Greg Knauss ▸ Lose Myself:

I got into computers because solving puzzles was fun, and building worlds was fun, and making things — the process of making things — was fun, down at the granular level. It was nice to have something at the end, but the act of creation was the exciting part. I suspect that predilection will begin to disappear (in commercial environments, at the very least), now that the people who do it — who want who do it — can be replaced. The journey actually was the reward for some subset of weird little freaks, but you can now skip all that crap and just jump to the end and get on with it.

I’ve been using Claude Code quite a bit lately, not so much to replace my programming but to augment it. The new animated image export preview in Acorn 8.4.1 was a direct result of that. It was a nice little feature that I knew exactly how to do, but I hadn’t prioritized getting done yet because there were a bunch of other things on my plate. But with a little assist, it was quick to implement.

I get where Knauss is coming from, and I feel it a too. I love coding! But why bother implementing anything when anyone can make an app in an instant? I’ve been wanting to make upgrades to my online dough calculator but have been putting it off because … well, anyone can just vibe code this themself now.

But at the same time I’m not worried about being replaced by AI, or by quick free apps that have been built by AI. And in some ways I’m more hopeful than ever.

For almost 20 years now, I’ve been feeling the pressure from competing image editing apps and the potential of everything falling apart and the utter doom of my chosen profession and company. These feelings are not new to me.

So I kept on making the software that I wanted to build, that I wanted to exist in this world. And though some months or years are rougher than others, people still were willing to pay for what I’m making. And that’s kept me going, and more importantly - employed.

Lately I’ve been thinking more and more about what Acorn should be. In a time when anyone can come up with an app idea and ship with little effort, what is going to make Acorn stand out?

I’m starting to think that’s going to be personality and feel and polish, but turned up a notch. That’s what I used to do when I started writing apps, but in some ways I have really toned it down in favor of OS alignment.

Does an AI know how to do that? Does a coding assistant know that an app is really a giant collection of details?

Maybe I’ll even have fewer competitors in the long run, or at least not as many new competitors. Because at some point it’s not about how good a programmer you are (and I’ve always been a middle-tier programmer), it’s about discipline and vision.

I’ve got feelings because anyone can put an app together now, so what’s the point of me? But at the same time, I can focus on what I want to focus on and hopefully charge forward and maybe everyone else will get tired of little vibe coded apps because you still have to know exactly what you want to build. And you can’t build something you can’t think of. And I know how to think and I have ideas.

And I have discipline and I know how to ship. And in my experience, that’s what has always mattered.