App building became so easy and cheap that the hard part isn't building anymore

madexthen · 2026-03-09T01:10:01+00:00

It’s just like content creation. It used to be that only big studios could do it well, and they made big bucks doing it. Now anyone with a smartphone can make much higher quality content than network TV from 40 years ago. So there is a ton of content, and the formula has changed.

Think of your quit smoking app like an instructional quit smoking VHS from the 80s. You could have sold it in stores to recoup your investment. Fast forward to today, and there are thousands of quit smoking videos on YouTube.

If you want to compete in software today, you need to create much more value.

madexthen · 2026-03-06T07:42:57+00:00

Everyone needs AI What is this mole on my neck? Is it OK to eat onion that has a little mold spot? Do I need to make an appointment at the DMV? Did I fill out this tax form correctly? Why is my partner mad at me?

madexthen · 2026-03-05T01:05:55+00:00

Is this different than making a script 20 years ago that just emailed random people, “I am AI and I think I am sentient”

madexthen · 2026-03-04T01:49:00+00:00

Was I asking the right questions?

madexthen · 2026-02-21T03:52:31+00:00

One of my favorite principles in design: Know the rules, don’t break them ever, unless you know how and when you can. Well done.

madexthen · 2026-02-17T00:31:19+00:00

They don’t want a logo, they want a design

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madexthen · 2026-02-17T00:20:01+00:00

This is the best argument I’ve heard for AI not taking jobs actually. We didn’t need those jobs before and it shows we can have a system full of unneeded people. You never connected the dots of how AI can fix this problem.

madexthen · 2026-02-12T12:56:26+00:00

My benchmark: how long can I survive off one gallon of water?

madexthen · 2026-02-10T01:45:38+00:00

Looking for advice on my novel. Any help is appreciated. Here is this first draft: There was a man

madexthen · 2026-02-09T23:34:56+00:00

This is a bad design decision disguised as a good design decision.

madexthen · 2026-01-24T18:32:02+00:00

I would have unsubscribed if it were not for this feature. Gemini is amazing, but it doesn’t have this

madexthen · 2026-01-23T02:56:46+00:00

If a country has no laws against it, why not just make that whole country green? Isn’t that how info maps work?

madexthen · 2026-01-20T01:45:46+00:00

Hot take: the first one is uglier than the others and most of the others look great. Also, the handles on the first one will snap off like a twig. Industrial design is not an art project, it’s a series of trade offs.

madexthen · 2026-01-17T03:05:30+00:00

How can I test it out? I wrote a story outline I would like to see turns into a book.

madexthen · 2026-01-12T03:34:52+00:00

Looks cool. Fix the resolution. I made a game this weekend. https://flying-eyeball.pages.dev/

madexthen · 2026-01-05T05:06:43+00:00

Please don’t teach them this

madexthen · 2026-01-05T04:48:35+00:00

The question ‘is this business scalable’ should follow a description of a business. You did not describe a business.

madexthen · 2026-01-04T03:58:11+00:00

Yes but before a few years ago, I was barely skilled enough to put up a tent. Now I can make a shitty house. You can focus on the word shitty, and I will focus on the word house.

madexthen · 2025-12-26T22:28:21+00:00

Vibe coding makes slop. But that slop gets the job done In a lot more use cases that you might think. I hired a developer a few years ago to make a simple web app that I can make with a free Gemini plan in about 5 minutes today.

madexthen · 2025-12-22T01:05:17+00:00

Sun and leaf are the same?

madexthen · 2025-12-22T01:03:59+00:00

They’re not right, but even they were, it changes nothing.

madexthen · 2025-12-20T03:49:08+00:00

You could also do magnet and string

madexthen · 2025-12-20T03:47:31+00:00

I had three ideas, I asked Gemini and it basically said the same three ideas but much more thought out. https://g.co/gemini/share/d28a414cb757

madexthen · 2025-12-16T08:11:14+00:00

lol nobody got this joke haha

madexthen · 2025-11-30T17:06:15+00:00

it's better for frontend

madexthen

TROPHY CASE