It’s easy to look at this article, see assertions which are absolutely the opposite of ones personal experience and conclude that the author is an idiot. For example, I almost entirely reject the idea that there is utility in making it hard to look at the text that you’re typing. I’m assuming it’s true for the author (why else would he say it?) but it almost all the work I do depends on me being able to scan around the content that I’m working on, and the more screen real estate I have to play with, the more effective I am.

All the same, I think he’s hit on something important, and people who accuse him of pushing a “one size fits all” agenda are misunderstanding his argument. There are plenty of people out there for whom the “clamshell laptop” is a good match for their computing needs. But that’s not the point. The point is that if you are not one of those people, then you’re basically stuffed because you have no choice but to pay for hardware components which you do not need and which actively make your working / playing / living experience worse.

I am one of those people. I hate the non-reactive, low-travel keys which are ubiquitous on laptops. And I hate the screen. The specifics of my eyesight mean it’s always in the wrong place and it never shows me as much content as I need to do any of my jobs. If I’m going to do any kind of work, my first actions are to plug in a mechanical keyboard and attach a much larger vertically mounted screen. But I (or, more usually, the company that happens to employ me) inevitably end up forking out not inconsiderably amounts of money for keyboards and screens that I’m not going to use and which actually make my working environment less ergonomic and more frustrating to work with because one of the key requirements of my job is that it is done in different places, which mean I need to have a laptop, and it is simply assumed that a box with a screen attached and a keyboard built in is what a laptop is.

This is the real strength of the forever computer proposal. Not that those who find a clamshell laptop a good fit to their needs are “doing it wrong” and need to change their expectations and working practices, but rather that those who do not find it a good fit should not be required to put up with it. The company I work for is currently recruiting new developers. Each one one who joins will be given the same laptop preshipped with the same software because we all do “the same job”. This totally ignores the differences between our physical and cognitive attributes and the places in which we will find ourselves working. Allowing our hardware to truly reflect our different needs would be better ergonomically, emotionally and economically. Sadly, it seems to be something that simply cannot be done in the modern hardware ecosystem.

There was a time when computers and information technology offered the prospect of autonomy, customisation, choice. Increasingly it feels as though the real proposition is, “You can make any choice you like, so long as it can be monetized and maximized in terms of revenue generation.” If you want something which suits your personal needs and makes your life better, but doesn’t generate plus signs on some financial planning spreadsheet then, sorry, you’re shit out of luck.