Wow, I Love the 'Puter!
The desktop computer is a miracle of human ingenuity, from the microscopic precision of Intel's Core Duo processor to the vast possibilities of offline and online computing. On the tragic decline of desktop towers, the IndieWeb and open-source software as alternatives to corporate platforms, and why we should take the time to become system admins and webmasters.
have been a computer nerd my entire life. I think if you spend a few minutes on this website, that becomes obvious. I remember when my family first got a HP Pavilion Media Center TV PC, bundled with a copy of Windows XP Home Edition. Playing flash games on AddictingGames.com, and chatting with my friends on MSN Messenger, and unwisely downloading virus-addled MP3s on Limewire.
Even before we got our own computer, before I was even in Kindergarten, [my Mom would take me to the West Kildonan Library](https://blog.brennanbrown.ca/a-love-letter-to-public-transit-329aff72c93e?sk=06e802c87773fde7d0a195d53f8db484) in Winnipeg where I'd play games on PBSkids.org, barely understanding what was going on.
But when I pause and meditate on the computer, I realize I never had a positive association with it, despite how much I've used it. My parents would tell me I was spending too much time on it (I was), and of course the misery spread by corporate social media has made any digital screen malicious in nature.
It took until this year, when I started making friends with people like [Melo](https://bubblegum.girlonthemoon.xyz/articles) and many others on the IndieWeb who share unabashed love for the computer that I realized, *"oh, I should also love the computer and all that it's capable of and all that it's given me!"*
The shift from guilt to gratitude has made me want to understand what a computer actually is and not just what it does.
A 1970s article in Scientific American measured the energy efficiency of locomotion for various animals. The condor won as the most efficient, while humans ranked poorly in the middle. However, when a human used a bicycle, their efficiency blew past the condor and every other animal on Earth. [Steve Jobs used this metaphor](https://www.themarginalian.org/2011/12/21/steve-jobs-bicycle-for-the-mind-1990/) to famously call the personal computer a "bicycle for the mind."
I think we (or at least I) take for granted how much you can do with a computer, how much it is capable of. Now, what's exactly defined as a computer is incredibly broad—the phone in your pocket is one, absolutely, and maybe also your refrigerator or lightbulbs and sprinklers if you've opted for Smart Devices and the Internet of Things.
What I'm talking about is a specific kind of computer: the desktop tower. It is truly amazing, totally modular with every part replaceable. I can't help but think about the similarities it has to a public library, in that if it were made today rather than being a legacy machine grandfathered into today's personal computing devices, it would have never been allowed to be successful.
## Portrait of a Core Duo
Abstract discussion about technology only gets you so far. To understand the miracle of computation, you should look at t
Did you enjoy this article?
Recommend it — Standard Reader surfaces well-loved writing to more readers across the network.