Paul Graham says the next major computing form factor is unknown but will seem obvious in retrospect

@paulg I think better AR glasses where you walk around your house/office with overlays, files in physical locations, etc. auto photogrammetry/vrchat-style avatar integration so your friends can join in your irl location. pretty much what mark zucker wanted when the tech wasn't good

@paulg btw, great lecture about this problem of the software ui and form factors

https://youtube.com/watch?v=1fZTOjd_bOQ&pp=ygUedWkgZGVzaWduIGxlY3R1cmUgZnV0dXJlIGxpbnV4

@paulg So right.

I met one entrepreneur this week who is building some new style headphones that listens to your brain. And he isn't alone.

I'm actively looking for the "next form factor."

@paulg I'm pretty sure it will be your phone being a processing node like Elon mentioned. A billion nodes collecting and processing information simultaneously.

@paulg Not sure on form factor, but I'm becoming more and more convinced the interface will be chat.

@paulg Why does it have to be only one form factor? Radio, TV and newspapers, as news technology co-existed together until internet killed them all.

I think people have known it’s AR for years, because you can replace every screen, but it’s taking so long to get right! Apple Vision Pro, Meta’s Prototypes, Google Glass, Microsoft HoloLens, the new Snap Specs are all bets on this, but displays, battery and compute still aren’t there

@paulg I doubt the handheld device is going away anytime soon, it’s like the last tangible thing society has that makes computing relatable or not scary because we feel we have control. However I do not know how technology like Neuralink will shift this but l feel that might be it.

@paulg The dots only connect looking backwards

@paulg Telepathy would be a non-consensus pick :)

@paulg I know what it is, a powerbank like compute module with no screens and glasses connected wirelessly.

@paulg I would like a non-invasive neural link that I can communicate with in natural language in my mind and that has the ability to project overlays on my visual cortex. Not too much to ask, is it?

Reminds me of a great quote by John Von Neumann discussing the implications of the computer w/ Lewis Strauss back in the 40s:

"The projected device, or rather the species of devices of which it is to be the first representative, is so radically new that many of its uses will become clear only after it has been put into operation. These uses which are not, or not easily, predictable now, are likely to be the most important ones. Indeed they are by definition those which we do not recognize at present because they are farthest removed from ... our present sphere."

@Brice @paulg You absolutely don't get it

@paulg I like the wristwatch form factor. Current smartwatches are capability-anemic. I hope to one day have a Star Trek tricorder with full AI assistant on my wrist.

@paulg 100% agree. Could require minimal infrastructure. I hope it gets weird. I think AGI is something like: you sit down at the computer, and everything you were going to do is pre-conceived and completed.

@paulg Its socks! The next form factor is SOCKS!

@paulg steve jobs discovering the lap top and realising damn paul graham, the next form factor was obvious in hindsight:

@paulg I know exactly what it is. I've been saying it for a year. Everyone looks at me funny. Nobody seems to believe me.

The next form factor for coding is talking to a face. People can't read, Paul. They need a face.

@LyleHender56329 @paulg I agree with that, but a big part of that blame is for how the social apps ecosystem is built. And people is trying to go back to flip phones to desincentivize their fomo. we really do not a device for more media consumption, we need a mobile device that can work with...