The Changelog: Software Development, Open Source · Changelog Media

Creating communal computers (Interview)

November 19, 2025·58 min·5 clips

Spencer Chang explains why AI would never think to animate a piece of bread like humans do.

Spencer Chang starts from connection. Jared introduces him as the person who grabbed their attention with the Alive Internet Theory website, but the conversation does not stay pinned to websites for long. It opens into computery things made for play, making, and being around other people. The objects matter here. Spencer talks about how a website can hit differently when it is tied to something you can hold, instead of something you visit alone. Jared gets the appeal right away. He remembers someone at a conference handing over an object that basically became a website you could receive in person. That idea has a little spark to it. The tech underneath is simple, more like encoding an address that opens when someone puts a phone near it, but that is part of why it works. Jared keeps coming back to the plain mechanism becoming memorable once it moves from the screen into a social ritual. Coins enter the conversation too. He points to conference coinage from Amazon and Oxide as things people get handed, use to stay in touch, or keep on a shelf. Then comes the wish: a coin would be better if it carried some living digital thing as well, though Jared has not checked whether his does. Spencer keeps playing with the shape of the idea. The fortune cookie example makes it clearer because it is not just a URL, it is a fortune. He also mentions a concrete pillow that turns on do-not-disturb when you put your phone on it. The web feels less lonely in this version. What lands is not a pitch for novelty hardware. It is a builder's hunch that software can make better moments when it has weight, place, and a reason to pass from one person to another. The close stays communal, sending listeners to Spencer's website, his newsletter, and the show's Zulip chat, which suits the whole conversation's quiet case for keeping the internet alive through small human rituals.

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A playful Changelog conversation about making the internet feel physical, social, and worth gathering around.

The Changelog frames communal computing as software escaping the browser and becoming something people can hold, pass around, or gather near. Spencer Chang talks about websites and computing-infused objects meant for play and connection, including internet sculptures, real-world…

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