local-first
local-first on Beyond Market Intelligence: a running collection of 3 stories we have gathered and hand-picked because they are worth your time. Every post here touches on local-first in some way — the news, the analysis, the deep dives, and the occasional surprise find. Acme AI is the next-generation, AI-powered spreadsheet platform built to replace Excel and redefine how analysts, data scientists, and enterprise teams work with data. New stories are added to this page as we find them, so check back if you want to keep up with what is happening around local-first, or subscribe to the RSS feed to get them as soon as they are published. Browse the collection below, or head back to the homepage to see everything Beyond Market Intelligence is covering right now.
Podcast: Scott Jenson on Evolving Desktop OS, Local-First, & Agentic UX
For years, desktop operating systems have remained largely unchanged, a trend veteran UX designer Scott Jenson—formerly of Macintosh, Google Maps, and Chrome—explores in our latest podcast episode. Jenson examines the limitations of current mobile and cloud-centric models, questioning the long-term viability of the status quo. Discover his insights on evolving desktop OS, the rise of local-first architectures, and the potential of agentic UX. Relatedly, our article "AI’s memory crunch is coming for Android apps" delves into the hardware implications of the AI boom.
Presentation: Why Fetch When You Can Sync? Building Local-First Apps on a Sync Engine Architecture
James Arthur’s presentation, “Why Fetch When You Can Sync?”, illuminates a critical shift in frontend architecture. He argues that extending reactivity to the server—using technologies like Electric and TanStack DB—represents the next frontier, replacing traditional fetching with declarative data bindings. Discover how query-driven sync and local optimistic updates empower engineering leaders to build exceptionally fast, collaborative applications. This approach leverages existing stacks to create agentic experiences. For deeper insights into unified architectures, explore "Harper Argues Against the Multi-System Stack."
Podcast: Rethinking Data: Moving From the Traditional Three-Tier Web Stack to Client-Side Event Sourcing
Johannes Schickling challenges conventional wisdom in our latest podcast, "Rethinking Data." He details his journey moving beyond the traditional three-tier web stack to a local-first architecture, sharing his experience building Overtone—a music curation app—with client-side event sourcing and SQLite. This episode unpacks the practical trade-offs inherent in event sourcing and CRDTs, offering valuable insights for developers seeking a more agile data management approach. For further exploration of evolving architectures, see our article, "An Evolutionary Architecture Pattern for Managing AI’s Pace of Change."