WTF #4

WTF No Code

So far, with each edition of WTF No Code, I’ve tried really hard to steer clear from getting too focused in on AI. This is for a couple of reasons. It’s super early days for a technology that’ll likely force behavioural changes in our personal and professional lives and policy changes in governments around the world.

But before that, we may feel the shift in a fundamental to the human experience and that's storytelling.

On the flip side, it’s too easy to slip into a terrifying rabbit hole where we get a front row seat to things like this 👇

This video is a year old. An entire year of R&D has happened since these two AIs shot the shit and made Turing rollover in his grave. Are we watching the slow-moving demise of humanhood? Things have certainly kicked off since this video was published and Steph Smith has a great analogy for what AI is poised to do.

The bicycle is a fitting parallel, especially given how transformative a tool and technology it was for social progress and woman's rights.

So we can be assured that AI will bring about some good but there's always a chance we'll fall off the bicycle when the training wheels come off.

I promise this won’t become an AI newsletter but there are probably going to be mentions of it here and there. For a more optimistic and full-bodied take on where AI’s at today and where it’ll be in 3 hours from now, you should check out Ben Tossell’s newsletter, Ben’s Bites.

I’ve always indulged in bouts of shiny object syndrome and the world of AI is shiny AF. Getting a brief summary of what I need to know about each tool or recent development saves me a ton of digging. At this rate, I feel like I’m getting a (usually) daily brief which is exactly what I need because I believe that AI development won’t yield a new business category or industry as much as it will blanket existing categories.

Business categories like no code.

I’m saying that it’s correct to think of AI technology as layer that can blanket your entire tech stack. Strip away the veneer that AI tech has gained in the last few years and it becomes clear that this is the prevailing approach to most things that process probabilistic outcomes at a massive scale based on a variety of inputs.

No code gave people increased access to solution-building and helped flatten technical-ish knowledge that was once gated in the world of tech. To me, anyone on the no code path is on a prime avenue for AI learnings. Case in point –

Since no code developers and makers are predisposed to “finding a way” and “defaulting to action”, AI becomes just another way, so we'll see those developers and makers layer on a little AI here and there. That predisposition is a superpower.

🆗 Simple $%!#

My latest project update or feature release. That's it. That's the $%!#.

The Need

A customer-facing dashboard that can scale as I move users through different stages of the waitlist and ultimately onto a full-fledged account.

The Stack

• Webflow Memberships (beta)

• Webflow Logic (beta)

• Airtable

• Make

• getwaitlist.com

• Canny

• Tippy.js

The Result (ELI5)

A working dashboard that I can continue to build on without any negative impact on user experience.

A lot of what you see here is compartmentalized so that changes I make to any functionality can be tested ahead of time. I also restructured my classes and layouts to be much more clean.

The Extended Version

I've tried my hand at something like this before and it was clunky and disjointed. This was years ago mind you, so I wasn't really paying attention to the longterm. With a solid framework that I understand, I'll be able to extend what this dashboard does with the right integrations and add additional value for my users as Webflow continues their progress on Webflow Memberships.

Anyone can join the waitlist for Podcast Delivery Deals. I'll open up access to a handful of folks in early 2023 and will be working with a few podcast creators and fans in the meantime.

If you want to take it for a spin or if you know someone who'd like to get in on this early, send them my way!

🌶 Spicy Takes

This gets your attention today but won't mean much in a few months.

Some say Twitter has died.

Others believe it died years ago.

Does it really matter?

If you're on Twitter you've got a front row seat to something that'll eventually become a Netflix docuseries.

🌶🌶🌶🌶(out of 5)

🎲 Dicey Makes

Every one deserves some criticism. I'll share some unsolicited feedback in a sentence or two and I'll try to keep it constructive.

Open source alternatives to profit-motivated businesses are great.. in theory. Set aside the virtuous ambition and the mechanics that lock you into a platform are the same.

Does Baserow bring a community of knowledge-rich users, eager to participate in collective problem solving? Not really, but there will be a developer community raring to get involved, I'm sure.

Have previous attempts been made to develop an Airtable alternative? Absolutely.

Is Airtable distracted enough with it's growing product line that something like Baserow will attract Airtable users? Likely.

I'm not going to bet on KP here, but there's a whole lot stacked against any newcomer to this category. As an incumbent, Airtable is poised to shadow anything new that comes of an alternative, unless that alternative offers seamless migration away from Airtable.. 🤔

Either way, there's a clear show across the bow here.

We'll see what comes next.

(It's probably AI 🙄)