Cutting-Edge Retro Programmers

Inkward — Thu, 05 Nov 2026 05:38:46 +0000

I’m a computer science student, so why start a blog? Because I want to do something retro. Blogs used to be all the rage, but as technology moved on, they have turned into a kind of “archaeological” website. I often browse blogs other people made years ago, and it feels like digging for treasure: you get to watch the fresh, inventive blogs that young people built back then slowly grow old.

Webmasters, too, had their professional heyday as the times changed, only to be suddenly hit by AI. AI is a technological revolution aimed squarely at replacing programmers, much like textile machines replaced seamstresses and trains put coachmen out of work.

I always assumed industrialization and higher efficiency were good things. Only now do I appreciate the joy of making things by hand. In that era, most textile workers did the job to earn a living, but some of them probably truly enjoyed the craft of weaving. Industrialization gives society more widely available products (mass-produced standard clothing, public trains, and ever-simpler programming).

But people who find joy in the process still exist. Weaving or riding horses no longer earns anyone much money these days, yet both live on as hobbies. I just feel sorry for those who rushed into computer science purely for the high pay. All in all, I enjoy programming for its own sake, so let me be a cutting-edge retro guy :)

Originally published at personal-bilingual-blog.pages.dev. Written in Chinese, translated to English.

DEV Community: Inkward

Cutting-Edge Retro Programmers