future interfaces

MercuryOS

Mercury is a reimaging of the operating system as a fluid modeless experience drive by human intent.

The case against conversational interfaces

Conversational interfaces are a bit of a meme. Every couple of years a shiny new AI development emerges and people in tech go "This is it! The next computing paradigm is here! We'll only use natural language going forward!". But then nothing actually changes and we continue using computers the way w

How AIs See Our World

AIs are increasingly perceiving our world, but in order to comprehend it, our user interfaces must operate in reverse.

Television

Television is a visual interface for personal agents, a space for creating, arranging, and reusing artifacts.

Inanimate

Universal Ambient Intelligence

Speaking is quick, listening is slow

Posted on Friday 27 Feb 2026. 925 words, 17 links. By Matt Webb.

Stream: Private Voice Ring — Notes, Chat, Dictation

Experience Stream — the private voice ring for everything on your mind. Pre-order today

Let’s invent new interfaces, not new products

Posted on Thursday 25 Feb 2021. 507 words, 2 links. By Matt Webb.

Why Chatbots Are Not the Future of Interfaces

Unfortunately for the countless hapless people I've talked to in the past few months, this was inexorable. Ever since ChatGPT exploded in popularity, my inner designer has been bursting at the seams.

Codifying a ChatGPT workflow into a malleable GUI

Wouldn't it be neat if you could use LLMs to create little personal utility apps as the need arises? Here's a story where I did just that...

Malleable software: Restoring user agency in a world of locked-down apps

The original promise of personal computing was a new kind of clay. Instead, we got appliances: built far away, sealed, unchangeable. In this essay, we envision malleable software: tools that users can reshape with minimal friction to suit their unique needs.

Pebble Index 01

A smart ring that records voice notes at the press of a button and transcribes them to your phone. External memory for your brain.

Please let me phone my podcasts app

Posted on Friday 24 Jul 2026. 1,047 words, 9 links. By Matt Webb.