Personal Systems
If we only remember the past 10 years of computing, it’s easy to forget that computers and software were not always like this. The history of computers and computing has seen a number of paradigm shifts:
- 1940s–1960s: batch computing; computation as a service
- 1960s–1970s: multi-user interaction through time-shared terminals; computers as shared infrastructure
- 1970s–1980s: text-based personal computing; computer as an individual’s machine
- 1980s–2000s: graphical interfaces; personal computing through mass-distributed software
- 1990s–2000s: client-server networking; birth of network-based services
- 2000s–2010s: increasing network bandwidth and compute leads to web apps, software-as-a-service
- 2007–2020s: release of the iPhone; growth of cloud computing and platform ecosystems; subscription model increasingly common
- 2020s–: Growth of AI and agents; in current form, mostly requiring a cloud-based provider
Today, in 2026, our requests are largely served by code running on centralized platforms: cloud-based email, calendars, file storage, messaging. Our data lives in separate silos: Google/Apple, WhatsApp/Meta, Microsoft. They come together in our apps, appearing alongside each other if graced with the appropriate integrations by the developer and blessed by the correct authentication rituals. Still, they remain unable to interact or talk; my Google calendars still encounter difficulty syncing with my calendar app on a timely basis.
The personal computers in our pockets and on our laps belong to us, but computation and data does not.
Inspired by Alexander Obenauer’s Lab Notes format, I’m starting a series of notes collating my thinking on what I call “personal systems”: computer systems primarily designed for and operated by a single person, possibly alongside computer agents/assistants.
This page will be periodically updated with links to published notes. Notes on personal systems are labelled with a “PS” prefix and a three-digit identifier.
This page is PS000.