An interesting blog post about monotechnology:

I was vacuously sharpening a pencil the other day when something about
the experience stopped me.

The pencil sharpener has not been improved in over a hundred years.
Nobody has added Bluetooth to it. It doesn't need firmware updates. It
doesn't ask for my email. You put the pencil in, you turn it, you get a
sharp pencil. The transaction is complete. There is nothing left over.
No notification, upsell, or suggested content based on your previous
sharpening history.

It just does one thing. And then it's done.

As I stood there, I realized that almost nothing else in my life works
like this anymore.

https://www.whitenoise.email/p/a-manifesto-for-monofunctional-technology



... THE SEVEN JOURNEYS TO ITSELFNESS
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Re: Monotechnology
By: poindexter FORTRAN to All on Thu Apr 16 2026 08:10 am

I was vacuously sharpening a pencil the other day when something about the experience stopped me.

The pencil sharpener has not been improved in over a hundred years. Nobody has added Bluetooth to it. It doesn't need firmware updates. It doesn't ask for my email. You put the pencil in, you turn it, you get a sharp pencil. The transaction is complete. There is nothing left over. No notification, upsell, or suggested content based on your previous sharpening history.

It just does one thing. And then it's done.

As I stood there, I realized that almost nothing else in my life works like this anymore.

The pencil sharpener is something that just works, and works well, if you're using a traditional pencil. I don't use pencils very much these days, but when I was using my own pencils, at some point I decided to use mechanical pencils instead of traditional pencils. The thing with traditional pencils is that they get shorter every time you sharpen them, and I like that a mechanical pencil doesn't. With a mechanical pencil, you just need to buy graphite refills (which could potentially be inexpensive). However, mechanical pencils have their own issue in that there's a small length of the graphite at the front in the pencil that isn't gripped, so when the graphite gets short, you have a loose length of graphite that you probably won't be able to use. I think there might be some mechanical pencils that deal with that, but I'm not sure.

Nightfox
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Nobody has added Bluetooth to it. It doesn't need firmware updates. It

That is what plagues the world. Everything has software built into it now, often not for the better. And when the updates stop, your smart toaster, fridge, tv or automobile, turns into a hunk of metal, and ends up in the landfill. Exactly the same for battery operated devices. When your proprietary battery can no longer hold its charge, your weed-eater, lawnmower, cordless drill, also ends up in the trash, costing you and the environment more.

I wasn't aware of the term monotechnology, but I like it already.

-BH

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bithaven wrote to poindexter FORTRAN <=-

up in the landfill. Exactly the same for battery operated devices. When your proprietary battery can no longer hold its charge, your
weed-eater, lawnmower, cordless drill, also ends up in the trash,
costing you and the environment more.

Yeah, and those batteries are not at all environmentally friendly... to
make or dispose of.



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An interesting blog post about monotechnology:

I was vacuously sharpening a pencil the other day when something about
the experience stopped me.

The pencil sharpener has not been improved in over a hundred years.
Nobody has added Bluetooth to it. It doesn't need firmware updates. It doesn't ask for my email. You put the pencil in, you turn it, you get a sharp pencil. The transaction is complete. There is nothing left over.
No notification, upsell, or suggested content based on your previous sharpening history.

It just does one thing. And then it's done.

As I stood there, I realized that almost nothing else in my life works

I saw up until this sentence and thought "Yes, this is what I see too!"

like this anymore.

https://www.whitenoise.email/p/a-manifesto-for-monofunctional-technology

I share this frustration. So much doesn't work right. It works, but its janky, confusing, often doesn't do what you want. Needlessly complex.

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Nightfox wrote to poindexter FORTRAN <=-

The pencil sharpener is something that just works, and works well, if you're using a traditional pencil.

Yeah, it did a number on my fountain pen - boy, was that an expensive
lesson!

(Make sure and tip your waitresses, I'll be here all week...)



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boraxman wrote to poindexter FORTRAN <=-

I share this frustration. So much doesn't work right. It works, but
its janky, confusing, often doesn't do what you want. Needlessly
complex.

I agree completely with this, but, contrary to it, I continue to run a
BBS - which has for most of the time been janky, confusing and
needlessly complex. :)




... Convert a melodic element into a rhythmic element
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I share this frustration. So much doesn't work right. It works, but its janky, confusing, often doesn't do what you want. Needlessly complex.

I agree completely with this, but, contrary to it, I continue to run a
BBS - which has for most of the time been janky, confusing and
needlessly complex. :)

In a way yes! But actually, everything is still kind of predictable and can be reasoned with. Some BBSs are simple, and do what they are supposed to do.

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boraxman wrote to poindexter FORTRAN <=-

In a way yes! But actually, everything is still kind of predictable
and can be reasoned with. Some BBSs are simple, and do what they are supposed to do.

I'm running Synchronet, and over the years the group responsible has
brought many services into the core package. One tool does everything
from a BBS, web server, news server, FTP server, telnet server, areafix
manager and mailer.

I used to run a DOS BBS with a separate nodelist compiler, areafix
manager, FREQ manager, mailer, statistics utilities and other bits that
all ran off of a DOS batch files, and were triggered by the mailer
exiting with a specific error level. It was surprisingly effective, but
goldbergian in nature. Getting all of the pieces talking to each other
was a challenge.



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