Malleable software: Restoring user agency in a world of locked-down apps
Briefly

Crafting personal environments is essential for optimal living and working. Individuals naturally mold their spaces, whether it's a guitar maker arranging tools or a home cook optimizing their kitchen. Small tweaks can be made effortlessly, while significant changes may require more effort and external help. In adapting environments, we evolve our spaces to suit our needs, as reflected in Stewart Brand's concept of buildings learning from their occupants. However, with the rise of digital environments, we gain new capabilities but risk losing our ability to adapt and personalize these spaces.
Age plus adaptivity is what makes a building come to be loved. The building learns from its occupants, and they learn from it.
In the physical world, the act of crafting our environments comes naturally, because physical reality is malleable.
Many small tweaks...can be done instantly without asking anyone's permission. We can also take on larger changes that require more effort and skill.
As we move to environments built from code, we gain capabilities but lose the ability to adapt our environments and make them our own.
Read at Inkandswitch
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