For no particular reason, I've been browsing HN posts from before November 30, 2022. There's a treasure trove of content from that era. Maybe I've just been hit by a wave of nostalgia.
I think we are at the beginning of a new golden age of software engineering, but not in the way we think. The cost of creating software might go down to zero with AI. That doesn't mean that no skills are needed. Quite the opposite. If AI would create outstanding code, then it would win every Kaggle coding competition on the planet. But it doesn't.
Looking at https://news.ycombinator.com/show right now, it's not too bad. The #1 (Guitoro, a virtual guitar you strum with your keyboard) is definitely creative. The next 3 (budgeting, AI monitor, scraper) are boring, the next (How Random Are You?) is so-so...and the pattern continues like this.
The pessimist says creative projects are rare nowadays, an optimist says they're still coming out. You may also dislike the vibe-coded "...Craft" projects, but seemingly building a production-capable software in days is something that has never been done before and IMO inspiring.
Not to be a Debby Downer, but GarageBand on iOS had a guitar like that ages ago. It is cool to see something like it in the browser, but here is a 15 year old video showing it on the iPad. While it may not be a common project, it certainly isn’t new.
I have to question if things are less creative, or whether we're just getting more 'uncreative' projects released on a regular basis. There's a flood of software being released now that AI models have become 'good' enough to build basic stuff without any prior technical knowledge, and since most software is being built by folks looking for a quick buck, it's probably not going to be all that original.
Original software is still being made, it's just buried under a flood of AI generated slop.
The average person or company's idea for a piece of software is an unoriginal spin on a likely already overdone concept.
Add this to the more technically original projects perhaps not being posted on Hacker News as often (many folks here would say the site's experienced its Eternal September moment, and a fair few of them have almost stopped using it altogether), and well, you're just seeing what moderately technical people are making with the tools of the moment.
I've worked in C, used Emacs for almost two decades now, and work(ed) on plenty of SQL. We're tired, older. You either were part of the cohort who rode the wave of 150K starting salaries out of college or a bootcamp 15-20 years ago or not. And if you were, you now have graduated to making upwards of that and displacing locals out of their small rural communities because the economy is bad there and you can. Or you weren't part of that cohort and your work and hobby, which was never making tons of money, is now less likely than ever to make money and you're being displaced the former group pretending like programming is gauche.
C is the most perfect language, so simple yet so powerful. That’s why I like C and Arch Linux, made by and for programmers, with no stupidity tolerated. I wish I could use Arch on mobile. That would be epic.
You totally can. I've got a Termux with NixOS installed on my Android handset. There's also Phosh if you want a fully Arch-native install on your phone.
Wouldn't be my choice for a mobile OS, but I don't see any roadblocks to using it.
Look at Show HN. Literally an infant could prompt and post every single thread. It’s so simple, so stupidly repetitive, and these are so-called “products.” I wonder what the man who built SQLite for the US Navy would think when he sees someone calling themselves a software engineer while prompting a machine to build a note taker app for dogs. I would be ashamed to be seen as their equal.
For no particular reason, I've been browsing HN posts from before November 30, 2022. There's a treasure trove of content from that era. Maybe I've just been hit by a wave of nostalgia.
I think we are at the beginning of a new golden age of software engineering, but not in the way we think. The cost of creating software might go down to zero with AI. That doesn't mean that no skills are needed. Quite the opposite. If AI would create outstanding code, then it would win every Kaggle coding competition on the planet. But it doesn't.
]1] https://github.com/storytold/artcraft [2] https://huggingface.co/blog/a2aprotocol/universal-modder-a-p... [3] https://jdsemrau.substack.com/p/jamming-with-jev-and-claude-... [4]
Looking at https://news.ycombinator.com/show right now, it's not too bad. The #1 (Guitoro, a virtual guitar you strum with your keyboard) is definitely creative. The next 3 (budgeting, AI monitor, scraper) are boring, the next (How Random Are You?) is so-so...and the pattern continues like this.
The pessimist says creative projects are rare nowadays, an optimist says they're still coming out. You may also dislike the vibe-coded "...Craft" projects, but seemingly building a production-capable software in days is something that has never been done before and IMO inspiring.
Not to be a Debby Downer, but GarageBand on iOS had a guitar like that ages ago. It is cool to see something like it in the browser, but here is a 15 year old video showing it on the iPad. While it may not be a common project, it certainly isn’t new.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=E_KYUF6pxR8
Edit…
I looked at that site some more and found the songs area. That’s pretty cool.
I have to question if things are less creative, or whether we're just getting more 'uncreative' projects released on a regular basis. There's a flood of software being released now that AI models have become 'good' enough to build basic stuff without any prior technical knowledge, and since most software is being built by folks looking for a quick buck, it's probably not going to be all that original.
Original software is still being made, it's just buried under a flood of AI generated slop.
The average person or company's idea for a piece of software is an unoriginal spin on a likely already overdone concept.
Add this to the more technically original projects perhaps not being posted on Hacker News as often (many folks here would say the site's experienced its Eternal September moment, and a fair few of them have almost stopped using it altogether), and well, you're just seeing what moderately technical people are making with the tools of the moment.
I've worked in C, used Emacs for almost two decades now, and work(ed) on plenty of SQL. We're tired, older. You either were part of the cohort who rode the wave of 150K starting salaries out of college or a bootcamp 15-20 years ago or not. And if you were, you now have graduated to making upwards of that and displacing locals out of their small rural communities because the economy is bad there and you can. Or you weren't part of that cohort and your work and hobby, which was never making tons of money, is now less likely than ever to make money and you're being displaced the former group pretending like programming is gauche.
C is the most perfect language, so simple yet so powerful. That’s why I like C and Arch Linux, made by and for programmers, with no stupidity tolerated. I wish I could use Arch on mobile. That would be epic.
Someone got Arch working (natively, no Android) on their Pixel 9 recently. Was posted to r/Linux, you should check it out.
> I wish I could use Arch on mobile.
You totally can. I've got a Termux with NixOS installed on my Android handset. There's also Phosh if you want a fully Arch-native install on your phone.
Wouldn't be my choice for a mobile OS, but I don't see any roadblocks to using it.
If your project is too creative no one will pay attention to it and you need a crazy amount of attention to get funding now
Only if it doesn't use AI. If it uses AI you're basically guaranteed an audience and support at the moment.
Its not gone, just that the bar has been increased.
One reason is that AI seems to be pushing everyone to be "fast" than "better".
You say this like there's nobody out there working on transistors or C or Emacs or Sqlite. There definitely are.
Look at Show HN. Literally an infant could prompt and post every single thread. It’s so simple, so stupidly repetitive, and these are so-called “products.” I wonder what the man who built SQLite for the US Navy would think when he sees someone calling themselves a software engineer while prompting a machine to build a note taker app for dogs. I would be ashamed to be seen as their equal.
HN is not the entire universe it turns out
I thought mine was very creative, but it never got off new show hn.
Sorry no C, Emacs. Just some database stuff.