Bypass the tech arms race with a notebook

Grab an old notebook and be yourself.

OpeAI is now responsible for a RAM shortage that looks like it could continue into 2027. Computers already cost more due to tariffs. NVIDIA and other GPU manufacturers are making year over year record profits. Apple, Google and others saw this coming and began producing their own CPUs with integrated graphics to manage supply, reduce reliance on third parties and protect their revenue.

Well, you don’t need all that. You can grab an old notebook, that one gathering dust on a shelf, and blog on paper, for your eyes and perhaps if you desire snap a photo and upload it as a post to your own blog. Running on your own old server, maybe that old laptop, maybe a web host, like this one running ClassicPress, WordPress, Drupal or whatever you like.

For this post I chose to quickly transcribe it on my eight year old laptop, post it to my blog, free of an algorithm. No invasive ads and data collection, no endless scroll of clickbait. But you, you don’t need to be part of the wasteful tech arms race of 2026. You can think for yourself, and write something in a notebook, keep it private or post it online too.

Public Safety Power Shutdown

Journaling by a battery powered LED light from a Christmas decoration during a public safety power shutdown. I’m in San Dimas CA. Safe with my #fountainpen Traveler’s Notebook and a cold mug of tea. My dog Ginny is snoring in the room as I write and relax to the hum of a neighbor’s generator.

Our neighborhood is powered by a line crossing a high fire risk area, a dry creek bed hugs the development and I’m glad Southern California Edison recognized the risk. While fires have been burning elsewhere in the county in places not so fortunate to catch the risk in time.