Research
Readings
One book, talk, or thinker.
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Public interest research and counterfoil research
Nader’s PIRGs and Illich’s counterfoil research began in the same years, aimed at the same institutions. Illich read the consumer movement closely, and his objection still marks the difference.
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A group is its own worst enemy
Clay Shirky took Wilfred Bion’s study of therapy groups and applied it to software. Groups are a runtime phenomenon, so tools for groups have to plan for how groups fail.
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Small is beautiful, fifty years on
Schumacher and Illich both published books about scale in 1973. Schumacher’s idea of “intermediate technology” adds a complementary test to Illich’s counterfoil research: is a tool capable, yet simple enough for its users to maintain?
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The gift is always being given
Lewis Hyde’s gift economy explains why free software and open protocols last. Gifts gain value by circulating; a tool for convivial tools should be one.