I recently made the decision to get myself an air-gapped laptop for creative reasons.
My intention behind this was primarily nostalgia and UX preferences, but there’s also benefits to this arrangement as far as sovereignty and privacy.
What is an Air-Gapped Computer?
The simplest way to summarize this is that an air-gapped computer is offline only. You do not connect it to the internet, ever. Even bluetooth capabilities are disabled on an air-gapped computer. No email, no browsing, no downloading, nothing. Ever.
It functions like a bridge between the analog and the digital. Files can be moved on and off it via CD-R/CD-RW, a USB drive, or an external hard drive. It can also handle inputs from specific scanners and from digital cameras (either through an SD card or a USB cable).
You can run any software that does NOT require an internet connection on it– primarily legacy software. That’s exactly what I set it up for!
What Software is This Appropriate For?
I specifically got a 2011 Dell with Windows XP in order to run RoughDraft 3.0, which was popular with NaNoWriMo participants and creative writers in general in the early 2000s through the mid-2010s. The most recent version of it is from 2005, and it runs only on Windows OS, not Apple OS.
I figured if I was going to have Windows just to run RoughDraft, I might as well lean into the full, authentic experience and opt for something that runs Windows XP! RoughDraft runs absolutely flawlessly on that specific OS because it’s from the same time period and Windows XP was (in my opinion) the OS where Windows peaked– it’s all been downhill from there, and the ’90s operating systems were the buildup to that one.
It’s a bit “extra” to have a computer specifically for RoughDraft and a few other early 2000s software programs, but the UX of RoughDraft opens up parts of my mind that simply don’t open up any other way. It’s a portal to the deep subconsciousness if you know how to use it!
Why Windows XP?
Windows XP is a bit like the Honda Fit– it’s discontinued, but has a very specific cult following. Both the Honda Fit and Windows XP appeal to people with a “set it and forget it” mindset who want things to be simple, straight-forward, functional, and not have extra features that you do not use. Part of the appeal of a classic Honda Fit is that most of them do not have a touch screen– if you want the CD to play as soon as you turn the key and want the GPS to be a separate device from the actual car, they’re ideal. Windows XP is appealing when you want to be fully in charge of your file management and want everything to be quick and easy to find– no hidden layers to anything whatsoever.
It also has a specific aesthetic appeal, especially for people who came of age around the turn-of-the-millennium. The psychedelic visualizations on the Windows Media Player is playful and looks like you have a party going on! Even the sounds and start menus on Windows XP can be very comfortable for Millennials and Gen X. It’s similar to playing Mario Kart 64 on the N64 at a bar.
Why Air-Gap a Computer?
In my case, this is about longevity and maintenance.
The Honda Fit comparison does not hold up when it comes to maintaining a computer running Windows XP. No mechanic is going to say, “sorry, we no longer support that!” They’ll still give you an oil change and help with any repairs you need. The insurance covers it. You’re allowed to have your preference for a CD player and no built-in screen without extra challenges being thrown at you by companies that want to force compliance with 2020s norms.
Windows XP comes with warning labels, not support. You use it at your own risk so to speak, and it does not have good protection against viruses and malware at all. It hasn’t been supported since the mid-2010s.
However, most of the things that cause damage to computers come from the internet. Some can also come from corrupted USB drives, etc, but if you’re using new drives that you bought and formatted yourself, those are safe compared to the internet.
So an air-gapped computer is basically archival. It’s the same mentality as putting fashion accessories from the 19th century in acid-free archival storage boxes and being careful when you wear them. I have a blouse from the 1890s that I have worn a few times, but I handle it completely differently from how I handle a t-shirt from the 21st century. This is the same idea.
Another comparison here would be to think of a vintage, unsupported operating system as a bit like one of those uncontacted tribes that cannot ever be around people from the industrialized world because they don’t have immunity to the diseases that circulate in those populations. The internet is the modern population, and the “junk” like viruses and malware on it is the diseases.
What are the Other Benefits of Doing This?
Here’s where it gets weird: modern operating systems and software “spy” on people and harvest data in ways that the older ones did not. Air-gapped computers are even more sovereign and private than vintage computers that have internet access. There’s a reason why they’re used by three-letter agencies, whistleblowers, and in situations where there’s highly classified information involved and/or a system that cannot fail without causing some kind of catastrophe.
You don’t need to be doing anything “important” to benefit psychically from this, though. Even if you use an air-gapped computer for nothing except watching the Windows Media Player put cool visuals to your favorite songs and using RoughDraft to write and edit an absurdist magical realism novel, that level of privacy is beneficial. It helps with the process of shutting down the internal editor, it cuts down on worrying about validation and judgement, and it opens deeper channels of subconscious creativity.
There’s really no reason not to give yourself a mini blacksite just for truly free expression!
The last truly sovereign OS for Windows was XP (released in 2001), and for Apple it was Snow Leopard (2009-2011). Later operating systems push to automatically have you uploading data to the cloud instead of keeping everything local by default, or they run background analytics, or they push harder to have online integrations for absolutely everything.
My view on this is that modern operating systems are perfectly acceptable for things that are public-facing anyways like work and school!
Fully analog options are great for things like a private journal that you want to burn later or something.
But an air-gapped computer is the ideal setup for an in-between situation where you want total privacy during the brainstorming and drafting process, but also want to be able to share the final results of what you’re doing with an audience later.
If CDs for legacy software come with notes that make it sound like you’re a part of a present-day samizdat operation that stands in opposition to the digital panopticon, that is purely coincidental!