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The bread paradox: why convenience always wins, and why SaaS isn't doomed

joanwestenberg.com

11–20 of 127 posts

Re: The bread paradox: why convenience always wins, and why SaaS isn't doomed

#11

I completely agree that people are vastly undervaluing convenience, reliability and SaaS being essentially a great way to make something “someone else’s problem”. The count argument would be that building with AI will potentially give you infinite customizability, which is especially attractive if you’ve ever hit a brick wall using a line-of-business SaaS product. It works great until you hit that wall. But again, I…

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Re: The bread paradox: why convenience always wins, and why SaaS isn't doomed

#13
Good article. Appreciate the bread (machine) analogy.

One thing to add: software maintenance costs. The build has never been the bottleneck.

The notion that most companies will suddenly institute developers to build all kinds of software inhouse and maintain it is silly. Most companies are not google et al, even in 2026.

The insurance industry built almost everything custom in the 70s and 80s, simply because that was the only option. The more software became commercially available elsewhere the more this effort was pruned back.

Another thing: knowing what to build — another big bottleneck. Most people cannot articulate what they want and even fewer can articulate it at a level that would enable them to build durable software, even with AI. Case in point: the majority of AI-built stuff you see are point solutions or small productivity items, etc. “Systems thinking”, as some people call it, is hard, even for most software engineers.

Yes, you can “rebuild” tools you’ve previously purchased as SaaS but at some point you gotto use your brain to come up with something new. Systems thinking on blank-page challenges is even harder…

Re: The bread paradox: why convenience always wins, and why SaaS isn't doomed

#14

I completely agree that people are vastly undervaluing convenience, reliability and SaaS being essentially a great way to make something “someone else’s problem”. The count argument would be that building with AI will potentially give you infinite customizability, which is especially attractive if you’ve ever hit a brick wall using a line-of-business SaaS product. It works great until you hit that wall. But again, I…

also the counter argument is that median saas company is outsourcing to AI anyway, that being artificial intelligence or actual Indians

Re: The bread paradox: why convenience always wins, and why SaaS isn't doomed

#16

This went straight from medieval guilds to the 1920s, but actual bread mass production started in the Victorian era, and people did have a big negative reaction to that. They adulterated bread in ways that poisoned consumers during that period, which was a tad unpopular. That drove consumers to some curious brands: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerated_Bread_Company

> They adulterated bread in ways that poisoned consumers during that period, which was a tad unpopular.

Consumers paying attention to how products impact them. No kiddin’.

Re: The bread paradox: why convenience always wins, and why SaaS isn't doomed

#19
I would disagree, but before let me acknowledge how well written article is and bread analogy is spot on. However, author complete discounted open source and ability to spin up open source software that will replicate almost 1:1 what SaaS offers without a pay-to-access requirement. Why spend thousands on integration with SaaS that you can take open source, vibe code missing features and start using? You say maintenance, but I'd argue that owning your data is more important that costs of maintenance. Like bread, when you learn and have ability to choose healthier product you never go back to store brought.

Re: The bread paradox: why convenience always wins, and why SaaS isn't doomed

#20

I would disagree, but before let me acknowledge how well written article is and bread analogy is spot on. However, author complete discounted open source and ability to spin up open source software that will replicate almost 1:1 what SaaS offers without a pay-to-access requirement. Why spend thousands on integration with SaaS that you can take open source, vibe code missing features and start using? You say maintenan…

No. You should know that most software are developed for business. Free or too cheap is not good for business use. When I earn money or save money by a software, i can pay it to get full support.
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