Some vague and some concrete, in the form of working software. This is the start of a story. I may need 46 years to finish it.

© April 2002