Hardcore Software by Steven Sinofsky
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Personal stories and lessons from inside the rise and fall of the PC revolution
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233. "The Illusion of Thinking" — Thoughts on This Important Paper
This is a fantastic paper. I just love it. tl;dr AI is not human. Anthropomorphization has been bad for AI, LLMs, and Chat. Clippy walked so today's AI could run.
232. From Typewriters to Transformers: AI is Just the Next Tools Abstraction
AI is a tool-driven revolution. That’s why it unnerves people. Freeman Dyson said in 1993, “Scientific revolutions are more often driven by new tools than by new concepts.” That’s AI.
231. When It Comes to Tariffs, China is Different
Much has been made of tariffs, but few have talked about the myriad of soft costs when it comes to international trade. Sharing my personal experience of Microsoft and the...
230. MCP - It's Hot, But Will It Win?
There's a long history of "middleware" in our industry. Everyone wants it. There's always a hot one, but it rarely makes to the finish line and often disappoints.
229. "Tech Goes Hardcore" ... Again.
Our industry is cyclic but the latest wave of efficiency harkens back to the time when companies told us not to be penny wise v. pound foolish. It didn't seem...
228. DeepSeek Has Been Inevitable and Here's Why (History Tells Us)
DeepSeek was certain to happen. The only unknown was who was going to do it. The choices were a startup or someone outside the current center of US AI leadership...
227. CES 2025: An Abundance of (AI) Experimentation
CES proved a transition year with many established product lines showing incremental improvements or focusing on B2B areas and new product lines showing a rush to demonstrate their relevancy to...
Remembering Mike Maples, Sr.
The computer industry lost a legendary executive this week with the passing of Mike Maples, Sr.
225. Systems Ideas that Sound Good But Almost Never Work—"Let's just…"
Some engineering patterns that sound good but almost never work as intended
224. Books to Read and Gift (2024 EoY Edition)
A Books I Read in 2024 list. Some of them I enjoyed. Some of them drove me bonkers. I like that part of reading. Hope you enjoy this list.
223. On the Toll of Being a Disruptor
It is very easy to be disruptive, but being a disruptor is enormously difficult technically and emotionally
222. Automating Processes with Software is HARD
We have decades of experience trying to automate processes. My biggest lesson is that automation is not about the easy and known flow, but about exception handling.
221. Using AI for School is NOT Cheating
The use of AI is causing some in universities to freak out. I would worry more about NOT using AI, if history is any indication.
220. Are AI Expectations Too High or Misplaced?
Have expectations for AI been getting too high? Not high enough? Thinking about how AI has evolved in past boom/bust cycles.
219. On AI Requiring a New OS
Not every platform shift yields a new OS or does it?
218. Announcing: Hardcore Software, the Print Edition
Many have been asking for a "shelf-worthy" compilation along with an eBook and audiobook. I'm super excited to share the availability of all formats.
217. Doing a UX/API Redesign? Here are 12 Rules of Thumb
Redesigning the UX or API of a product seems to always be in the plans. No product is perfect and customer feedback abounds. Some things you might think of if...
216. United States v. Apple (Complaint)
March 21, 2024 the United States filed an antitrust complaint against Apple. The filing is a new approach to antitrust and hinges on mostly how Apple chose to design the...
215. Building Under Regulation
An essay on the EU Digital Markets Act and Apple’s Update on apps distributed in the European Union (and some personal history)
[214.] Hello. Happy Anniversary Macintosh!
Happy 40th Anniversary, Macintosh! I was lucky enough to be at one of the right places at the right time and thought I'd share my story of why 1984 was...