The Lurking IBM

As I go through Ted Nelson's manifesto, Computer Lib, I notice the uncanny similarities between the criticism of IBM then and of today's Apple.

According to Nelson, IBM prohibited users from connecting to competitors' accessories, that way, users could only buy what IBM has approved for them to buy. It was the IBM way, or the highway.

IBM systems and programs are set up to do things in particular ways. To a remarkable degree, it is difficult to use them in ways not planned or approved by IBM, and difficult to tie systems and programs together.[...] It is as though the compatibility of equipment and programs were planned by IBM as much as their product line.

Nelson goes on to describe how this sort of paternalistic ecosystem is undesirable, because it undermines user agency and is rooted in monopolistic practices.

Audience listening to man talking on the screen.
Fig 1. "You'll see why 1984 won't be like **1984**." Source.

In Computer Lib, Nelson pushes for two things: tech literacy and simple systems. Apple has managed to become a second IBM by sidelining tech literacy, and instead focusing aggressively on simpler, more restrictive, interfaces. It was through simplifying interactions with systems and hiding complexity, which was promulgated by designers like Don Norman, that Apple managed to take the world by storm. Essentially, "you don't need to think".

It wasn't just simplifying the interface that has made modern software paternalistic though. Contemporary software development is very influenced by Behavioralism. For instance, the work of behavioral economics, Nudge, promotes the idea of libertarian paternalism, which involves influencing user behavior while preserving freedom of choice. Over time, however, within the tech industry, the idea of preserving choice has been undermined, and what is left is a loss of agency, exacerbated by a lack of tech literacy among users.

- Marc