Tools and terminals

Hey friends 👋,

Since the onslaught of AI hype last year, the writer's strike, and the layoffs in the tech industries, I've been writing bits and pieces of an essay about the difference between "Tools and terminals". A "tool" as I think about it is some technology that is under the full ownership and control of the user. The user can access it at any time, modify it to fit their specific needs, and get creative with ways of using the tool to complete the task at hand.

A "terminal" on the other-hand is a technology that is not owned or controlled by the user. Terminals are often rented by the user and only accessible when a third party makes it available. Terminals are often not modifiable or have very limited customizability to the user. And terminals often prescribe a way of completing the task that the user has to learn rather than discovering and creating their own way of working with the technology.

Obviously, like all dichotomies, the distinction between tools and terminals is more of a spectrum than a binary definition. But, thinking about this idea in the context of our current technological landscape, we can see that most of the online services we call "tools" are really "terminals". Premiere Pro, Adobe's video editor, part of its Creative Cloud subscription offering, is not a tool to create video as much as it is a terminal video editors access to create video. Because editors don't own the software, they rent it. Startups across sectors are creating fleets of AI "tools" built on a foundation of stolen work that they themselves say they cannot modify or change.

I was reminded of this idea again this week while looking over my highlights from Small is Beautiful by E.F. Schumacher:

As regards private property the first and most basic distinction is between (a) property that is an aid to creative work and (b) property that is an alternative to it. There is something natural and healthy about the former - the private property of the working proprietor; and there is something unnatural and unhealthy about the latter - the private properly of the passive owner who lives parasitically on the work of others.

Schumacher here is talking about the private property of business firms. But in a way he is also talking about the technology used and created by those firms. Ownership and control are vital aspects to not only creating just businesses, but also the development of ethical and just technology.

Just something I've been thinking about while writing this week. What do you think about this idea?

Hope you and yours are well and thanks again for your continued support!