Vibe Coding, Fidget Spinners, and This Week on the Podcast
Fun to try, kind of useless to keep
Vibe coding is the new fidget spinner. And I don’t mean in a “makes you productive” way. More in a “you’re doing something, but nothing’s happening” way.
What Even Is Vibe Coding?
It goes like this:
You prompt an AI with: “Make me a to-do list app.”
It spits out some React code.
You say: “Now add dark mode.”
It kinda does.
Something breaks.
You prompt again: “Fix the bug.”
The cycle repeats.
No architecture. No debugging. No real understanding. Just prompt → code → bug → prompt again. Forever. Like spinning a fidget spinner and calling it cardio.
The Illusion of Progress
It feels productive. You’re generating apps!
But really, you're just rewording your prompts until the output stops breaking or you give up. Even the platform docs warn you: “Models have a fixed context window—long conversations may cause them to forget earlier details.”
So if you prompt too long? The AI forgets what it was building.
(Just like you probably forgot why you started.)
When It Works
Vibe coding can be useful, for throwaway stuff:
Quick mockups
Internal tools you’ll delete next week
Cool demos with no back-end
But if your project needs to last longer than a tweet? This falls apart fast.
The Real Talk
Vibe coding is not coding. It’s wishful thinking in command form.
Fun? Sure. Useful? Only if the project doesn’t matter. Foundational to the future of software? Only if that future is disposable.
So vibe away. Prompt your little heart out. Just don’t mistake motion for momentum. Or code for product.
And once again, it’s not the AI that’s the problem. It’s expecting AI can do things it really isn’t quite capable of. The manual seems to agree.
I tried it. Before it was cool. If you want to use it to learn some of the core concepts, get better at understanding the thing you’re trying to build, all the power to you. But if you see this as “the new dropshipping” I’m not quite sure if things are going to work out for you.
This Week on No Hacks Podcast
We have not one, but two incredible guests you can learn a lot from.
First up, Sam Barber talks about building support network for experimentation in your company. Want to see what mafia and experimentation have in common? Watch the video:
And then we have Ward van Gasteren, the O.G. growth expert tell us not to focus on too many things at once. We all need that reminder every now and then. Check out Ward’s brilliant 1-1-1 framework:
Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast!