Craig Mod
Writer, photographer and software maker based in Japan; publishes long-form essays, walking newsletters and self-made books at craigmod.com.
Craig Mod did not write this page.
We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.
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Their wordsThere are no other writers who have done this as successfully as Annie, whose particular angle on literature and nature was sui generis.
↗[RIDGELINE] Walking with Anniecraigmod.com 1st of 2 in this piece
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Their wordsIn this age of algorithmic recommendations and smooth-brained AI speak, triviality is everywhere. We are awash in load-bearing triviality. Our bulwark against triviality is to applaud someone improbable.
↗[RIDGELINE] Walking with Anniecraigmod.com 2nd of 2 in this piece
- 9 days earlier
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Our reading
AI-generated text lacks the human mind and knowability that make writing feel worth reading.
Their wordsAI-generated text doesn't have this knowability. It has legibility (sometimes), of course, but the source is unknown, there is no "mind," and that's what gives us the ick.
↗[RODEN] Writing in 2026, Walking Europecraigmod.com 1st of 3 in this piece
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Their wordsA great demo, an inspiring demo, is the kind of demo that makes you want to learn assembly. It makes you want to invest in a complex challenge. And in doing so, shows you what the human mind is capable of.
↗[RODEN] Writing in 2026, Walking Europecraigmod.com 2nd of 3 in this piece
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Their wordsThe power of art is derived from the shared experience of being alive.
↗[RODEN] Writing in 2026, Walking Europecraigmod.com 3rd of 3 in this piece
- 6 months earlier
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Their wordsI've always been opinionated about how software should work. Mainly, it should be fast. The bounds of it should be "knowable." The contract you have with it should be "sane" (i.e., you just own it).
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Our reading
Control over your own data, and over how you view and engage with it, will be non-negotiable
Their wordsWhy would we lock ourselves into someone else's proprietary binary? Control over our data, and control over how we view and engage with it, feels like it will be utterly non-negotiable going forward.
- 3 years earlier
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Their wordsSure, electric bikes aren't cheap. But I believe they're a rare object to be well worth the cost. This in spite of their annoying flaws, their often bad software, their defective geometries. Because they open the world.
- 3 years earlier
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Their wordsSpeed in software is probably the most valuable, least valued asset. To me, speedy software is the difference between an application smoothly integrating into your life, and one called upon with great reluctance.
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Their wordsSpeed and reliability are often intuited hand-in-hand. Speed can be a good proxy for general engineering quality. If an application slows down on simple tasks, then it can mean the engineers aren’t obsessive detail sticklers.
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Our reading
Software should unbloat over time: the longer it is around, the more elegant it should become.
Their wordsI love software that does this: Software that unbloats over time. This should be the goal of all software. The longer it’s around, the more elegant it should become. Smooth over like a river stone.
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Their wordsFast software is not always good software, but slow software is rarely able to rise to greatness. Fast software gives the user a chance to “meld” with its toolset. That is, not break flow.
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Their wordsExcellent touch interfaces feel tactile. The best “touch interfaces,” in my opinion, are actual buttons, things with physicality, haptics. But on a screen, to feel tactile is to move without latency.