HN user

4mitkumar

216 karma
Posts7
Comments86
View on HN

This is very interesting because I have been thinking vaguely about a somewhat "opposite" effect. In the sense, talking to LLMs kills my enthusiasm for an idea with other people.

Sometimes, I' get excited by an idea, may be even write a bit about it. Then turn to LLMs to explore it a bit more. An hour later, I feel drained. Like I have explored it from so many angles and nuance that it starts to feel tiresome.

And within that span of couple of hours, the idea goes from "Aha! Let's talk to others about it!" to "Meh.."

EDIT: I do agree with this framing from the article though: "Once an idea is written down, it becomes easier to work with..... This is not new. Writing has always done this for me."

IKEA for Software 6 months ago

Probably those SAP, Salesforce ServiceNow folks come somewhat closer?

Like the author says - fleet-tracking system, a bus-ticketing platform or IoT platform share some basically similar requirements. And this is what those SAP types offer - standardised templated versions of workflows.

But slowly, as they get more and more standardised, they start feeling like calcified systems that the end users start hating. Because they are now forced to work as per the templates.

And then the need for customization. And move beyond IKEA-like standardization.

But I see the allure of the idea.

I found just now that my telecom operator - Airtel - randomly subscribed me for OTT services and charged me for it. But upon calling them and contesting, they just asked if I want to unsubscribe and then reverted the charges. No threats, pleading, or back-and-forth involved from either side. Mildly surreal.

I wonder that's a new corporate strategy - charge randomly till someone goes through the pain of IVR and spends 15 mins with support. Must generate quite an upside for them if it is indeed a strategy.

There's also some more light CBT-inspired stuff: like reminders when you're stuck, off-screen break suggestions (I consider breaks essential to long term momentum), and automatic summaries showing how far you've come when you feel like you've been just stuck in the weeds (I frequently judge myself a bit too harshly till I see the numbers and am sometime pleasantly surprised)

I made this primarily for myself – I'm someone who gets stuck between "I should be productive" and "I literally cannot decide what to do right now." The pattern I noticed: starting anything small breaks the spell, then I can think about actual goals.

The (optional) AI suggestions are deliberately constrained to be actionable (15-60 minutes tasks that ladder up to your goal) rather than generic productivity advice.

Would love to hear if this resonates with anyone else, or if you have thoughts on the approach.

It's fascinating ...didn't think about the Bus Factor at all wrt vibe coding. Feels obvious in retrospect. But I feel there's the other side of software beyond the maintanable, professional-grade software requirements. There are a lot of use cases for basic software to solve that one problem in that one specific way and get it over with. A bit like customized software with little scope and little expectation of long-term support. Vibe-coding excels there.

In a way, I have been thinking about it [1] as the difference between writing a book and a writing a blog post - the production qualities expected in both are wildly different. And that's expected, almost as a feature!

I think as “writing” and distributing new software keeps getting easier - as easy as writing a new blog post - the way we consume software is going to change.

[1] https://world.hey.com/akumar/software-s-blog-era-2812c56c

This is indeed fascinating - people not being as passionate about desktop clients than mobile clients.

I wonder if it's to do with desktop usage more linked to typing compared to mobile usage pattern framed around clicks /taps...

... can buy any meal at any restaurant I want and I never care about the price. It’s a glorious feeling. I eat whatever I want.

This. Not quite there yet, but still have a decent selection of restaurants where I do not have to look at the right-margin. It is truly a sense of freedom one can only experience in hindsight (not consciously while looking at the menu).

Good for OP.

1. I've never written or deposited a cheque; I don't know that I've even seen one.

2. I've written them to myself to transfer money between accounts when electronic transfer restrictions are too painful, etc.

May be I'm confused but it seems a case of either or :)

I frequently see such comments about sites not loading fine on iPhone 13/14, while they continue to load just fine on for me on a 4 year old Android device (not pixel / Samsung).

I wonder if it's the hardware or just the blockers that i use. Might be worth trying using blockers to see if it makes the general browsing experience better on Apple devices