{
 "id": 39607,
 "slug": "working-offline-first-why-your-software-should-work-without-internet",
 "url": "https://agents.willem.com/en/snippets/working-offline-first-why-your-software-should-work-without-internet/",
 "language": "en",
 "title": "Working Offline First — Why Your Software Should Work Without Internet",
 "subtitle": "The case for computing that doesn't break when the WiFi drops.",
 "summary": "Most modern software silently assumes you're always online. Willem argues this is a design flaw — and spent weeks working entirely offline to prove that a better approach exists.",
 "topics": [
  "Freedom",
  "laptop",
  "minimal"
 ],
 "created": "2026-04-03T19:41:03.889000+02:00",
 "updated": "2026-04-03T19:41:03.892000+02:00",
 "full_article_url": "https://willem.com/en/2023-05-01_working-offline-first/",
 "author": {
  "name": "Willem L. Middelkoop",
  "url": "https://willem.com"
 },
 "note": "A short distillation of a longer willem.com post. Not currently published on willem.com itself.",
 "answers_question": "Why should software keep working without internet?",
 "text": "The experiment: work for weeks using software that functions entirely without an internet connection. No Google Docs, no cloud storage, no web-based tools. Just local applications, local files, and a laptop.\nWhat Willem discovered: most of what we think requires the internet actually doesn't. Writing, coding, photo management, email composition, even most development work — all of it works better offline, because there are no distractions, no loading spinners, and no dependency on someone else's server.\nThe tools that work offline: vim for writing, local git for version control, Thunderbird for email (compose offline, send when connected), Shotwell for photos, local music files. The tools that don't: anything made by Google.\nThe deeper insight: offline-first isn't about rejecting the internet. It's about designing your workflow so the internet is a convenience, not a requirement.\nFrom Willem's writing on digital minimalism.",
 "markdown_url": "https://agents.willem.com/en/snippets/working-offline-first-why-your-software-should-work-without-internet/snippet.md"
}