Category: Asides

Paul Graham wrote five years ago something that stuck in my head ever since:

He finally followed up and wrote a great post about his experience of having kids. I much appreciated its honesty (“I hate to say this, because being ambitious has always been a part of my identity, but having kids may make one less ambitious. It hurts to see that sentence written down. I squirm to avoid it. “) and its pragmatic advice such as

I have some hacks […]. For example, when I write essays, I think about what I’d want my kids to know. That drives me to get things right. 

It reminded me of Jeff Atwood’s blog post on parenthood back in 2011. I wonder whether there is a hall of fame of parenthood essays written by hackers.

But in the world of webpages, gaze functions differently: It is more empowering. When a powerful website — say Google or Facebook — gazes at, or links to, another webpage, it doesn’t just connect it — it brings it into existence; gives it life. Metaphorically, without this empowering gaze, your web page doesn’t breathe. No matter how many links you have placed in a webpage, unless somebody is looking at it, it is actually both dead and blind; and therefore incapable of transferring power to any outside web page.

[…]

The web was not envisioned as a form of television when it was invented. But, like it or not, it is rapidly resembling TV: linear, passive, programmed and inward-looking.

The Web We Have to Save – Matter – Medium

Offscreen is an offline magazine telling the stories of the people behind the web. When I receive my copy I’m always impressed by the depth of the interviews, the photography and the overall production of the magazine. If you are interested in the web I very much encourage you to order a copy and check it out.