“Computer Play” is a Taiwanese blog that has long shared methods for digital work. Its owner is Esor. For Raymond Hou (Raymond), it was not an ordinary source of information about tools, but an important point of inspiration that introduced him to digital work methods during university and later led him to work in this field. This entry focuses on how “Computer Play” influenced Raymond’s path, rather than extending into a comprehensive evaluation of Esor as a person.
Inspiration during university
After discovering “Computer Play” in his first year of university, Raymond added the site to his RSS feed and read it regularly for its Google productivity methods, Evernote note-taking methods, and real-life applications. Looking back, he said this content first made him realize that digital tools were not just collections of functions; they could also free up people’s time and energy. More importantly, Esor’s articles usually began with problems from his own work and life, helping readers think by analogy about how the same methods might apply to their own situations.1
This example gave Raymond two signals. First, there was a real need for digital work methods in the Traditional Chinese-speaking world. Second, the value of content did not come only from introducing tools; it also depended on whether the author tested methods against real problems. When Raymond later entered a similar field through Notion, training camps, and the Raymond Thirty podcast, he continued this approach of starting from a problem in life, then choosing tools and workflows (see Notion Online Courses and Boot Camp and From Ordinary Person to Life Hacker to Super Individual).
From reader to conversation partner
In 2023, Raymond invited Esor for a written and podcast interview for his “Atlas of Digital Life” column. Topics included the mechanism that sustained more than a decade of writing, real-world application cases, and “turning life into projects.” Their common ground was not using the same software, but placing tools after the desired change in life: first identify the work or life problem to address, then decide whether a tool can create value.
In May 2026, they appeared together on a livestream for the first time to discuss AI agents, the second brain, and content creation. In issue 183 of his newsletter, Raymond summarized the path: reading the blog in his first year of university, inviting Esor for an interview in 2023, then appearing together to talk about AI agents in 2026. He described Esor as one of the content sources that first laid the foundation for the digital work methods path of “Raymond Thirty.”2
A renewed connection in the AI agent era
Their tool paths are different. Esor has accumulated notes in Evernote for years, while Raymond later built systems with Notion and a local knowledge base. In the AI agent era, both paths point to the same question: how can accumulated knowledge and workflows become a foundation that AI can read, collaborate with, and execute, rather than starting from a blank conversation every time?
Raymond sees continuity in this renewed connection: AI has not made the second brain and workflows obsolete; instead, it has made long-kept experience notes easier to retrieve and use again. Rather than continually operating each software button, a person’s role is shifting toward defining problems, explaining needs, setting evaluation criteria, and accepting results. This corresponds to A Full Shift to AI Agent Collaboration in 2026.
“Computer Play” in Raymond’s body of knowledge
In Raymond’s sources of thought, “Computer Play” is a “practical model and market inspiration” touchstone. It demonstrates writing about tools driven by real problems and shows that digital work methods in Traditional Chinese can attract readers over the long term. Raymond’s subsequent Notion teaching, critique of the second brain, and AI agent workflows are not direct copies of “Computer Play”; building on that early inspiration, he developed his own products, community, and collaboration system.
Sources cited
Footnotes
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Hou Zhixun, “The Mechanism Behind Ten Years of Writing by the Computer Play Blogger? How to Relax Outside Work, and Projectize Life?” WordPress, 2023-05-16. View original ↩