Software is now so cheap it's practically free — Nader Daboussi explains why

Nader Daboussi makes a simple point: the cost of writing software has collapsed. You used to need a team, an office, and months to ship something usable. Now a single person can prototype in a day with the right tools. The bottleneck is no longer building — it's knowing what to build.

The piece walks through the mechanics — how code generation, AI models, and the open-source stack have converged. The result isn't just cheaper code; it's a shift in who can make software and who gets left out. People who understand the tools can now compete with shops that have been around for decades. The ones who don't are still paying for the old way.

The real cost is attention, not compute. You can generate a thousand lines of code for pennies. What's expensive is the judgment of what to generate and why.

Why this matters for us: la gente that understands how to use these tools now — the bodeguero automating inventory, the abuela running a Facebook page for her tamales — they're the ones who'll build. The ones waiting for permission are still paying for the old way.