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If tech companies are this stupid, it ought to be very easy to disrupt and usurp them by simply shipping competing code that works. In that sense, the author is

by bloppe 1y ago

If tech companies are this stupid, it ought to be very easy to disrupt and usurp them by simply shipping competing code that works. In that sense, the author is painting an incredibly bright picture of the future of the software industry: one where founders don't have to be particularly talented to hit the jackpot.

numpy-thagoras 1y ago
"...one where founders don't have to be particularly talented to hit the jackpot." That's where we're at right now anyways. "If tech companies are this stupid, it ought to be very easy to disrupt and usurp them by simply shipping--" And that's how we got here. The code rot issue will blow up a lot more over the next few years, that we can finally complete the sentence and start "shipping competing code that works". I worry that mopping up this catastrophe is going to be a task that people will again blindly set AI upon without the deep knowledge of what exactly to do, rather than "to do in general, over there, behind that hill".
ehnto 1y ago
Saving misguided AI codebases is going to be quite lucrative for contract work I suspect. A lot of non-technical people are going to get surprisingly far into their product without realising they are on a bad path. It already happens now when a non-technical founder doesn't get a good technical hire. The surprising thing for developers though, is how often a shit codebase makes millions of dollars before becoming an issue. As much as I love producing rock solid software, I too would take millions of dollars and a shit codebase over a salary and good code.
fancyfredbot 1y ago
Yes this is only bad news if you are working for morons. Unfortunately a lot of people are in that situation. You can basically forget about disruption. Meritocracy is dead, long live the Peter principle.
xigoi 1y ago
Unfortunately, companies will force their employees to use shitty software anyway. See Microsoft Teams.

by bloppe 1y ago

numpy-thagoras 1y ago

"...one where founders don't have to be particularly talented to hit the jackpot." That's where we're at right now anyways. "If tech companies are this stupid, it ought to be very easy to disrupt and usurp them by simply shipping--" And that's how we got here. The code rot issue will blow up a lot more over the next few years, that we can finally complete the sentence and start "shipping competing code that works". I worry that mopping up this catastrophe is going to be a task that people will again blindly set AI upon without the deep knowledge of what exactly to do, rather than "to do in general, over there, behind that hill".

ehnto 1y ago

Saving misguided AI codebases is going to be quite lucrative for contract work I suspect. A lot of non-technical people are going to get surprisingly far into their product without realising they are on a bad path. It already happens now when a non-technical founder doesn't get a good technical hire. The surprising thing for developers though, is how often a shit codebase makes millions of dollars before becoming an issue. As much as I love producing rock solid software, I too would take millions of dollars and a shit codebase over a salary and good code.

fancyfredbot 1y ago

Yes this is only bad news if you are working for morons. Unfortunately a lot of people are in that situation. You can basically forget about disruption. Meritocracy is dead, long live the Peter principle.

xigoi 1y ago

Unfortunately, companies will force their employees to use shitty software anyway. See Microsoft Teams.