[gnerd00]

first response from me "let me mention how the real business world actually works" .. let's add a more nuanced slice to that however

Since desktop computers became popular, there have been thousands of small to mid-size companies that could benefit from software systems.. A thousand thousand "consultants" marched off to their nearest accountant, retailer, small manufacturer or attorney office, to show off the new desktop software and claim ability to make new, custom solutions.

We know now, this did not work out for a lot of small to mid-size business and/or consultants. Few could build a custom database application that is "good enough" .. not for lack of trying.. but pace of platforms, competitive features, stupid attention getting features.. all of that, outpaced small consultants .. the result is giant consolidation of basic Office software, not thousands of small systems custom built for small companies.

What now, in 2025? "junior" devs do what? design and build? no. Cookie-cutter procedures at AWS lock-in services far, far outpace small and interesting designs of software.. Automation of AWS actions is going to be very much in demand.. is that a "junior dev" ? or what?

This is a niche insight and not claiming to be the whole story.. but.. ps- insert your own story with "phones" instead of desktop software for another angle

[mlloyd]

One thing I'd point out is that there are only so many ways to write a document or build a spreadsheet. There are a ton of business processes that are custom enough to that org that they have to decide to go custom, change their process, or deal with the inefficiency of not having a technical solution that accomplishes the goal easily.

Lotus Notes is an example of that custom software niche that took off and spawned a successful consulting ecosystem around it too.

[dylan604]

> Lotus Notes is an example

TIL Notes is still a thing. I had thought it was dead and gone some time ago.

[nateglims]

I'm a little confused by this analysis. Are you saying that all enterprise software has been replaced with MS word and AWS?

[gnerd00]

certainly no -- not "all software" of anything. Where is the word "enterprise" in the post you have replied to ? "enterprise" means the very largest companies and institutions..

I did not write "all software" or "enterprise software" but you are surprised I said that... hmmm