Building because you can
Rather than "Should I do this" I want to embrace more "Can I do this"
Right now as I write this post it is the very premise of what I am wanting to do more of. I am writing this on an Asus E200H which I bought in 2016 as a small laptop I planned to carry with me for the light work I needed to do on the go at my job. In the time that has gone by since then it has sat dormant in a box until 10 years later it is reborn with a dead battery and a fresh install to run Linux giving it new life as a digital typewriter at 20 minutes to midnight on a Wednesday night.
I have been tempted and influenced quite a lot by the internet showing me people building their own home labs, local servers to replace things like Netflix and Google Photos, and in some impressive cases running their own open weight AI models. The other things I have been shown have been people building Cyber decks which are more or less tiny computers made up of a slew of parts pieced together in unique cases often ending up looking like something from Blade runner or any other of Sci-fi writing of what 'the future' would look like. This is where the spiral started.
The kicker ended up being shown the Sony Vaio P series laptop launched in 2009 which was sold as a 'lifestyle PC' due to its size, shape and finishes and I would go so far as to say being a 'cool kid' having one of these. They're now rare and way overpriced looking through ebay, don't worry I checked... It sparked what I wanted as a first project though, something I could use as primarily a writing device for blog posts, general ideas and just writing in an environment free from being able to do it all.
For example this Asus laptop I am working on has by the modern standards of what we're used to barely any power at all. So much so that I dare not try and spin up more applications other than Obsidian itself on this laptop. So why have I spent the time bothering to get this little laptop up and running again? Well part of it is because I can.
I think being a software engineer as my day job has always driven quite a practical spin on creativity and one thing I love about software development is there being many ways to work out the same conclusion some times. Also sometimes when you're making something there can be a 'this has to work' and the end goal is just working out a way to make that possible for the desired result.
There is also a thread to this of setting an example to my daughter about being curious and following that curiosity to try something new that interests you. In the past I’ve built my own PC having not done anything like that previously, my wife and I both take a ‘how hard can it be’ attitude for things like this. We both want to encourage and facilitate things she wants to explore.
These types of projects while honestly not necessary in terms of something I needed. Using it as a vessel to achieve a goal, spark some research, investigation, and planning out a result is something I just love doing. The satisfaction of achieving what I wanted and on top of that refreshing an old machine that still has some life left in it also feels great.
So if there is some project you want to try out, spend some time on something purely because you want to see if you can do it. Most of my favourite projects have been purely for my benefit of finishing it and then having something to tinker with. Running Linux on a 10 year old cheap laptop so I can type in Obsidian which I already have on my phone, iPad and laptop is not for everyone, that’s for sure.
The other one I have on my to do list is trying out the Zine dummy templates from Wuthipol Designs. But before I do try that out I need to order a new battery for this laptop so I can use it not plugged into a wall…
See you next month,
Tom
