Think of it as Yoga for the brain, we are going to stretch a bit.
The Age of the Custom Shovel
The future of computing isn't one-size-fits-all software. It's a custom shovel you can redesign every time the ground changes. -- YNOT!
Imagine you need to dig a hole. You have two choices.
The first is simple: walk into the garage, grab the only shovel you own, and start digging.
The second is something that barely existed a few years ago: have AI design the perfect shovel for the exact hole you need to dig.
Think about it.
The shovel hanging in your garage wasn’t designed for you. It wasn’t built for your height, your strength, or your reach. It wasn’t made for the soil you’re digging, the size of the hole, or the space where the work needs to happen.
A big, strong person can push a large shovel and move more dirt with every scoop. A smaller person may need something lighter and shorter. If the hole is behind a bush, maybe you need a narrow shovel. If you’re digging deep, perhaps you need a longer handle. If you’re scraping and moving loose material, maybe a flat shovel works best. If you’re cutting through grass and roots, perhaps you need a serrated edge.
There isn’t one perfect shovel. There are thousands of perfect shovels, each designed for a particular job. For most of history, we settled for whatever shovel we happened to have.
Software worked the same way.
You bought a program or downloaded one from open source. You adapted your work to the software because changing the software was difficult, expensive, or impossible. We all learned to live with one-size-fits-all digital tools.
But AI has changed the equation.
Now, when I ask ChatGPT for a piece of software to solve a problem, it often says:
“Why don’t we just build it?” And the crazy thing is…
It works.
Because the software isn’t somebody else’s idea of what I need. It’s built around my workflow, my business, my habits, and my problems.
It’s my shovel. And if I discover I need the handle longer, the blade narrower, or the edge sharper, I don’t throw it away and buy another one.
I simply change it. By the third iteration, it’s better.
By the fifth iteration, it’s exactly what I need.
That is the real revolution of AI.
Not merely open-source software. Not merely free software.
But fix-as-you-go software. Software that evolves with you.
Software that can be reshaped every time your needs change.
For the first time in history, ordinary people don’t have to accept the shovel they were given.
