There’s a thoughtful piece making the rounds called Phantom Obligation. The argument is that RSS readers took their design inspiration from emails, thus ending up with an unspoken obligation to read everything because of the red dot and numbers. Messages have a human waiting at the other end, but other types of software mindlessly took this model without thinking of the implications.

If I go into a bookshop or library, there’s no urgency. I can leisurely look around, read what I want, and go on. Apps with notifications and counters operate on a completely different principle.

And this is where design comes in. I’d happily pay for better software that has had more thoughtful design, but it’s hard to find. Everything is nagging me, shouting about some minor updates, prodding me to use it not how I want to use it.

So what would software designed from the ground up with completely different values look like and how do we get there? Over the years I’ve sold my Apple Watch and iPad, have a five-year-old phone and laptop, which I won’t be updating to that liquid glass mess. My joy and excitement with the current iteration of tech has run its course.