Expanding access to Opal, our no-code AI mini-app builder
blog.google
blog.google
https://techcrunch.com/2018/09/13/microsoft-acquires-lobe-a-...
Can't fault Google employees - the software retirement village is comfy.
But it's a big opportunity cost for society.
The counter-argument is that these tools are too narrowly scoped, but I think that's exactly what made them successful; their "no-code" tools provided a solution for a common problem.
Ultimately I agree with what you're getting at. There's never been a successful no-code, or even low-code, replacement for general purpose programming, and there never will be.
Thats probably verging on too high of a complexity for end users, but if you can obfuscate the black box and have it work well enough, it can definitely be big.
That whole space is full of node-based tools that people build careers on.
It is basic market dynamics that the harder you make it to enter a market, the more reluctant entrants will be. Whether the regulation that makes market entry more difficult is "good" or "bad" is simply irrelevant.