Last week I read about custom vibe-coded RSS readers: quick and scrappy tools, non-polished, built to solve a particular need of their owner. Today I read about Current, which has thoughtful design, interesting concepts, and attention to detail.
And then I noticed something curious.
Two divergent paths
On one hand, there’s this artisan tendency. People who dedicate time to building personal tools with the same mindset a cabinetmaker uses to make a table: every decision matters, every detail counts. The result is beautiful, thoughtful, unique software.
On the other hand, there’s the explosion of tools made with the help of artificial intelligence. Quick solutions, imperfect, often somewhat rough. But deeply personal. Software that does exactly what you need, even if it won’t win any design awards.
Two completely different approaches. And both are happening at the same time.
They’re not opposites
What’s fascinating isn’t that both exist, but that they coexist without conflict. They’re not opposing approaches; they’re different answers to the same question: what should my tools look like?
The artisan values the process as much as the result. Technical perfection, elegance, the pleasure of doing something well done. It’s software as personal expression, as craft.
The person using artificial intelligence values speed and perfect adaptation to their specific case. They prefer something imperfect that works today over something perfect that requires months. It’s software as a practical extension of oneself.
Neither approach is better. They simply prioritize different things: craft versus immediacy, polish versus personalization, beauty versus direct utility.
And you?
Here’s the question: where are you on this spectrum?
When you think about the tools you use every day, the software that surrounds you, what do you value most? Do you care that something is well made even if it’s not exactly what you need? Or do you prefer it to fit like a glove to your way of working, even if it has rough edges?
There’s no right answer. But knowing what you value says a lot about how you relate to your work, to your time, to what you consider worthy of your attention.
What kind of tools are you building, or choosing, for yourself?
