8/14/26
https://newsletter.powderworks.dev/p/tabs-spaces-hand-tools-and-seat-belts
I read this today and mostly hated it. The world the author describes just kinda sucks and makes me feel bad.
I think some of the things they offer up are misguided. The analogies to seat belts and woodworkers in particular. (Which is kinda the whole point of the article).
But, I found it to be well written. I found the outlining of the phenomenon of the industrialization of software engineering to be very informative. It is a particularly useful lens.
In particular, it helped me understand AI as a tool intended to deskill workers. Its not an accidental harmful side effect, it is in fact a desirable property of the tool from management’s perspective.