Hey there, I’m Alexander.

I’m interested in how software can better serve people’s daily lives.

My experiments often involve designing and developing many ideas — some of which I build into publicly available products, which further informs my research.

Below is a compendium of my research areas, projects, and products. The best place to start is the article on how I approach my core work.

Want to receive my work as I publish it?

    The future of the operating system

    In my current work, I am exploring new and newly refined ideas for how personal computing can expand what people are able to think and do.

    Articles

    These are the in-depth articles I have published so far. For more frequent, shorter exploration, see the Lab Notes.

    The Potential Merits of an Itemized Operating System

    34 min. read  ·  Publ. June 6, 2021

    How I approach my core work

    11 min. read  ·  Publ. October 5, 2020

    Weekly Lab Notes

    At the core of this research, I am creating a demo operating system of the future. Each week, I publish Lab Notes that document my progress, experiments, and concepts.

    I publish these Lab Notes weekly to intentionally “work with the lab door open” — inviting others’ thoughts and dialog along the way. Something spark your thinking? Get in touch.

    Open the Lab Notes

    Reimagining email

    My career began with reimagining email and finding ways to build that vision on top of today’s existing email protocols.

    Following a record-breaking Kickstarter campaign in 2012, this work resulted in award-winning products that topped the charts and were frequently featured by Apple in the App Store.

    10 years of research and experimentation

    As we approach ten year mark for this work, I am compiling a retrospective that catalogues everything: what worked, what didn’t, prototypes that never saw the light of day, and finally, where email is probably headed next.

    Read the retrospective

    Products

    These products have spun out of my research on email.

    Mail Pilot sails logo

    Mail Pilot

    Reimagined email client
    Throttle lightning bolt logo

    Throttle

    Email throttling service

    Thinking in Progress

    Short snippets that reflect my current thinking on various topics which I cite often in my articles and other works.

    On creation: Quantity is the journey to quality · The dots connect later · The merit of ideas and ideation

    On software: Build and rebuild · Pioneering users · Gather a community · Form is function

    Mindsense

    Since 2012, I've run Mindsense, a company I started to bring the best ideas that come out of my research into commercially available products.

    Our products have received praise in The New York Times, Macworld, and others; topped the App Store and Product Hunt charts; and been used by the people who make your favorite movies, put astronauts in space, and run your local bistro.

    Mindsense website

    Popups

    Small, just-for-fun projects made available for a short period of time.

    1997.chat

    March, 2020 — A faithful remake of AOL Instant Messenger made available during 2020's early lockdowns to connect the world's socially isolated. (Acquired in 2021.)

    Founder Thunder Round

    December, 2016 — A one-time video and podcast mini-series on successful founders and their experiences.