Start Feeling the Vibe

In 1947, an engineer named Percy Spencer made an accidental but groundbreaking discovery—one that would lead to a revolutionary invention. What he stumbled upon became the basis for the microwave oven. Initially, this invention was large, expensive, and used almost exclusively in commercial settings or on ships. But in the 1960s, a company acquired by Raytheon called Amana redesigned it—making it smaller, more affordable, and ready for mass-market use. Originally branded the “Radarange,” it eventually became known simply as the microwave.

So, what does this have to do with AI and vibe coding?

It’s an example—one of many—where an invention that was mocked or seen as subpar in its category ended up changing the world. The microwave has long been the butt of jokes: it’s blamed for ruining TV dinners, overcooking roasts, and even burning popcorn so badly it’s triggered building evacuations (true story). If you asked the average person whether you could cook a five-star meal using a microwave, the answer would almost certainly be an emphatic “no.”

Yet, here’s the twist: nearly every restaurant in the U.S.—and likely in Canada and Europe, too—uses some form of a microwave. They might not call it that; there are commercial variants with different names and features, but functionally, they’re microwaves. Even places that claim, “we don’t cook at microwave speed,” often don’t need to worry about cooking at all anymore—many of those chains have closed, surviving now only in small corners of California.

And beyond that, not every restaurant wants or needs to be Michelin-starred. The Mexican spot down the street might not serve world-class cuisine, but it’s hot, tasty, and hits the spot. It meets the goal of a good meal—and that’s enough.

This same logic applies to just about every kind of production—whether it’s food, housing, cars, or software. The fundamental principles are the same: coordinating people, managing trade-offs, and delivering results. Vibe coding is a disruptor in that space. Imagine someone building a small side project with vibe coding—pulling in 1,000 paying users at $10/month. That’s $120,000 a year. Not bad for a weekend project. That’s more than many junior developers earn, especially in the Midwest or in areas with a lower cost of living. In some cases, that kind of income can be life-changing.

So, why vibe coding?

Plenty of experienced programmers once ridiculed Java, Access, and Visual Basic, too. Sure, sometimes you need a powerful, high-performance solution. But more often than not, a simpler tool gets the job done faster. There are $100 million companies that have operated entirely on Access databases and Excel spreadsheets—built by someone who understood a business problem and spent a few hours tinkering.

It’s not always about elegance. It’s about usefulness, accessibility, and speed.