> I know the reason this happens is because we aren't the real customers of an app. Nor are the creators / partners. The real customers are the shareholders.

Exactly.

I am in an engineering design software developer organization bought by an investor from the founders approaching retirement (they worked 3 decades on this software helping construction engineers designing better homes). Ever since the lead up to the sell - changes were tuned to lure in investors, for the liking of investors - our organization is focusing on maximising revenue. Fast. That is THE focus. New marketing strategy, sales strategy, licensing strategy changes, reshape organization to have more informed decision making in sales (i.e. collecting and processing much more data on increasing number of contacts). Company meetings are about EBITDA, sales goals vs. actual, streamlining organization. Luncbreak discussions evolve around how to license existing features differently so it would trigger/force up/cross sales.

What is not on the agenda for maximising revenue: features and engineering. We are a "sales oriented organization", says our new CEO prodly - brought in during the sale. Addressing user needs and becoming more popular for the eventual income boost takes longer than the sales cycle of less than 5 years (the investor wants to sell the company in 5 years time). Engineering is in the way, accounting books need to look much much better much sooner for the eventual profit. Only sales tactics work here.

I see ralted pattern elsewhere, in tools I have the misfortune to use (SaaS and other subscription based products). Shameless self-promotions (cross-sale) distact your focus all the time, 'features' good for the assumed 'cutting-edge' image of the organization, privacy offensive practices (data for running sales campaigns), 'offerings' that help you with the ideas they force on you for some sizeable extra cost.

It will not end well. Takes long time to fail, but without valuable features and engineering there will be no value left for the users to buy eventually. No user wants top notch marketing, licensing, and sales strategy for the benefit of the organization.

We may be surprised how illefficient companies are in organizing the creation of sophisticated things (including processes) for themselves, to use (so for the cost center column).

Higher management figures out things to do in strategic level, in brief, and pushes on "soldiers", who kick it through in the least time (cheapest of the cheapest, for the sake of the quarterlies) EXACTLY the way management told it. Because they have to, their job is to make happen the company objectives given, the way it is given. Pushing out crap in the shape of the thing expected.

Larger organiztaion can use these kind of things the most. Even if they don't do that.

But it can cause memory loss, impaired motor coordination, and food craving. Also memory loss.

I tried it briefly and the practice - argued for strategy for operation actually - to override my working folder seelction and altering to the parent root git folder is a no go.

If it is so simple - that ensures nothing, faked easily - then what's the point wasting efforts on it? Why to complicate things? Why spend time and efforts to do it? And annoy with one more tiny thing on top of the hundrends? Why not just not doing it?

Or, in contrary, when it is very reliable, so it can map a very specific real person to a reliable and true birth date, then f off binding myself to a randome computer account that gives it out to whomever is asking it!

There is no good in this story.

The word fits here is pretend.

I am fine TikTok remaining that 'we watch what you are doing' platforms. Those do not care can gave that if they wish, I do not mind.

But bullshitting about it is making users more safe, that is ... bullshit! Worse that that, distorting public opinion, intentionally fooling the gullible.

> Professionally you are downgrading

It is the contrary!

You learn using a very powerfool tool. This is a tool, like text editor and compiler.

But you focus on the logic and function more instead of syntax details and whims of the computer languages used in concert.

The analogy from construction is to be elevated from being a bricklayer to an engineer. Or using various shaped shovels with wheelbarrel versus mechanized tools like excavators and dumpers in making earthworks.

... of course for those the focus is in being the master of bricklayers, which is noble, no pun intended, saying with agreeing straight face, bricklaying is a fine skill with beautiful outputs in their area of use. For those AI is really unnecessary. An existential threat, but unnecessary.

I agree with you, syntax details are not important but they haven't been important for a long time due to better editors and linters.

> But you focus on the logic and function more instead of syntax details and whims of the computer languages used in concert.

This is exactly my point. I learned logical mistakes when my first if else broke. Only reason you or I can guide these into good logic is because we dealt with bad ones before all this. I use claude myself a lot because it saves me time. But we're building a culture where no one ever reads the code, instead we're building black boxes.

Again you could see it as the next step in abstraction but not when everyone's this dependent on a few companies prepared to strip the world of its skills so they can sell it back to them.