X

Past

Personal Computers

The first personal computer with a graphical user interface.

The personal computer was a major victory for humanity. The power of the computer finally within reach of the everyman unlocked vast potential, inspired millions, and pushed the human race forward.

We learned about software, instructions we give the computer, and data, information we put into the computer like files into a file cabinet. We worked, played, and taught differently. New markets and new opportunities were born.

Then we discovered how to network personal computers. Communication across old geographic and temporal barriers became easy. We started to work, play, and dream together at massive scale. We rejoiced in the promise of a united global community.

What a computer is to me is it’s the most remarkable tool that we’ve ever come up with, and it’s the equivalent of a bicycle for our minds.

Steve Jobs

Present

Cloud Computing

iphone5Today we own devices, not personal computers, that are interchangeable and disposable. They're fashionable and functional. They fit in our pockets and connect to much larger computers around the world, called servers.

Servers do all sorts of useful things for us. They backup and sync our data with all our devices. They keep our software up to date. They help us find our friends and search the web. We call this "cloud computing" because our software and data are "out there" and not on our home personal computers anymore.

In the cloud era, our data and software are managed on servers owned by a handful of companies and spied on by at least one government agency.

Cloud computing is a great euphemism for centralization of computer services under one server.

Evgeny Morozov

Future

Trillions of Computers

galaxyWe're fast approaching the age when computers will be embedded in everything, e.g. clothes, appliances, consumables, etc. These micro computers will talk to each other and the broader world, telling stories of our actions, reactions, emotions, and thought patterns.

In the age of trillions, the cloud computing model of today will collapse under its own complexity. People will not abide the myriad servers our possessions talk to. We will control the valuable data we create instead of let it be locked behind competing companies' firewalls. We will build technologies that serve all of us and ignite an explosion of wealth and peace across the planet.

Or not. Maybe we choke on the cloud.

Let's choose to flourish in this coming age and build a computing model that supports complexity, lights new roads to prosperity, and protects human dignity. Let's build space ships and set out for the stars.

The cosmos awaits.

Cosmos

The time has come to boldly go.

The cosmos is more than a buzzword. It's a metaphor that helps explain various aspects of a new computing model.
Let's start by reviewing some cosmic objects:

 

Star

Star

Stars create immense gravity wells around which planets and dust orbit. Stars constantly churn, turn matter into energy, and shoot light across the cosmos.

Dust

Dust

Dust are small particles a various elements and compounds. Some orbit stars, some float in nebulae, others drift solo across the cosmos.

Planet

Planet

Planets are like dust but so massive that they've been rounded by their own gravity. Some have moons, some have asteroid belts, others fly solo.

Naut

Naut

Nauts are the vessels we explorers travel in i.e. our space ships.

Nexus

Nexus

Nexus are the maps of the stars in the cosmos. They plot where the stars are, giving us the means to navigate the cosmos.

Nebula

Nebula

Nebulae are interstellar clouds of dust and gases.

Star

Powerhouses

Dust

Structured metadata.

Naut

Space ship

Nexus

Navigational maps.

We're making progress!

Big Bang 2.0 is coming.

This is both a proposal and an active project. We're at the very early stages of design and development, so it's all subject to dramatic change.
We invite feedback and participation.

Revolutions don't happen in isolation.

We also send out periodic updates about our progress.
You can subscribe to those below.

Keep in touch

Contact us

Interested in the above ideas? Reach out! Think this is ridiculous? Let us know about that too! We'd love to hear from you.

Name: Augustin Bralley
Address: San Francisco, CA