JA Westenberg

The average punter does not want to build software.

They don't want to prompt software.

They don’t want to describe software.

They don't particularly want to think about software.

They want to tap, swipe and scroll with zero friction and next-to-zero cognitive input.

https://www.joanwestenberg.com/ai-twitters-favourite-lie-everyone-wants-to-be-a-developer/

AI twitter's favourite lie: everyone wants to be a developer

Twitter's latest consensus on inevitability: now that large language models can write code, everyone will become a software developer. People, you see, have problems, and software solves problems, and AI removes the barrier between people and software, therefore everyone will build their own software. It's a syllogism, after a fashion,

Westenberg.
Mar 8 at 11:28amTypefully
Show thread*ledbinMar 8

@Daojoan We might supplement with some research backing on how scrolling is actually bad for you in terms of a sort of sensory/cognitive overload.

It's something that might appear _convenient_ if you work long hours at a desk job. A pasttime. But good for you? A useful UX paradigm? I am extremely doubtful.

Show threadSteven D. Brewer 🏳️‍⚧️Mar 8

@Daojoan "The revolution won't look like a hundred million people vibe coding custom apps. It'll look like existing software getting better at understanding what users want and doing it for them, which is what good software has always tried to do."

Wow. I disagree. I think it's way more likely to be "existing software getting better at figuring how to extract more money from users and doing it for their corporate masters."

Show threadRed_Shirt_no2Mar 11
@Daojoan @stevendbrewer
… and that would be a revolution … how?
Show threadSteven D. Brewer 🏳️‍⚧️Mar 11
@Red_Shirt_no2 @Daojoan What goes around, comes around?
Show threadStephan EggermontMar 8
@Daojoan we’ve build end-user configurable systems for decades. I’ve yet to meet the first one where it’s not only a few domain specialists with decades of experience, or just developers doing so.