• Monday, 06/05/2023 ** 11:30 Dreaming of a computer that 'just works' with software. A compact laptop with a ton of ports. Plugging in a device opens a program specifically associated with that device in a small window on the screen. Those windows compose, allowing you, the user of the device, to control how devices are composed in boht analog and digital ways; the computer knows what device is plugged in, but as a user you can change what that device controls and how that program might be connected to other programs on your computer. Visual nodes and wires on the screen - like max for live devices or similar - allow you to manipulate these separate, VST-like programs to tune them together.

These devices shouldn't be limited to controlling audio; they might be able to channel into some intermediary that can automate, send visual feedback back to the controller, and so on... a device could control a visual and a synthesizer at the same time, displaying art that reacts live to tactile knobs... the ability to touch something and for that thing to give visual and vibrational feedback is so, so important. Musicians know that how a tool feels changes how you think. Everyone should have the power to plug in new tools and change the way they think about problems.

Keyboard artisans know this too, in a different way; they 'optimize' or make pretty keyboards, play with knobs and ideas, itching to find this new input device of the future - or the one that works best for them. It's silly to me that this laptop has one keyboard and screen glued to it that can't be changed. Having good defaults is good - sure - so that the system can always be interacted with, but I should be able to swap these things out and keep the brain behind them. A 'complete' device that can't be customized or plugged into other things feels terrible. Same with battery power. All of these TE devices have built-in microphones, batteries, etc, each with different abilities and qualities, then they promote the idea of putting all of these tools together. They seem fixated on beauty and size at the cost of functionality - I cannot DJ or record with their TP-7 because the disk is too small and the microphone is so poor - but that beautiful brushless motor and notch on the side provide such seamless tangible and visual feedback, acting as the world's most polished tape deck. The knobs on their mixer are far too small - and that mixer has no business hosting expressive audio effects - but it works and works well.

To me, the failures of these physical audio devices are more interesting - like the OP-Z. The thing doesn't have a good way to provide visual feedback for most of its controls and its labels are too domain-specific for how general the device is meant to be. The thing has no screen! A sequencer needs lights under the buttons to show you when they're triggered. A disc needs lights or a screen to show you how that pot is tweaking your system on the fly. This visual feedback has to be built into the controller itself in some way. The Elektron model:cycles looks and feels like a toy, but the rubbery feel of those buttons - the way they light up - and the screen's waves shifting and responding to your changes to the sequencer - are brilliant design decisions for such a budget device. The mouse shows a cursor. Keys show text on the screen. Controls on any sort of device should do the same - or htey're confusing and do nothing. Audio feedback is not enough.

All of these grooveboxes work because they feature software tightly integrated with hardware - and the developers behind them do a brilliant job - but ultimately my laptop is a far more powerful and expressive piece of kit than dedicated 'hardware' (implemented in software as custom firmware). Limits like 24 samples, 256 tracks, whatever - what? My laptop has 16 gigs of RAM and a terabyte of storage. It can probably run the software of every sampler or 'groovebox' on the market combined and look better doing it. ** 11:52 Someday I'll make the clothes that I want to wear every day. Right now I'm focused on computer interaction. Income doesn't feel as stable and developing clothes seems like it costs big bucks - especially clothes without compromises. I have a whole life ahead of me to do that. ** 14:18 Incredibly frustrating that most high-quality hardware products have software built-in. Music tools are no different from SaaS platforms in this way - it's nearly impossible to purchase great hardware pots, knobs, and other buttons without them including some mediocre hardware in the box and gluing the tool to it. I understand wanting to control the complete experience, and that stepping away from a laptop is somehow an obsessive selling point for many people, but controllers should be just that - instruments that connect to powerful programs that run on your computer. Those distractions you have in your laptop are a software problem, not a hardware one that can be fixed with more money and more modulars; the bigger problem is that you do not have control over your computer and the ways in which the software should interact.

I want more companies like Monome that ship beautiful, high-quality, modular tools. Thankfully NI controllers can be hacked, and they have decent hardware, but that's not the point - we deserve better tactile tools for human-computer interaction that don't have to be the complete package. TE takes one step towards making no-compromise, beautiful products, but they aren't substantive or modular in the most important ways. The missing piece of this puzzle to empowering hardware is free software - we need to get there as well. ** 17:28 WebGPU is good, but starting a framework by implementing the GPU rendering is bad because this introduces a barrier to entry.

Using this macbook feels so clean and seamless though. Everyone deserves high-quality basic tools like this. I'm noticing that programs aren't as expressive for developers as the MacOS defaults, though. I am determined to make compelling, developer-oriented software that everyone can use - that can be ported back to MacOS with no issues.

Less configuration is better. Pick beautiful defaults and they'll be used. (Gnome doesn't have the best...)

Also realizing how important it is to be able to move a window around, to resize it and see how the website reacts, vertically and horizontally, on many different screen sizes. Getting some new insights for my website - like how important a responsive sidebar is. ** 19:51 One of the most beautiful things that anyone can do is make a tool that helps people express themselves - especially in a way they weren't able to before