Kind of like every other improvement in technology? From interactive terminals, to compilers, to graphical debuggers?

Nothing new there.

What productivity improvements have opened up is more opportunities for developers. Larger and more complex systems can be built using better tooling.

> Larger and more complex systems can be built using better tooling.

to what end, make rich people richer?

> to what end, make rich people richer?

So, in perfect theory land, people get paid because they provide value. That obviously breaks down at the extremes.

But, for sake of example, let's take Uber, super easy to hate on them, but they have had a measurable impact on reducing deaths from drunk driving. That obviously provides a lot of value to people.

Likewise, it is hard to overstate the value people have gained from smartphones, Apple has made a lot of money but they have also provided a lot of value. Arguments over if the individual value brought is long term good or bad for society are a separate topic, but people value their iPhones and therefor they pay for them. No way could something as complicated as an iPhone have been made with 1970s software engineering technology.

I’m not arguing that. I’m saying the bar is higher and pay relative to value has decreased for all other than at the upper end. Easiest way to think about this is look at percentage revenue paid to engineers.

The nice thing about the new tools is that you can radicalize them by talking to them.

If they’re able to produce twice the work in half the time, wouldn’t it make sense to pay them less?

In that situation it would be reasonable to expect to be paid twice as much while also being able to devote half the working day to personal/open-source projects.