I started Small Tech to explore what removing everything that made Big Tech “big” would actually look like out in the world.
The phones we carry in our pockets, rest by our bedsides, and fidget with throughout the day are amazing devices often used for disquieting ends. The fact that every year we buy new versions to deliver ungodly amount of ads, actual propaganda, and many interactions that just feel off—all of which we pay for yet again in some form—is remarkable when we step back and look at it for what it is.
Small Tech is not about throwing away your devices, or anti-capitalism, or overthrowing today’s Big Tech to replace it with a benevolent Big Tech of our own making. What if we were to reshape how our devices are used through intentionally distancing ourselves from these problematic actors? What if we had apps built by real people for pure love of the game as opposed to building through desperation for that quarterly bonus, a big exit, or for fear of being labeled a “poor performer?”
What then are we left with? Certainly not seamless perfection. We’re left with devices that might not be utilized to their absolute maximum, we might be left with some bugs here and there or features we miss, but we ultimately remain with devices that are better shaped to us—the people who use them and actually pay for them—rather than companies seeking to extract every ounce of attention, telemetry, and amorphous “value” out of us.
Small Tech, as much as is feasible to me, will remain “not for profit” simply because there are no subscriptions and no way to actually pay for them. More intensive apps will remain BYOC (bring your own compute) such as Outside Margins—on which this was written and edited. This means that capabilities like AI editors can run on any model provider—even open-weights models on your own machine—at cost. Just add an API key and let it rip.
There is no real “back-end” to these products outside of the ones you already carry with you via iCloud storage. Even in the event of the apocalypse—or you run out of iCloud storage, whichever is worse—these apps will keep humming along on whatever device they’re installed on. But you won’t get those magical syncing updates that ensure a note on one device is instantly available on another.
Please enjoy, and feel free to contact me directly for any issues or concerns. - TJ
P.S. Maybe you are reading this in the far future and are frustrated that the iPhone Quattro is not fully compatible. For that I am sorry. I hope I didn’t switch to an Android.