Finding balance with technology

My journey towards a more intentional relationship with my tools

Since childhood, I’ve been captivated by computers. I studied computer science, and coding became my creative outlet, leading me from startups to Google and now to graduate studies in creative technology & design. Yet, at critical junctures, I’ve stepped away from technology. In 2016, while grieving my dad’s passing, I left my software engineer job at Framed Data and spent 4 years traveling, not writing much code. In 2019, I helped found a startup building a gratitude social network. In 2020, I left that and joined a graduate program in Ecopsychology. In 2021, as I was finishing my masters, I re-joined Google as a developer relations engineer, and in 2023 I was laid off with 12,000 other Googlers, and proceeded to become executive director of a non-profit and ran for city council in Boulder.

Through it all, I’ve oriented around a core value of balance. Our conditioning towards either-or thinking sees technology in a purely positive light, i.e. accelerate technology at all costs, or a purely negative light, i.e. don’t use any technology and return to a simpler time. A balanced view recognizes that technology can be useful, but that it’s important to be attentive to the distortions that come with it, and to use it intentionally.

As someone working in technology and interested in building and leveraging technology to enhance my writing, communication, and information organization, finding the right balance is essential. In the paragraphs to follow, I’ll discuss what balance means to me, the challenges I find with modern technology, and the tools I have started now using as I seek to find greater balance.

Walking & Writing

I’ll start this by sharing my love of walking through a few stories. I fell in love with walking during my first summer in San Francisco. During my internships there in 2013 and 2014, I would frequently go “splorin’”—picking a loose destination and wandering wherever inspiration led. I love knowing a city by foot, it’s a beautiful way to connect with a place. My adventures took me through parks and unexpected cafes for coffee or a meal, and once I sat somewhere, I’d pull out my laptop and write; journaling about my journey and riffing on whatever inspired thoughts arose from my walk. I remember sitting at a new coffeeshop during one walk and writing about an idea for a “splorin’” app.

Late last month, I visited Urbana, Illinois, for a Tai Chi seminar with Chungliang Huang. My stepmom Laurie and I have made it a yearly ritual, a great mother-son bonding opportunity and a chance to deepen our practice. Laurie’s been practicing much longer, originally learning from my dad, and I’m fortunate to have her support. She often reminds me to relax my shoulders and move from my center, like my dad did.

Visiting Urbana was also a gift for the ability to explore a new town I’m growing to love. I was born in Eugene, OR; grew up in Oxford, OH; and now live in Boulder, CO. It seems I have a fondness for college towns. While walking through Urbana, catalyzed by the spaciousness of a tai chi vacation, I started thinking about technology and balance, and began dictating this entry into my phone. It’s changed since then, and I refined it at a computer, but I find that most of my favorite writing comes from a long walk and using my voice, sometimes dictating into a phone and sometimes talking with a friend. My thoughts on technology now reflect my desire to be outside, in motion, and communicating more naturally.

Technology Traps

A challenge I have with modern digital tools, like phones, tablets, and computers, is how distracting they can be. I open my phone to take a note, and suddenly I’m scrolling the Google news feed or playing online chess; sometimes even while I walk. I sit down to write on my computer or tablet, and next thing I’m checking email, following a sequence of links, and spending 30 minutes exploring a new AI tool. While there’s nothing wrong with following these threads and getting distracted by my interests, it detracts from my original intention for using the technology, which was to focus on my writing and create more than I consume.

I frequently experience a major energy and well-being drain from typical tools. For example, with my eye health, I feel the strain from using my phone too long. Tablets and computers are better but still create strain. I’ve applied strategies, like switching my screens to gray scale, but that doesn’t change the fact that 2 million tiny light bulbs are flashing at my eyes 500 times a second.

I’ve been trying to escape these technology traps without falling into the polar trap of attempting to return to the Stone Age. A huge aspect is knowing my mind, being attentive to my intention, and sustaining focus. But when our hardware and software are designed to capture our attention and hijack our dopamine system, sometimes new technology is needed. It should honor our attention and use different screens that are easier on the eyes and less likely to hook us into a one-hour scroll fest.

New Tools for Balance

I recently switched to two new devices, the Minimal Phone and Daylight Computer, after waiting a year for them; the wait was worth it. The major difference is the e-ink or e-paper screens, viewable in sunlight and easier on the eyes. These devices run Android, so you can use all your normal apps, in contrast to previous minimal technology attempts like the Lightphone or Remarkable tablet. This allows a deeply integrated workflow with a more intentional relationship with these technologies.

The Minimal Phone can perform all necessary smartphone tasks - making calls, snapping photos, messaging friends, checking emails, browsing the web, scheduling events, and taking notes. But it does so with an e-ink screen, a minimal interface, and a physical keyboard. This device can feel clunky, as e-ink screens are good for reading but less great for typical smartphone tasks. But the clunkiness can at times feel an advantage, because it easily accomplishes all my key tasks, and entices me less to pick it up for a dopamine hit.

The Daylight Computer has been a real game changer, and this company could become one of the most revolutionary new hardware companies of this decade. It uses a different technology than e-ink, called e-paper or reflective LCD. It feels like paper on the eyes and is visible in direct sunlight, but it’s also 60 fps and feels smooth, unlike traditional e-ink devices. The smoothness and adaptability of this device have made it a go-to for creativity and consumption. I check email, read e-books and articles, send messages, and write on it. I’m using it now (with a Magic Keyboard/Fintie keyboard case). Given how generative AI is increasing the importance of articulation in creativity, this makes the device I write on more important than ever. Now my creativity can happen in my office, at my tea table, a park, or halfway up a mountain.

As I orient towards using technology more outdoors, another device worth mentioning alongside the Daylight is my recently upgraded MacBook with a nano-texture display, which has a softer screen (more matte) and is more visible in direct sunlight (Read reviews of this and the daylight by my friend Jon).

I’m exploring other form factors as well. I’ve appreciated smartwatches, but they feel intrusive and less appealing to wear all the time. I’ve pre-ordered a rePebble, a reboot of one of my favorite smartwatches, simpler than most modern ones. I’m also developing a simplified version of an open-source AI pendant, Omi, modifying it to be less of an always-on AI recorder/synthesizer, and more of a device for intentionally recording thoughts or conversations and making them accessible in my notes across devices; enabling me to express my creativity while enjoying the world. There will be more to share on all of these tools as they develop.

Towards balance and connection

Finding balance with technology in a world of imbalance is no easy thing. It requires our active participation and inquiry to cultivate a more mindful and intentional relationship. But finding balance is one of the most important things we can do. If we don’t find a way to harmonize with advancing technology, our effectiveness and influence will be diminished.

The essential component is understanding ourselves and our relationship with technology to find new ways forward. We can use technology differently, and as we enter this inquiry and connect with others seeking balance, we’ll find many solutions are already available.

In this post, I’ve focused on the hardware component of balanced technology, which I think is an essential foundation. But the software we use on these devices also matters immensely. In a future post, I plan to discuss the apps I’ve been using and exploring to support more balance, and where our current technological ecosystem falls short around integrated and interoperable solutions due to modern fragmentation.

I hope this has been useful, and if this journey towards greater balance and connection with each other and our digital technologies interests you, please reach out to discuss. We are in this together.

Don’t be a stranger,

-Aaron Gabriel