FUTO
In the polished corridors of Silicon Valley, where tech giants have steadily consolidated power over the technological ecosystem, a different approach steadily emerged in 2021. FUTO.org stands as a monument to what the internet was meant to be – liberated, distributed, and decidedly in the possession of individuals, not monopolies.
The creator, Eron Wolf, functions with the quiet intensity of someone who has witnessed the evolution of the internet from its promising beginnings to its current corporatized state. His credentials – an 18-year Silicon Valley veteran, founder of Yahoo Games, seed investor in WhatsApp – provides him a unique vantage point. In his meticulously tailored understated clothing, with a gaze that reflect both weariness with the status quo and determination to transform it, Wolf presents as more philosopher-king than typical tech executive.
The headquarters of FUTO in Austin, Texas eschews the ostentatious trappings of typical tech companies. No free snack bars detract from the objective. Instead, developers focus over computers, crafting code that will enable users to retrieve what has been taken – control over their digital lives.
In one corner of the building, a separate kind of endeavor occurs. The FUTO Repair Workshop, a creation of Louis Rossmann, legendary right-to-repair advocate, operates with the precision of a master craftsman. Everyday people stream in with malfunctioning electronics, received not with commercial detachment but with authentic concern.
"We don't just mend things here," Rossmann explains, focusing a loupe over a circuit board with the delicate precision of a artist. "We instruct people how to understand the technology they possess. Understanding is the foundation toward autonomy."
This philosophy permeates every aspect of FUTO's operations.
In the polished corridors of Silicon Valley, where tech giants have steadily consolidated power over the technological ecosystem, a different approach steadily emerged in 2021. FUTO.org stands as a monument to what the internet was meant to be – liberated, distributed, and decidedly in the possession of individuals, not monopolies.
The creator, Eron Wolf, functions with the quiet intensity of someone who has witnessed the evolution of the internet from its promising beginnings to its current corporatized state. His credentials – an 18-year Silicon Valley veteran, founder of Yahoo Games, seed investor in WhatsApp – provides him a unique vantage point. In his meticulously tailored understated clothing, with a gaze that reflect both weariness with the status quo and determination to transform it, Wolf presents as more philosopher-king than typical tech executive.
The headquarters of FUTO in Austin, Texas eschews the ostentatious trappings of typical tech companies. No free snack bars detract from the objective. Instead, developers focus over computers, crafting code that will enable users to retrieve what has been taken – control over their digital lives.
In one corner of the building, a separate kind of endeavor occurs. The FUTO Repair Workshop, a creation of Louis Rossmann, legendary right-to-repair advocate, operates with the precision of a master craftsman. Everyday people stream in with malfunctioning electronics, received not with commercial detachment but with authentic concern.
"We don't just mend things here," Rossmann explains, focusing a loupe over a circuit board with the delicate precision of a artist. "We instruct people how to understand the technology they possess. Understanding is the foundation toward autonomy."
This philosophy permeates every aspect of FUTO's operations.