{"id":7683,"date":"2026-05-10T16:32:48","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T16:32:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.learningaloud.com\/blurts\/?p=7683"},"modified":"2026-05-10T17:18:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T17:18:21","slug":"what-we-have-lost-personal-computing-is-seldom-personal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learningaloud.com\/blurts\/2026\/05\/10\/what-we-have-lost-personal-computing-is-seldom-personal\/","title":{"rendered":"What we have lost. Personal Computing is Seldom Personal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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I have a solid understanding of digital technology because, while not a programmer, I have a long history of relying on the technology of the day. Even years before the personal computer, I wrote hundreds of pages of my dissertation on the cards they used to feed to mainframes. The tags needed to produce paragraph breaks, capital letters, and bold text were required along with the raw text. More complex still were the tags and character counts necessary to create the many tables required to display data. Early word processing programs on personal computers required similar additions and writing HTML code was just a further extension and not bewildering. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I learned to program to create the software my research interests in computer reading games required. I learned to code in PHP and MySQL and to set up and operate an Apache server because these skills were necessary to implement my research interests in computer-aided study experiences for college students. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, I use AI and for no other reason than personal curiosity, I am now waiting until July to own an upgraded Mac mini to explore the options for personal control of LLMs on your own equipment. This is not necessary for what I have to say in the following content, but it is possible and consistent with the quest for understanding and technology independence.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I say these things to explain that I learned the skills needed to do my work at a time when personal investment of time was required. Many other early personal computer users likely have very similar stories, which may cause younger users to roll their eyes listening to such accounts. However, as a result of such experiences, I am less awed by the capabilities of present-day hardware and software. These comments are meant to get me to the claim that there is some value in hands-on experience with the hardware you own and in a similar approach to personal control of your software and content.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What brought these thoughts to mind was an interview I recently listened to on Leo Laporte\u2019s Intelligent Machines podcast<\/a> (access requires a subscription – the transcript may be available)<\/a>. The guest was Nirav Patel. Patel is the founder of Framework Computers<\/a>, which offers repairable, upgradeable computers. Among the topics of discussion was a post Patel has written suggesting we may be witnessing the death of personal computing<\/a>. What Patel suggests, which is explained in greater detail during the podcast rather than the blog post is that the personal computer is now little more than a terminal that you have but cannot repair or upgrade, connected through the use of subscription services to online activities, which even hold any content you generate and display. For most users, AI is a continuation of this external rather than personal computing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Model Has Changed<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I have described as my personal experiences has changed into a very different model of computing – one in which our devices function less like autonomous personal computers and more like portals into corporate ecosystems and subscription services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This shift has profound implications for ownership, creativity, education, privacy, and even democratic culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Ownership to Access<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The computer era was built around ownership. When you bought a desktop computer in the 1980s, 1990s, or early 2000s, it was yours and totally under your control. Software was often purchased once and installed locally. Files lived primarily on your hard drive. You could back them up, move them, or preserve them without asking permission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, many of the most important functions of our digital lives occur elsewhere. Documents live in cloud storage. Music is streamed. Photos synchronize automatically to remote servers. Productivity tools are rented monthly. Artificial intelligence systems mostly run remotely in data centers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you examine this situation carefully, the \u201ccomputer\u201d is no longer primarily the device on your desk. The real computer is the cloud infrastructure owned by large corporations. Your laptop, tablet, or phone is increasingly a terminal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This transforms the relationship between people and their technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A subscription model shifts power away from users. Instead of owning tools outright, users lease access. Features can disappear. Prices can rise. Services can shut down. Accounts can be suspended. Even files may become inaccessible if authentication systems fail or subscriptions lapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Decline of User Control<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Modern platforms increasingly limit control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smartphones make the best example. Most users cannot freely install software outside approved app stores without workarounds. Repair is difficult or discouraged. Components are soldered or glued in place. Batteries are hard to replace. Devices become disposable appliances rather than maintainable tools. Laptops and desktops follow this same pattern. Hardware is thinner, more sealed, and less upgradeable. Software ecosystems are tightly integrated with online accounts and cloud synchronization. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are facing a paradox, our devices are more powerful than ever, yet we often have less meaningful control over them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Subscription Economy Changes Software<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We used to purchase and own software. Applications are no longer stable tools that we control. They become ongoing services governed by licenses and terms of use. Features are continuously updated, removed, or repositioned. Interfaces shift without user consent. Cloud integration becomes mandatory rather than optional. Our tools are updated with new capabilities we may not need and the price is adjusted as if these changes were necessary. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Artificial intelligence accelerates this transition because many AI systems require a massive investment in training and equipment. Users cannot fully possess these tools because the computational infrastructure remains centralized. If core intellectual tools are only available as subscription services, our control over digital work is gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We No Longer Fully Control Our Content<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps the most important shift concerns ownership of personal content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Historically, a writer using a local word processor had direct control over their files. Your pictures were archived images locally.\u00a0 Now, our intellectual and social life exists inside platforms. Social media posts live on corporate servers. Videos depend on hosting platforms. Notes synchronize to cloud systems. Family photos are organized by proprietary services.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Platforms operate beyond our control shaping visibility through algorithms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until recently, many of us maintained personal websites, blogs, and independently controlled spaces online. Today, much online expression occurs inside centralized platforms optimized for engagement, advertising, and data collection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Convenience Versus Independence<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is true that many users willingly accept these tradeoffs because modern ecosystems provide genuine benefits. Cloud synchronization prevents data loss. Streaming services reduce complexity.  Most seem to want technology that works reliably and simply. The tension, then, is not between good and bad technology. It is between convenience and independence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Educational and Cultural Consequences<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As might be anticipated from my initial comments, these changes also influence learning and creativity. The earlier personal computer culture encouraged experimentation. Users learned by modifying systems, building websites, installing software, and exploring open environments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We talk as if we value digital literacy, but just as AI can replace the need to learn the skills to write effectively, relying exclusively on external systems and preset approaches to everything reduces understanding. Knowing how to operate apps is different from understanding how systems work. Students raised entirely within locked-down ecosystems may have fewer opportunities to develop deeper understanding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reclaiming the \u201cPersonal\u201d in Personal Computing<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the growing concern expressed by thinkers like Nirav Patel raises an important question: What does it mean for computing to remain personal<\/em>? While most users may not prioritize this concern, I hope enough individuals will commit to investing time in controlling their own hardware and exploring tools they can manipulate and alter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For those who might be interested, I have operated, or at least had a rental server on which my blog content has appeared, since 2002. It gives me some pleasure having this nearly 25-year record of my personal history available. This post appears on this server, but also on Medium which offers me a second audience for my content. I am hedging my bets. You don\u2019t save time or money doing things yourself. My server rental and the cost of having my own domain names total about $250 a year. Medium is $50 a year and I get some of this returned because of the activity of my readers. At my personal small scale, there would be a cost advantage to giving up doing things myself. All things considered, for the time I invest, this is an inexpensive hobby. I hope others take a similar approach.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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I have a solid understanding of digital technology because, while not a programmer, I have a long history of relying on the technology of the day. Even years before the personal computer, I wrote hundreds of pages of my dissertation … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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