About the Project

Berkeley Degrowth Institute is an experimental project to explore new forms of computing, and operates from under a plum tree in Berkeley, California. BDI is a project to dream up a future computer interface and aesthetic. Take a step into our dream, where smartphones are nowhere to be seen, and interfaces are tucked away in books, trinkets, and pleasant little cozy things.

Principals of Degrowth Technology

Much like the 4 Principals of Software Freedom, we propose 4 Basic Principals of Degrowth Technology: 1) Open & reparable: Freely release in a format and license that allows modification, repair, and redistribution. 2) Designed for longevity: Reject planned obsolescence, and all forms of limitation or lock-in. 3) Building good techno-habits: Build intentional technology, with eyes wide-open about social-technical arrangements. 4) Efficiency and sufficiency: Use the least amount of material and energy (input) to achieve a sufficiently working product (output).

To address these 4 principals, we are developing whisper technology, a unique approach to product design that refocuses on offline computing: 1) Free/libre open source project with normal, low-tech parts 2) Simple, stand-alone devices without any wireless communication that require no updates or Internet connectivity 3) Technology is about user expectations, and whisper-tech changes them to expect unassuming, attention-preserving whispers, not ads, or attention-sucking spectacles 4) Hardware and applications are designed to spend most of their time in the "off" state, allowing for 0 energy and true offline (e.g. book-based) computing

The Screen-Free Future

0 - ATTENTION MANIFESTO ∫ The big, phony attention economy

1 - IMAGINING THE SCREEN-FREE FUTURE ∫ A screen-free dream

2 - EXCAVATING THE SCREENLESS PAST ∫ Working truly off-line

3 - OREGON TRAIL, ON PRINT ∫ The classic game, with real paper

Contact

Newsletter coming soon. For now, feel free to DM us on Pixelfed or Mastodon: @WhisperWorld@pixelfed.social