I write about software, the web, and where AI is taking both.

I'm John Allsopp — a software engineer and conference organiser who's spent a few decades watching what's next arrive, and now and then calling it early.

Selected writing

The Structure of Engineering Revolutions 2026-03
I See Dead People 2026-02
Photoshop 1.0 and the landscape of possibilities 2025-12
Semantics in HTML5 2009-01
all writing →

Now

NOOPS ↗

Making sense of what AI is actually changing, and how fast — with Mark Pesce.

AI Engineer ↗

The Australian editions, in partnership with the global event.

Web Directions ↗

Two decades of conferences on how software gets designed and built.

Conffab ↗

Conference talks, live and on demand.

A bit of background

I've been at this a while. In 2000 I wrote that the web wasn't paper, and we'd do well to stop pretending otherwise; it took about a decade, and the smartphone, for that to seem obvious. I've been early since — and wrong often enough to keep it interesting. Lately the thing I can't stop thinking about is what AI is doing to how software gets built. More about me →