Observable, known for visualization-centric notebooks to share code, restarted fresh to adjust for this new chapter in making things with computers.
We obviously cannot pretend that AI does not exist; large language models are astonishingly capable and are profoundly changing the world, and this change appears to be only accelerating. Likewise we cannot do nothing, “watching and waiting, observing from afar and merely hoping for the best” as Pope Leo writes. We therefore seek, in what little way we can with our humble notebook, to apply this technology in a way that encourages human understanding, collaboration, and creativity.
Years ago, the best way to learn how to visualize data with code was to study one-off snippets via Mike Bostock’s code blocks. Observable notebooks spun off this joy of sharing and learning code, and you can see bits in visualization across the web. Of course, the work is different now, so this update seems inevitable.
I’ve never been much into code notebooks, but I’ll have to kick the tires on this.
Tags: notebook, Observable