The Coffee Table Problem

I’ve been thinking a lot about woodworking lately. In furniture making, you’re limited by reality. You don't build ten coffee tables because you’d have nowhere to put them and your arms would fall off from all the sanding. The physical friction is the filter. It forces you to actually care about what you’re making.

But with vibecoding and agentic AI, that filter is gone. We’re basically spawning software into existence with zero effort. It feels like waking up and realizing you’ve filled your living room with a dozen mid-range coffee tables just because you could. Sure, file systems have infinite space, but our heads don't. We’re trading craft for clutter.

My prediction? We’re entering an era of software obesity. When the cost of creation hits zero, the skill isn't "building" anymore. Anyone can prompt a table. The real craft is going to be in the editing. The value is shifting from the person who can summon the most code to the person who has the discipline to stay out of the shop.