What do we need to make code (of any level of correctness) so much more quickly for, exactly? Explain the exigency, the urgency that justifies this cost.
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@mttaggart I ask myself this a lot. Because vibe coding (in all forms) isn’t going to improve our safety, security, reliability or wellness. Ever.
It’s not taking us to Mars or curing cancer. Punch people who say so, and Nazis.
@mttaggart What's funny is that the software industry doesn't seem to know how to do that anymore anyway. It's been lost to time like Damascus steel. I mean, I'm sure some individual programmers can absolutely still do it, but the industry as a whole? No chance. Shit just keeps getting slower, because software is about hoarding capital now, and only incidentally about accomplishing a useful task.
@theorangetheme I realize my phrasing was poor! It's not that the code itself is faster; it's just getting spewed out more quickly.
@mttaggart Oh, my apologies! Yeah, slop at scale is concerning. :/
@mttaggart I shared this last week: https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-fatigue-burnout-software-engineer-essay-siddhant-khare-2026-2
"I shipped more code last quarter than any quarter in my career," he wrote. "I also felt more drained than any quarter in my career."
Capital must make more Capital faster
Turns out the answer isn't "improve the lives of workers" at any level.
@mttaggart Of course, the goal is always to improve the lives of customers, by…
(touches earpiece)
wait I'm being told that
@mttaggart The enshittify isn't enshittify fast enough
@mttaggart If I can't make some numbers go up what am I even doing here?
@mttaggart idk man. I’ve always believed in releasing once and correctly rather than iterating for iteration sake. If requirement change, sure update it. But otherwise let me cook so I don’t give you a half-assed product.
@mttaggart Make Software Boring Again.
@mttaggart The faster you go to prod, the less time there is for people to find problems, the more likely you are to sell the startup and walk away before it burns to the ground? Just guessing here because it doesn't make sense to me either.
In less snarky terms, it theoretically means faster to market, both lowering the risks that your competitors beat you out and also that you get quicker returns on investment. Interest rates are high-ish, so VC wants more revenue more quickly, and with lower expenses paid in unnecessary things like labor and expertise.
N.B., that doesn't mean it actually works out in practice.
@DaveMWilburn @mttaggart That makes sense.
Sure, until you actually try it in real life, face plant, and lose on the basis of shitty products that don't work and alienate customers and employees alike.
@DaveMWilburn @mttaggart Oh no, I get it. It makes sense to me as to the what the goal is, not that it's a valid goal.
Eh... Quicker return on investment with lower labor costs is artuably a valid goal.
The problem is that the venture capitalist dipshits mistake their money for expertise and think AI slop is some sort of cheat code to achieve that goal.
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@mttaggart someday PMs will pivot and decide "man I wish I had a human to bitch at" and those wafer-sized chips will all be displayed in a museum of freak shows