I already do a lot of this. Everything I write on Substack is written first on my laptop and viewed using Hugo (a static web site generator), then uploaded to my personal web site (on a VPS I control), then finally migrated to Substack. Because I'm a bit paranoid, I also back up this laptop to an external hard disk in my home, and another one off-site.
Because I follow almost a hundred Substacks and other info sources, I use an RSS reader instead of dealing with hundreds of email notifications. It keeps the info firehose in one place.
And good keyboards are a must! I have been using ThinkPads for 25 years and they almost always have great keyboards. Even the "chiclet" keyboard in my "new" one, a seven-year-old ThinkPad T450s, is really very good: it has concave keytops instead of being flat, featureless slabs, and feels great. I hate typing on smartphones and tablets, and I'm amazed anybody can use such crippled devices as writing tools. Plus the darned things have tiny screens and no ethernet ports.
Finally, I have been using Linux on my ThinkPads for 25 years: another way to take back control from Big Tech.
Tools: the Good and the Bad
In terms of fighting the digital fiefdom, I just posted this: https://thirdparadigm.substack.com/p/how-to-be-czar-of-your-fiefdom. Fun synchronicity!
Good advice!
I already do a lot of this. Everything I write on Substack is written first on my laptop and viewed using Hugo (a static web site generator), then uploaded to my personal web site (on a VPS I control), then finally migrated to Substack. Because I'm a bit paranoid, I also back up this laptop to an external hard disk in my home, and another one off-site.
Because I follow almost a hundred Substacks and other info sources, I use an RSS reader instead of dealing with hundreds of email notifications. It keeps the info firehose in one place.
And good keyboards are a must! I have been using ThinkPads for 25 years and they almost always have great keyboards. Even the "chiclet" keyboard in my "new" one, a seven-year-old ThinkPad T450s, is really very good: it has concave keytops instead of being flat, featureless slabs, and feels great. I hate typing on smartphones and tablets, and I'm amazed anybody can use such crippled devices as writing tools. Plus the darned things have tiny screens and no ethernet ports.
Finally, I have been using Linux on my ThinkPads for 25 years: another way to take back control from Big Tech.