Good software has always been about deciding what not to build. Cost was one of the mechanisms that enforced those decisions — not always the right one, but on balance it created discipline.
Now that it’s gone, the discipline has to come from taste, from product thinking, from someone asking the uncomfortable question: do we actually need this? The problem is that “we can build it basically for free” is a very persuasive answer. Even when it’s the wrong one.
Jan-Gregor Triebel: Cheap Code Considered Harmful (2026-03-03)