A New Word Order
A new word order is an attempt to bring computing from an age of office informed metaphor to one of ubiquity and human relation. On the cusp of an always connected culture, and spanning across devices and platforms, our new forms of interaction will take place constantly at varied intensities.
It is our position that these new interactions must be defined in ways which encourage creativity, respect, and ultimately inform the citizens of tomorrow. A central principle in our approach is one of aesthetics. Neither surface, nor skin will hide the inadequacies of the tools we are given. We now begin a journey in suggesting and finally crafting our own tools. These tools will bred upon themselves. Through open research, invention, and application, we will make the work of tomorrow a conversation between lifestyle and possibility. In the pursuit of personal improvement, with the hope of a greater societal effect.
Diversity is central in our approach. It is not enough to propose a new way of thinking, one must make the path tread to that end visible for those who wish to create further trails. Each of our proposals is not an end, but a question, the beginning of a conversation. Each of our exploits is very much informed by the technical affordance in our time, while also suggestive of a direction for further development. Each of our thoughts is accompanied by a detailed explanation, a collection of words which might paint for us all a new image, a window looking out of our houses and into our land.
We will not work inside. We may not work again. We will create with enjoyment and passion, we will bridge the holes between personal and global. The library will be turned inside out, and our books outside in. The new paradigm of connection cannot be prototyped on a screen, it must be placed, it must exist in a space, among people. The best computer lives in a server room, what we are working toward is not a computer, it is at best invisible, and at least accessible.
Language will change. Images will be used as words, links will become paragraphs, listening will create stories, and writing will never start with a blank page. Everything we do will be remembered, all we collect will be valued. No one will be disconnected, and we all will be in a grey area of disagreement and resolve. Large decisions will crumble to interested parties, and become small tasks. Our main aim will be to seek togetherness, our main thoughts will be overlapping. Assumptions will be visible, and our influences will be openly accessible.
Our learning will be based on context. We will refer to patterns, events, and factors. Stories will be clearly abstractions of real repetition and will help us deal with our lives. Investigation will be done by everyone, and constantly. Each new development will build a mountain, and never will pursuits of original thought be lost among a mess of mediocrity. We will not use our technology, we will use each other, we will be used willingly and rejoice at the chance.
Public will become the default. We will let people into our homes, and that will make us comfortable. We will open our blinds, and maintain a history of their contents, open to all. We will move toward people we can build with, but always be aware of those who are far from us. Weary of private wealth we will hold our representatives accountable. We will represent ourselves when others fail. We will undo mistakes. We will happily disclose our plans, priorities, and reasoning, asking the same of those who take advantage of that generosity.
Everything will be granular. Everything will be connected. Everything will be us, and we will be different. Visible thought will be the binding force of our collective understanding. Shared actions will be the basis for our movement forward. We begin that conversation now, with you, and all.
July 11th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
Said it before and I’ll say it again, that’s some bad-ass writing and a pretty sick distillation of a broad vision.
In a word? Definitive.