In the 1990s hackers like me used to travel north of Seattle to this tiny shop on the corner of Lake City Way, right off I-5. It was run by a Russian fella who had access to all the components needed to build a PC from scratch.
I would go in there with a general idea of the PC to be built from parts; but usually didn’t care what it would do other than run some exotic Windows programs [Redhat Linux tear downs would happen later]; and networking. Memory [RAM] and networking were the highest priority components; paid any price.
Networking in the 90’s was primitive by 2023 standards; didn’t matter. If I could dial into a server with my low baud rate networking card, life was blissful for many hours. It was good enough for me to run VOIP calls to my girlfriend living in Japan. When the connection lasted more than a few minutes it felt like Bell calling Watson.
Today feels the same; many of us are chasing AI highs; hoping to find the next mix of parts to make our system do things we’ve never experienced before. The cognitive load is the highest I’ve seen in a multi-decade tech career. The recursive x derivative velocity is endorphin inducing; I’m getting really good at anticipating the next high. If you’ve worked in the music industry [I did for a few years] watching multiple artists ‘chart’ is one of the coolest moments; seeing a genre being born in real-time is a trip. But if you track the signals carefully the patterns become very clear; you can start to anticipate the next one; and even sooner the next time.
What’s approaching? You’re going to see two types of AI builders emerge with extreme clarity: one group will lead the zen of simplicity. They will elevate the space between thoughts. This group isn’t easy to approach by the masses but they will have significant influence.
The second group prefers the chaos of complexity. Without being specific there’s a team that leads this movement right now. Don’t dismiss them. The exhaust from their churn feeds the monastery garden. I’m watching and experimenting with them.
Reach out if you want to run some chaos together.