Comment by Diogenesian | Hacker News Reader

Comment by Diogenesian | Hacker News Reader

  Thariq wrote "personal software was a bit early in 2020 but in 2026, it really can be as personal as a home cooked meal, or a handwritten letter."

Excuse me??? Vibe-coding personal software is not a homecooked meal or a handwritten letter! It is [at best!] more akin to tastefully combining microwaved ramen with microwaved veggies and toaster oven chicken, or using ChatGPT to write a letter then editing it afterwards. It's fine, maybe even very good. But it's not "homecooked."

Ugh. The most depressing thing about the AI boom is watching tech people devalue human experience.

If someone spends an hour in the kitchen making you food, and they choose to use the microwave to heat up the veggies because it's healthier than boiling them on the stove, that's devaluing the human experience? What's more human than listening to another person's problems and then making something to help them with that problem? It could be a chair or a meal, or now, a bit of software.

So many people proving your point by missing it.

You're arguing semantics; maybe missing the point entirely. The writer is using the analogy to emphasize personalization, not quality, or some other nebulous characteristic applicable to artisanship.

A home cooked meal isn't necessarily good or high quality. There are plenty of people who're bad at cooking but do it anyway.

But 'home cooked' implies that someone spent time and effort to make a dish from scratch instead of (for example) heating up a microwave dinner.

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