--- title: A Speed Limit for Computers · Caolan | daily.dev description: Drawing on Ivan Illich's 1973 essay 'Energy and Equity', this piece argues that computing power — like motorized speed — has a threshold beyond which it... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/a-speed-limit-for-computers-caolan-sscnzpjtq twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: A Speed Limit for Computers · Caolan | daily.dev og:description: Drawing on Ivan Illich's 1973 essay 'Energy and Equity', this piece argues that computing power — like motorized speed — has a threshold beyond which it... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/a-speed-limit-for-computers-caolan-sscnzpjtq og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/sSCNZPJTQ.png og:image:alt: A Speed Limit for Computers · Caolan og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # A Speed Limit for Computers · Caolan **[Lobsters](https://daily.dev/sources/lobsters)** · 4 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Drawing on Ivan Illich's 1973 essay 'Energy and Equity', this piece argues that computing power — like motorized speed — has a threshold beyond which it produces negative social returns, concentrating control in fewer hands. The author uses the e-bike as a model: a legally constrained technology that expands access without undermining equity. The post asks whether a comparable 'restrained class of computer' could exist — one defined by deliberate limits on hardware capability (CPU speed, storage, network) that would attract fewer regulations and preserve individual autonomy against big tech dominance. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Low Resource Computing](https://daily.dev/posts/low-resource-computing-m9tptjjnm) · Lobsters · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [The Gospel According to Graybeard](https://daily.dev/posts/the-gospel-according-to-graybeard-nazmdjupa) · Hacker News · 6 upvotes · 1 comments --- Tags: [#big-tech](https://daily.dev/tags/big-tech) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/a-speed-limit-for-computers-caolan-sscnzpjtq) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"A Speed Limit for Computers · Caolan","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/a-speed-limit-for-computers-caolan-sscnzpjtq","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/a-speed-limit-for-computers-caolan-sscnzpjtq"},"datePublished":"2026-07-06T09:44:10.589Z","dateModified":"2026-07-06T09:44:28.919Z","description":"Drawing on Ivan Illich's 1973 essay 'Energy and Equity', this piece argues that computing power — like motorized speed — has a threshold beyond which it...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--2-1xRawN--/f_auto/v1722860399/public/Placeholder%2011","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--2-1xRawN--/f_auto/v1722860399/public/Placeholder%2011","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Lobsters","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Lobsters","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--tl8v_Fku--/f_auto,t_logo/v1698841318/logos/lobste.jpg","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/lobsters"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/a-speed-limit-for-computers-caolan-sscnzpjtq","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"big-tech","timeRequired":"PT4M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Lobsters","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/lobsters"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"A Speed Limit for Computers · Caolan"}]} ```