I like boring technology. Not because I am against progress, but because most projects are not auditions for a conference talk. Clients want results they can afford, host, edit and keep running when I am not around. That means choosing tools for outcomes, not for hype.
Let’s get one thing straight: the only people demanding a return to the office are executives who still think “synergy” happens in fluorescent-lit conference rooms and that “collaboration” requires smelling someone’s tuna sandwich from three desks away. Spoiler alert: it doesn’t. Forcing employees back to offices isn’t about productivity or culture. It’s about power. And companies clinging to this delusion are about to get left in the dust by those smart enough to embrace reality.
Welcome to the main event: an AI free-for-all where OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic swagger into the ring with their trillion-parameter hype machines—then promptly lose their cool when a ragtag Chinese startup named DeepSeek R1 strolls in, spending less than Sam Altman’s annual hoodie budget. While OpenAI and Google play SimCity with billion-dollar compute clusters, DeepSeek’s crew apparently cracked the code using ramen money and a Costco pallet of export-controlled GPUs.
Let’s rewind to 2010. Barack Obama was president, Instagram hadn’t yet convinced us to ruin our meals with Valencia filters, and I, a bright-eyed blogger armed with a domain name and a dream, installed WordPress. Fast-forward 15 years, and here we are: my blog is old enough to start asking for the car keys, and I’ve finally thrown WordPress into the retirement home. Let me tell you why—and why you might want to, too.
When OpenAI announced Operator this week a ChatGPT-powered AI that can supposedly autonomously book flights, shop online, and manage your life, I immediately envisioned Jarvis from Iron Man casually ordering me artisanal croissants while I nap. Instead, after using it for a few hours, I feel like I just watched a self-driving car get confused by a stop sign. It’s… adorably underwhelming. The Hype vs. The Reality Operator’s core pitch is seductive: an AI that can take over tedious digital tasks by using a web browser to do things like a human would. But right now? It’s less Tony Stark’s butler and more that one coworker who takes 45 minutes to figure out how to mute themselves on Zoom.
For years, the AI frontier has been dominated by a handful of players: OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and Meta. Armed with seemingly infinite resources, these companies have dictated the pace of innovation, releasing model after model while driving the narrative that only colossal budgets and exclusive datasets can produce cutting-edge AI. But the release of DeepSeek R1 has shattered this illusion—and it’s putting the old guard on notice. Let’s break this down. DeepSeek R1, developed by the relatively unknown Chinese startup DeepSeek, cost just $5.58 million to train. This figure is peanuts compared to the estimated hundreds of millions poured into training GPT-4, Claude 3.5, and other flagship models. Yet, in terms of performance, DeepSeek R1 is standing toe-to-toe with OpenAI’s o1 and beating Google’s offerings (including the new 2.0 and experimental models) in areas like advanced reasoning, math, and code generation.
I wanted to be wowed. Really, I did. As an owner of the Galaxy S23 Ultra, I was hoping the Samsung Galaxy S25 would come charging in with jaw-dropping features, ready to make me question how I ever lived without it. But nope. Instead, Samsung decided to slap a few buzzwords on what feels like a slightly tweaked S23 Ultra, jack up the price, and call it a day. If you’ve been eyeing the S25, save yourself the heartache and your cash. Here’s why it’s not worth the upgrade.
Whenever someone says, “let’s set some OKRs,” I feel a part of my soul leaves my body. A freshly printed “Q1 Objectives” deck gets its wings somewhere in the bowels of corporate hell. And for what? To justify busy work? To keep middle managers feeling important? Let’s cut through the jargon and call it what it is: a massive waste of time designed to look like progress. Here’s why OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) and KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) are bullshit—and, frankly, why you should be sceptical of anyone who insists they’re essential.
Algorithms. For decades, they’ve been the gatekeepers of the tech industry, the sacred rites of passage for anyone hoping to secure a coveted job at a top-tier company. Entire platforms like Leetcode and HackerRank have built empires around this obsession, turning the act of coding into a gladiatorial spectacle. But let’s be honest: is the ability to invert a binary tree under duress really the hallmark of a good programmer? Or is it an elaborate hazing ritual we’ve all agreed to endure?
When I joined WIP.co, I was hopeful. The idea of a maker community—a place to share progress, gain motivation, and connect with other creators—sounded exactly what I needed. However, after spending time on the platform and exploring its features, I came to a frustrating realisation: for a platform that charges USD 199 per year for its pro plan, it feels more like an indie hacking project than a polished, valuable product.