OA here. Loved this piece as well, and it certainly got me thinking about a set of themes that led to this essay. Robin is an exceptional thinker in this space.

Your digital garden intro had a massive impact on me. It finally gave me the vocabulary to express how I build the website I live from, and spurred me into an impromptu redesign of my personal website. It also led to half a dozen hand-drawn illustrations on the commercial one, with more on the way.

Thank you so much for surfacing this! I've never heard of Robin Sloan, but I loved this article to a disturbing degree. How beautiful, how true.

I frequently use this metaphor. This article had a profound impact on what I work on. It's well worth a read.