The Day Software Became as Cheap as a Text Message

The Chart That Changes Everything

There's this graph floating around (shoutout to SK Ventures) that's honestly mind-blowing. It shows how the cost of storage, processors, and bandwidth has absolutely tanked over the past few decades. We're talking exponential drops. But here's the kicker: software development is now following the same trajectory.

And I don't mean it's getting slightly cheaper. I mean it's heading toward "basically free" territory.

Think about what that actually means for a second. Creating software—something that used to require a computer science degree, months of development time, and a small fortune—is becoming as accessible as posting on social media. Wild, right?

From Engineering Teams to One Person and a Coffee

Here's where it gets really interesting. Tools like Replit, v0, and Figma Make are turning the whole game upside down. For about 200 bucks a month (less than most people's streaming subscriptions combined), you can turn pretty much any half-baked idea into a working product.

I'm not exaggerating. A friend of mine recently built a productivity app over a weekend. No coding bootcamp. No development team. Just him, a decent prompt, and way too much caffeine. The app isn't perfect, but it works. It has users. It solves a real problem.

That would've been impossible—or at least wildly impractical—just five years ago. Back then, you needed a team of engineers, a six-month timeline, and probably some VC money just to get a basic MVP off the ground. Now? One person with a creative idea and access to the right tools can ship something in days.

The barrier isn't technical anymore. It's imaginative.

When Content Becomes the Application

But wait—it gets weirder. We're entering this bizarre new phase where the lines between "content" and "application" are completely blurring.

Stay with me here. Right now, if you're a creator, you make videos, write articles, record podcasts. That's your content. But what if tomorrow's creators don't make videos at all? What if they ship mini-apps instead?

Think about it. A fitness YouTuber today creates workout videos. A fitness creator tomorrow? They might release a custom workout app every week. Same creative energy, different output. The "content" is the application itself.

And here's the flip side: applications are starting to feel more like content. They're quick to build, easy to iterate, and designed to be consumed and discarded just as fast. We're moving from this heavy, permanent software model to something much more fluid and disposable. Apps as ephemeral as Instagram stories? Maybe that's not so far-fetched.

The Developers Who Missed the Memo

Now, there's always a risk when a massive shift like this happens. And honestly? A lot of traditional developers might end up like TV stars who never figured out YouTube.

I'm not saying developers are going extinct—that's ridiculous. But the type of developer who thrives is definitely changing. If your entire value proposition is "I can write code," well... AI can do that now. And it's getting better every month.

The developers who'll thrive are the ones who can think creatively, understand user problems deeply, and orchestrate these new tools effectively. It's less about syntax and more about vision. Less about grinding out lines of code and more about asking the right questions.

Kind of like how YouTubers didn't need to know video editing at a professional level—they just needed to understand storytelling and audience connection. The tools handled the rest.

Creativity Without the Wall

Here's what really excites me about all this: we're tearing down the wall between "I have an idea" and "I built the thing."

For so long, code was this intimidating barrier. You'd have a brilliant idea for an app, but unless you could code—or pay someone who could—it stayed stuck in your head. That wall kept so many people out. It meant that the only ideas that became reality were the ones from people with technical skills or deep pockets.

But when software becomes cheap and accessible? Suddenly, we're not limited by technical ability anymore. We're only limited by imagination. And honestly, that's a much more interesting constraint.

The weird, experimental, niche ideas that never would've gotten funded or built? They can exist now. The tools someone builds specifically for their small community? Totally viable. We're about to see an explosion of creativity that we couldn't even have predicted.

So... How Far Does This Go?

Which brings us to the big question: where does this end?

When anyone can build software as easily as they can post a tweet, what happens to the distinction between "creator" and "developer"? Do those categories even make sense anymore?

And what about quality? If everyone's shipping apps left and right, how do we find the good ones? Do we drown in a sea of mediocre software, or does the best stuff naturally rise to the top?

I don't have all the answers. Nobody does—we're literally watching this unfold in real-time. But I do know this: we're entering an era where the bottleneck isn't technical capability. It's creativity, taste, and understanding what people actually need.

The cost of software is collapsing. But the value of a good idea? That's skyrocketing.

And honestly? I can't wait to see what people build.