Generated software vs app-store scarcity, with Wabi as an early case
An argument that app stores monetize app scarcity, while apps generated on description remove the need to search or install, with Wabi cited as early on that side.
The app store was one of the great business models ever built. Apple and Google own discovery, take a cut of the transaction, and never build the product. The whole thing rests on scarcity. Apps are expensive to make, so there are a limited number of them, so people need somewhere to find the right one. Discovery is the product and the 30% is the rent on it. Generated software removes the scarcity. If the app gets made the moment you describe it, there’s nothing to search for, nothing to install, and no shelf to be ranked on. Wabi is early on that side of the line. Apps generated inside a messenger, built around your group chat rather than downloaded into it. Every marketplace eventually faces the same question: what happens when the thing it was organizing stops being scarce.
This post quotes another post: “Wabi 2.0: a personal agent you share with other people”