fandorin

I get it - LLMs do have some value, but not as much as everyone (especially those from AI labs) is trying to pitch. I can't help thinking that it's so obvious we are almost at the very top of this bubble - but here it feels like the majority of HN doesn't think like that...

Yet just in 2026 we had:

- AI.com was sold for $70M - Crypto.com founder bought it to launch yet another "personal AI agent" platform, which promptly crashed during its Super Bowl ad debut.

- MoltBook-mania - a Reddit clone where AI bots talk to each other, flooded with crypto scams and "AI consciousness" posts. 250,000+ bot posts burning compute for what actual value? [0]

- OpenClaw - a "super open-source AI agent" that is a security nightmare.

- GPT-5.3-Codex and Opus 2.6 were released. Reviewers note they're struggling to find tasks the previous versions couldn't handle. The improvements are incremental at best.

I understand there are legitimate use cases for LLMs, but the hype-to-utility ratio seems completely out of whack.

Am I not seeing something?

[0] https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/02/06/1132448/moltbook-was-peak-ai-theater/

Is there anybody here who is successfully running a business that is not based on a subscription revenue model?

I have a nice side project (a macOS app) that uses a one-time fee. But very often (while listening to some podcasts about bootstrapped products) it feels like it's either subscription-based or nothing. Is there no point in having a one-time fee product? Is that correct? Am I living in a SaaS bubble?

It’s 2025 - we have multiple language apps on the market, tons of youtube content, LLMs and other language tools. In your option: what’s the best way to learn a foreign language? What works for you, what doesn’t and what is a complete waste of time?

I have created a macOS (desktop) app that has been gaining some reasonable traction over the last year. My current (and the only) pricing strategy is a fixed $16 one-time fee for the full app (can be installed on 2 Macs) and a free-to-use tier for the limited app. No recurring payments, no subscriptions. People are using the app and buying the license - so that's good.

I know that for SaaS-type products, the most optimal pricing strategy is almost always subscriptions, but what about desktop apps? What are your experiences (as a creator and as a user of such apps)? Should I change it to something like: - free tier (limited app) - one-year license fee (lower than the current price) - lifetime license fee (as it is now)

Or should I keep it as it is and stop thinking about it for now?

Thanks for any suggestions.

Any blog worth following? Youtube channel? Something meaningful and to the point.