logoalt Hacker News

wiseowise • yesterday at 9:20 PM • 1 reply • view on HN

> They weren't building and shipping by themselves though.

Yes they did, all the time. You just need to get out of your tech bubble.

> AI has made it possible for people with motivation and time to do what was previously only possible with motivation, time and money.

Nonsense. AI simplified it, but programming was always accessible to the masses. They might not have shipped full blown SaaS products, but people have been programming with Excel, Access, Python, JS forever.

> Why is so hard to acknowledge the fact that many of the people who are good at developing aren't as good at coming up with ideas for digital products and building businesses on them?

Because it's a complete straw man detached from reality.

Replies

ElProlactin • today at 12:17 AM

> AI simplified it, but programming was always accessible to the masses.

So basically you're referring to self-taught developers.

Repeat after me: learning to program so that you could build something is not the same thing as prompting AI to build something for you.

Previously, to launch anything of any real substance, you either had to teach yourself how to program or pay a developer. AI has given people a third way that does not require them to do either. This is expanding the size of the market for non-developers who are building and shipping digital products.

> Because it's a complete straw man detached from reality.

If you really believe the argument that "many of the people who are good at developing aren't as good at coming up with ideas for digital products and building businesses on them" is detached from reality, why isn't every engineer a multi-millionaire or multi-billionaire business owner? Why would anyone work for Mark Zuckerberg or Jeff Bezos for 6 figures a year when they could easily knock out their own digital products making 7, 8, 9 or 10 figures a year and be Mark Zuckerberg or Jeff Bezos?

It's just common sense that different people have different aptitudes. Some people are extremely talented at writing code; it doesn't mean they can come up with a business idea and actually execute it.