From Factories to Tailors: AI and the End of One-Size-Fits-All Tech
Last week, I listened to the Death, Sex, and Money interview with N.D. Austin—an “experience designer” who sees himself as a rebel against the sameness of tech. He doesn’t build for scale. He builds for beauty, generosity, and transformation.
Secret sewer speakeasies. Coming-of-age rituals on deserted islands. A funeral board game that walks you through decades of memories.
He’s not trying to be the next billion-dollar app. He's not even trying to be an event planner. He’s trying to make something unforgettable for someone.
Since then I’ve been noodling—for most of tech’s history, that’s been impossible. Boutique, personal products were too expensive to build, too hard to maintain, too niche to monetize.
Feasible meant scalable. Repeatable patterns meant adoption. Mass appeal meant survival.
But AI changes that math.
Today, a layperson can write thousands of lines of code in Replit with no experience — just by chatting.
Finally! I could finally create the budget app I always wanted—one that knows the $2K I blew in January was part of my my annual travel budget, and keeps me honest the rest of the year.
Huzzah! I could give my little Denver concert community an AI-managed indie concert calendar that lets members filter by their favorites, sample tracks, and add their own finds — complete with AI-written summaries and community upvotes... even if it will never make it dime.
And that’s the point.
When anyone can build the exact thing they want—for their friends, their work, their life—what is the role of technology companies at all?
Maybe they stop acting like factories. Maybe they start acting like tailors. Focusing on trust, security, network effects, and the fabric that connects millions of small, bespoke tools into something greater.
Because if we keep building for the “average user,” I have a hunch we’re going to feel very average very quickly.
🪄 If you could wave a wand and build one tool just for you—even if it wouldn’t make a dime—what would it be?