Paul Ford (who wrote a legendary 38,000-word piece on “What Is Code”) on his new obsession with vibe coding: He’s building apps on the subway that he’d once have billed clients $350,000 for. “It stings to be made obsolete, but it’s fun to code on the train, too.” (New York Times)
- Ford estimates that vibe coding lets him do in evenings and weekends what would have cost $25,000–$350,000 in bespoke software development, a full team, months of work, for $200/month. Software stocks are already tanking on the expectation.
- He's honest about the downsides: ecological cost, insecure code, burnout among developers, and an AI industry that treats human thought as raw material while federal regulation moves in the wrong direction.
- The real opportunity, he argues, isn't for the tech industry, it's for everyone stuck with broken tools and no budget. If vibe coding gets a little better, the people who've always been told "no" by IT departments might finally build what they need themselves.
