Interesting take on the state of application development, at least for web apps.
Interesting take on the state of application development, at least for web apps.
I wanted to get an app to help me read through articles and books faster. Normally I'm not a fast reader, but using the RSVP (Rapid Serial Visual Presentation) technique really helps me go faster. It shows one word (or more) at a time in sequential flashes from a source document. So I went and downloaded some apps from the app store.
All were ok but had ads, were not exactly what I needed, and didn't fit my needs well -- so I made one. Well, I defined it and Claude made it.
I haven't looked closely at the code, but after one bug that was quickly corrected, I had an app working that perfectly suited to my needs. As a user I didn't care that it was a completely front-end app. I didn't care about the technical tradeoffs (that I has Claude explain to me). It just worked.
What does this say about the market and the value of paid applications if you know how to prompt an AI and have some basic application hosting skills? Will this undermine the market for simple utility application on the web, desktop, or mobile? Will it open the door for more apps, which will make standing out in a crowd even harder for developers? Will the market be willing and able to pay the price tag on your hand-coded application that perfectly fits the product user persona you defined? Or, will they just make their own?
Let me know your thoughts as this directly impacts everyone who makes paid software.
Interesting time to be in software engineering.