381 lines
16 KiB
Plaintext
381 lines
16 KiB
Plaintext
[1]Skip to content
|
||
[2] Cal Newport
|
||
Menu
|
||
[4] Cal Newport
|
||
Menu
|
||
|
||
• [6]Home
|
||
• [7]Scholarship
|
||
• [8]Writing
|
||
• [9]Essays
|
||
• [10]Press
|
||
• [11]Contact
|
||
|
||
[12]Home » [13]Blog » On Tools and the Aesthetics of Work
|
||
|
||
On Tools and the Aesthetics of Work
|
||
|
||
September 4, 2023
|
||
[mythic-640px]
|
||
|
||
In the summer of 2022, an engineer named Keegan McNamara, who was at the time
|
||
working for a fundraising technology startup, found his way to the [14]Arms and
|
||
Armor exhibit at the Met. He was struck by the unapologetic mixture of extreme
|
||
beauty and focused function captured in the antique firearms on display. As
|
||
reported in [15]a recent profile of McNamara published in The Verge, this
|
||
encounter with the past sparked a realization about the present:
|
||
|
||
“That combination of craftsmanship and utility, objects that are both
|
||
thoroughly practical and needlessly outrageously beautiful, doesn’t really
|
||
exist anymore. ‘And it especially doesn’t exist for computers.'”
|
||
|
||
Aesthetically, contemporary digitals devices have become industrial and
|
||
impersonal: grey and black rectangles carved into generically-modern clean
|
||
lines . Functionally, they offer the hapless user a cluttered explosion of
|
||
potential activity, windows piling on top of windows, command bars thick with
|
||
applications. Standing in the Arms and Armor exhibit McNamara began to wonder
|
||
if there was a way to rethink the PC; to save it from a predictable maximalism.
|
||
|
||
The result was [16]The Mythic I, a custom computer that McNamara handcrafted
|
||
over the year or so that followed that momentous afternoon at the Met. The
|
||
machine is housed in a swooping hardwood frame carved using manual tools. An
|
||
eight-inch screen is mounted above a 1980’s IBM-style keyboard with big
|
||
clacking keys that McNamara carefully lubricated to achieve exactly the right
|
||
sound on each strike: “if you have dry rubbing of plastic, it doesn’t sound
|
||
thock-y. It just sounds cheap.” Below the keyboard is an Italian leather hand
|
||
rest. To turn it on you insert and turn a key and then flip a toggle switch.
|
||
|
||
Equally notable is what happens once the machine is activated. McNamara
|
||
designed the Mythic for three specific purposes: writing a novel, writing
|
||
occasional computer code, and writing his daily journal. Accordingly, it runs a
|
||
highly-modular version of Linux called NixOS that he’s customized to only offer
|
||
emacs, a text-based editor popular among hacker types, that’s launched from a
|
||
basic green command line. You can’t go online, or create a PowerPoint
|
||
presentation, or edit a video. It’s a writing a machine, and like the antique
|
||
arms that inspired it, the Mythic implements this functionality with a focused,
|
||
beautiful utilitarianism.
|
||
|
||
In his critical classic, [17]Amusing Ourselves to Death, Neil Postman argued
|
||
that the form taken by the technologies we use impacts the fundamental nature
|
||
of our cognition. When we switched media consumption from long newspaper
|
||
articles to television soundbites, for example, our understanding of news lost
|
||
its heft and became more superficial and emotionally-charged.
|
||
|
||
When pondering Keegan McNamara and the Mythic, I can’t help but apply Postman’s
|
||
framework to the machines that organize our professional activities. The modern
|
||
computer, with its generic styling and overloaded activity, creates a cognitive
|
||
environment defined by urgent, bland, Sisyphean widget cranking — work as
|
||
endless Slack and email and Zoom and “jumping on” calls, in which there is
|
||
always too much to do, but no real sense of much of importance actually being
|
||
accomplished.
|
||
|
||
In Keegan’s construction we find an alternative understanding of work, built
|
||
now on beauty, craftsmanship, and focus. Replacing everyone’s MacBook with
|
||
custom-carved hardwood, of course, is not enough on its own to transform how we
|
||
think about out jobs, [18]as these issues have deeper roots. But the Mythic is
|
||
a useful reminder that the rhythms of our professional lives are not
|
||
pre-ordained. We craft the world in which we work, even if we don’t realize it.
|
||
|
||
#####
|
||
|
||
In other news: My longtime friend Brad Stulberg has a great new book out this
|
||
week. It’s called, [19]Master of Change: How to Excel When Everything is
|
||
Changing — Including You. In my cover blurb, I noted that this “immensely wise
|
||
and timely book provides a roadmap for a tumultuous world.” I really mean it!
|
||
The idea of preparing yourself to thrive, and not crumble, when faced with
|
||
inevitable change is self-evidently important, and Brad does a great job of
|
||
delivering the goods on this timely theme.
|
||
|
||
Pro-tip: if you do buy the book this week, [20]go to Brad’s website to claim a
|
||
bunch of cool pre-order bonuses that he’s offering through the first full week
|
||
of publication.
|
||
|
||
[21]We Don’t Need a New Twitter
|
||
[22]On Tire Pressure and Productivity
|
||
|
||
11 thoughts on “On Tools and the Aesthetics of Work”
|
||
|
||
1. [aac40]
|
||
Galia
|
||
[23] September 4, 2023 at 9:27 am
|
||
|
||
Too much information when few things matter: that reminds me of the book
|
||
Essentialism. Acting like those everyday stimuli don’t exist is the first
|
||
recipe for success.
|
||
|
||
[24]Reply
|
||
2. [8b32b]
|
||
Alexander Lewis
|
||
[25] September 4, 2023 at 11:57 am
|
||
|
||
I love the idea here. People still use old typewriters as art pieces and
|
||
coffee table decor in their homes. It’s hard to imagine something similar
|
||
occuring with modern computers. Laptops are used until they’re dead, and
|
||
then they’re recycled or thrown into the junk drawer.
|
||
|
||
I think this craftsman/engineer might be onto something.
|
||
|
||
[26]Reply
|
||
3. [d7ec0]
|
||
Rafa Font
|
||
[27] September 4, 2023 at 3:22 pm
|
||
|
||
They have become Swiss knives, tools for all. Especially mobile phones,
|
||
they’re maps, navigators, radio, compass, torch, voice recorder, word
|
||
processor… all in one.
|
||
|
||
I gave my kids a voice recorder the other day. So that they can have a
|
||
one-action device to play with and understand what it is, on its own.
|
||
|
||
[28]Reply
|
||
□ [92093]
|
||
Tim Koerner
|
||
[29] September 11, 2023 at 3:27 pm
|
||
|
||
Love the voice recorder idea for kids, well done.
|
||
|
||
[30]Reply
|
||
4. [2e0eb]
|
||
Alex Francisco
|
||
[31] September 4, 2023 at 8:04 pm
|
||
|
||
What a find!
|
||
|
||
My copies of ‘Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man’ – McLuhan,
|
||
the Medium is the Massage are always in my mind.
|
||
|
||
A good summary is that one line by Culkin in an article about McLuhan:
|
||
“We become what we behold. We shape our tools, and thereafter our tools
|
||
shape us.”
|
||
|
||
Timeless, humbling AND empowering at once.
|
||
|
||
[32]Reply
|
||
□ [2a88f]
|
||
Jonathan
|
||
[33] November 11, 2023 at 6:47 pm
|
||
|
||
That quote it itself based on one by Winston Churchill to the UK
|
||
Parliament in 1943: “We shape our buildings, and afterwards our
|
||
buildings shape us.” Churchill was referring to the reconstruction of
|
||
the bombed House of Commons, emphasizing how the design of buildings
|
||
influences the behavior and culture of the people who use them.
|
||
|
||
[34]Reply
|
||
5. [8e65d]
|
||
rb
|
||
[35] September 4, 2023 at 9:47 pm
|
||
|
||
WordStar was more fun than WordPerfect, which was quite a bit more fun than
|
||
Microsoft Word. There has not been a professional writing application since
|
||
WordStar and its pale descendants including EMACS. Everybody writes – there
|
||
is opportunity here.
|
||
|
||
[36]Reply
|
||
6. [5d6ca]
|
||
Garrett
|
||
[37] September 6, 2023 at 1:46 pm
|
||
|
||
In my opinion, another huge value of this is that it has a distinct
|
||
physical location. There’s a lot of power (at least for me) in having a
|
||
physical place to do things. When I’m in my woodshop for instance, I am not
|
||
engaging with distractions. I’m there to create things and I’m limited (or,
|
||
empowered) by the tools around me.
|
||
|
||
[38]Reply
|
||
7. [90c00]
|
||
Judy
|
||
[39] September 6, 2023 at 6:23 pm
|
||
|
||
As someone who formerly worked in IT but transitioned to become a classical
|
||
fine art painter, I love the concept of objects that are both utilitarian
|
||
and beautiful. Many craftspeople of the past took great pride in creating
|
||
all manner of objects that were more than simply useful, as Keegan McNamara
|
||
discovered. Owners of these well-crafted objects also loved them for their
|
||
beauty. Beauty is important in life.
|
||
|
||
[40]Reply
|
||
8. [50214]
|
||
Kenneth Lawson
|
||
[41] September 11, 2023 at 11:43 am
|
||
|
||
This goes back to the idea of writing things in a book, on real paper.
|
||
|
||
Paper and pen are used for one thing.
|
||
Creation.
|
||
When writing with a pen on paper, there is no distraction, only you, Your
|
||
mind, and the physical act of putting words on paper.
|
||
|
||
Thats not to say that paper and pen can’t be works of art in themselves.
|
||
They definitely can.
|
||
Good quality paper in a nice notebook will always be more enjoyable to use
|
||
than cheap printer paper.
|
||
|
||
The same with pens.
|
||
Would you rather write the same note on printer paper with a Bic Ballpoint
|
||
pen, or in a nice notebook on quality paper, with a nice fountain pen, that
|
||
writes better and has more character than any pen could ever have?
|
||
|
||
The note written on good paper with a fountain pen becomes a work of art in
|
||
itself.
|
||
And going back to read it later is more enjoyable.
|
||
‘
|
||
|
||
[42]Reply
|
||
9. [97f77]
|
||
Kenwood
|
||
[43] September 22, 2023 at 11:32 am
|
||
|
||
Nice. Your essay emphasizes the profound influence of tool aesthetics on
|
||
our work and cognition. The Mythic I, handcrafted by Keegan McNamara,
|
||
epitomizes the fusion of craftsmanship and practicality, offering a stark
|
||
contrast to today’s industrial and impersonal digital devices. McNamara’s
|
||
computer is designed for specific tasks like writing, coding, and
|
||
journaling, redirecting our focus from multitasking chaos to singular
|
||
productivity. It reminds us that we shape our work environment and
|
||
challenges conventional notions of productivity. I would like to share [44]
|
||
https://writinguniverse.com/essay-writing-service/ free tools for writers.
|
||
While we can’t all have custom-made computers, McNamara’s creation
|
||
encourages us to rethink the balance between aesthetics and function in our
|
||
daily tools.
|
||
|
||
[45]Reply
|
||
|
||
Leave a Comment [46]Cancel reply
|
||
|
||
[ ]
|
||
[ ]
|
||
[ ]
|
||
[ ]
|
||
[ ]
|
||
[ ]
|
||
[ ]
|
||
Comment[ ] [ ]
|
||
|
||
Name[49][ ] Email
|
||
[50][ ] [51][ ]
|
||
|
||
[52][ ] Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I
|
||
comment.
|
||
|
||
[53][Post Comment]
|
||
|
||
Cal Newport headshot
|
||
|
||
About
|
||
|
||
Cal launched the "Study Hacks" blog at calnewport.com in 2007, and has been
|
||
regularly publishing essays here ever since. Over 2,000,000 people a year visit
|
||
this site to read Cal's weekly posts about technology, productivity, and the
|
||
quest to live and work deeply in an increasingly distracted world, while tens
|
||
of thousands more subscribe to have these essays delivered directly to their
|
||
inbox (see the sign-up form below). [57]To read more, you can browse more than
|
||
15 years of past essays in the archive.
|
||
In the fall of 2022, Cal launched a new portal, [58]TheDeepLife.com, to serve
|
||
as the online home for all other content relevant to the deep life movement he
|
||
helped initiate. Here you can find all past episodes of Cal's popular podcast,
|
||
Deep Questions, and explore an extensive library of original videos.
|
||
|
||
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
|
||
Cal Newport logo
|
||
|
||
This site is the online home for the computer science professor and bestselling
|
||
author Cal Newport. Here you can learn more about Cal and both his
|
||
general-audience and academic writing. You can also browse and subscribe to his
|
||
long-running weekly essay series. For more on Cal's podcast, videos, and online
|
||
courses, please visit his media portal, [59]TheDeepLife.com
|
||
|
||
Contact Info
|
||
|
||
Academic Communication
|
||
[60][email protected]
|
||
|
||
Media Inquires
|
||
[61][email protected]
|
||
|
||
All Other Requests
|
||
[62]See Contact Page
|
||
|
||
Quick Links
|
||
|
||
• [63]Scholarship
|
||
• [64]Writing
|
||
• [65]Essays
|
||
• [66]Press
|
||
• [67]Contact
|
||
• [68]Media Kit
|
||
• [69]Podcast/Videos
|
||
|
||
• [70]Privacy Policies
|
||
• [71]Cookie Policy
|
||
• [72]Terms of Service
|
||
• [73]Accessibility Statement
|
||
|
||
Copyright © 2024 Cal Newport, All rights reserved.
|
||
[74] Cleantalk Pixel
|
||
|
||
References:
|
||
|
||
[1] https://calnewport.com/on-tools-and-the-aesthetics-of-work/#content
|
||
[2] https://calnewport.com/
|
||
[4] https://calnewport.com/
|
||
[6] https://calnewport.com/
|
||
[7] https://calnewport.com/scholarship/
|
||
[8] https://calnewport.com/writing/
|
||
[9] https://calnewport.com/blog/
|
||
[10] https://calnewport.com/press/
|
||
[11] https://calnewport.com/contact/
|
||
[12] https://calnewport.com/
|
||
[13] https://calnewport.com/blog/
|
||
[14] https://www.metmuseum.org/about-the-met/collection-areas/arms-and-armor
|
||
[15] https://www.theverge.com/23841276/mythic-computer-keegan-mcnamara-pc-builder
|
||
[16] https://www.mythic.computer/
|
||
[17] https://www.amazon.com/Amusing-Ourselves-Death-Discourse-Business/dp/014303653X/
|
||
[18] https://www.amazon.com/World-Without-Email-Reimagining-Communication/dp/0525536558/
|
||
[19] https://www.amazon.com/Master-Change-Everything-Changing-Including/dp/006325316X
|
||
[20] https://www.bradstulberg.com/
|
||
[21] https://calnewport.com/we-dont-need-a-new-twitter/
|
||
[22] https://calnewport.com/on-tire-pressure-and-productivity/
|
||
[23] https://calnewport.com/on-tools-and-the-aesthetics-of-work/#comment-75274
|
||
[24] https://calnewport.com/on-tools-and-the-aesthetics-of-work/#comment-75274
|
||
[25] https://calnewport.com/on-tools-and-the-aesthetics-of-work/#comment-75292
|
||
[26] https://calnewport.com/on-tools-and-the-aesthetics-of-work/#comment-75292
|
||
[27] https://calnewport.com/on-tools-and-the-aesthetics-of-work/#comment-75309
|
||
[28] https://calnewport.com/on-tools-and-the-aesthetics-of-work/#comment-75309
|
||
[29] https://calnewport.com/on-tools-and-the-aesthetics-of-work/#comment-76565
|
||
[30] https://calnewport.com/on-tools-and-the-aesthetics-of-work/#comment-76565
|
||
[31] https://calnewport.com/on-tools-and-the-aesthetics-of-work/#comment-75349
|
||
[32] https://calnewport.com/on-tools-and-the-aesthetics-of-work/#comment-75349
|
||
[33] https://calnewport.com/on-tools-and-the-aesthetics-of-work/#comment-83574
|
||
[34] https://calnewport.com/on-tools-and-the-aesthetics-of-work/#comment-83574
|
||
[35] https://calnewport.com/on-tools-and-the-aesthetics-of-work/#comment-75355
|
||
[36] https://calnewport.com/on-tools-and-the-aesthetics-of-work/#comment-75355
|
||
[37] https://calnewport.com/on-tools-and-the-aesthetics-of-work/#comment-75579
|
||
[38] https://calnewport.com/on-tools-and-the-aesthetics-of-work/#comment-75579
|
||
[39] https://calnewport.com/on-tools-and-the-aesthetics-of-work/#comment-75642
|
||
[40] https://calnewport.com/on-tools-and-the-aesthetics-of-work/#comment-75642
|
||
[41] https://calnewport.com/on-tools-and-the-aesthetics-of-work/#comment-76535
|
||
[42] https://calnewport.com/on-tools-and-the-aesthetics-of-work/#comment-76535
|
||
[43] https://calnewport.com/on-tools-and-the-aesthetics-of-work/#comment-78315
|
||
[44] https://writinguniverse.com/essay-writing-service/
|
||
[45] https://calnewport.com/on-tools-and-the-aesthetics-of-work/#comment-78315
|
||
[46] https://calnewport.com/on-tools-and-the-aesthetics-of-work/#respond
|
||
[57] https://calnewport.com/archive/
|
||
[58] https://www.thedeeplife.com/
|
||
[59] https://www.thedeeplife.com/
|
||
[60] https://calnewport.com/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#34575a06000c7453515b465351405b435a1a515041
|
||
[61] https://calnewport.com/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#b8dbd9d4d6ddcfc8d7caccf8c8ddd6dfcdd1d6cad9d6dcd7d5d0d7cdcbdd96dbd7d5
|
||
[62] https://calnewport.com/contact/
|
||
[63] https://calnewport.com/scholarship/
|
||
[64] https://calnewport.com/writing/
|
||
[65] https://calnewport.com/blog/
|
||
[66] https://calnewport.com/press/
|
||
[67] https://calnewport.com/contact/
|
||
[68] https://calnewport.com/media-kit/
|
||
[69] https://calnewport.com/podcasts/
|
||
[70] https://calnewport.com/privacy-policies/
|
||
[71] https://calnewport.com/cookie-policy/
|
||
[72] https://calnewport.com/terms-of-service/
|
||
[73] https://calnewport.com/accessibility-statement/
|
||
[74] https://calnewport.com/on-tools-and-the-aesthetics-of-work/#
|