Why Is Old Software Hard to Experience Again?

Soleio says old software is surprisingly hard to experience again because there is so much of it and it keeps changing, so little context is left in which to run it. Digital work is easier to preserve in principle, and the original feel is still hard to recover. Videos can record a product, but they cannot capture the feel of walking around and using it. Things that felt familiar as recently as 10 years ago can still cause a visceral reaction. Old iPhones are a time capsule if Wi-Fi and cellular stay off so the phone can power up. Path, played on a phone recently, still felt nice. Foursquare, used while walking around, is not around anymore. An old browser can feel like driving a car from decades ago: the same vehicle, and nothing like it.

Nicholas Jitkoff wants Artifact to help people make side projects just to discover, without the burden of whether the work needs a purpose, and to hand off what turns out to be valuable. He handed Quicksilver to a group that has maintained it for 20 years. Side projects often hit a sad point about five years later, when the technology has evolved and they cannot work. He is terrible at documenting them. Some designers are great at it. The aim is to celebrate the work, keep it, remember it, and sometimes leave it useful.