Eli and I noticed a troubling pattern in our digital lives—a cycle that many of you might recognize. You find a new app that solves a problem, and it quickly becomes a part of your daily routine. But over time, it starts to change. Features you relied on vanish, ads become more intrusive, or the app demands more of your data. Eventually, it feels like the app is taking more than it’s giving, and you’re forced to find something else. This is so common there's even a term for it (pardon the bluntness): "enshitification." It’s the inevitable decay of services caused by the need to maximize profit at your expense.
This decay is part of a bigger problem tied to the current tech business model. Companies offer their services for free or at a low cost, hoping to attract users. But as soon as they’ve locked in a large user base, they pivot. Investors demand profits, and the easiest way to get those profits is to squeeze every bit of value out of you—through ads, data collection, or premium upgrades. In short, you’re not the customer; you’re the product. This model, driven by surveillance capitalism, is designed to make money from your attention and behavior.
The reason tech companies can do this is simple: they own the space. Most apps today rely on cloud services, meaning the company controls the environment you use. When they own the space, they have all the power to manipulate how you use their service, making it easy to extract value from you over time. Even software that should be entirely local, like Windows, now requires cloud-based components.
But what if you owned the space instead? Just like owning your own home, you’d be free to decide how things operate, and no one could take that control away from you.
This is where the open-source community comes into play. Open-source software is built by people like you and me who want to solve their problems and share solutions freely. Once created, the software can be copied and used by anyone at virtually no cost, which means there’s no need to lock people into a cycle of service decay. Open-source software isn't driven by profit; it's driven by a desire to create something useful and share it.
So, why hasn’t everyone made the switch to open-source? The answer is complexity. Open-source solutions are often designed by technical experts, for technical experts. Deploying, maintaining, and integrating these solutions requires skills that most everyday users don’t have. This makes it hard for non-technical people to access these incredible tools, even though they could benefit from them.
Tealok was built to break down the barriers to open-source software, making it accessible to everyone. Think of Tealok as your personal cloud provider, but instead of relying on a remote service that controls your data, you have a small computer right in your home that does it all for you. Tealok takes care of the technical details, so you can use software that’s free from surveillance and service decay without needing to be a tech expert.
In the ideal setup, you purchase a small pre-configured device from us, plug it in, and it instantly connects to your network. From there, you gain access to dozens—and eventually hundreds—of open-source software solutions that meet your everyday needs. We handle the complexity of setup. When you need to make changes you can pay for support from us, someone else, or do it yourself. The hardware is yours, the data is yours, and its up to you when to make changes.
One concern we had was whether this influx of new users will overwhelm the open-source community, which thrives on volunteer contributions. We’ve thought about this a lot, and it’s why Tealok offers professional support. For a small fee, we provide you with expert assistance, so you’re not left searching forums or struggling with technical issues. This keeps the pressure off the open-source community and ensures that you get the help you need.
Why This Matters: Our model is designed to keep quality high. The better Tealok works, the fewer support calls we get, which means lower costs for us and better service for you. This alignment of incentives ensures that we’re always motivated to improve the software, unlike traditional services that degrade over time to squeeze out more profit.
Since Tealok is open-source, and you own the hardware, you’re never locked in. If you decide to stop using our service or find a better solution elsewhere, you still have full access to your data and software. You’re in control. This is how we believe software should work—giving you the power to choose, without being held hostage by service decay.
We’re not just building a product; we’re building a community. We want to hear from you—what problems you face, what software you need, and how we can make Tealok even better. We’re starting with a solid foundation, but the future of Tealok will be shaped by our users. This means you’ll always have a say in how the platform evolves, ensuring that it continues to provide real value.
If this vision resonates with you, we’d love your input. Take our survey to let us know what matters most to you, or reach out directly to chat with us. Your insights will help guide Tealok’s journey, ensuring that it remains a solution that genuinely empowers you.
Finally, a little about the name: Tealok is inspired by "Tealloch," a Celtic word for hearth. Just like a hearth contains and controls fire, Tealok brings the power of the internet into your home in a safe, controlled way. It’s your digital hearth—a place where you can harness the power of technology without letting it burn you.
