> Obviously usage of something goes up when it gets cheaper.
Sure.
But is it not also obvious that when usage of a resource becomes more efficient, the price of that ”usage” becomes cheaper?
So usage goes up obviously because efficiency increases.
It is called a paradox because some people naively think that increasing efficiency is a good way to decrease consumption.
Almost everything that is called a ”paradox” is this obvious.
It’s surprising (not using the term paradox) in situations where demand was seen as inelastic.
An example of probably inelastic demand is the cost of diamonds which has fallen as synthetic diamonds enter the market. But people typically don’t buy more engagement rings than before.
With code it could be different. People might think that the amount of code that needs to be written is fixed, so the ability for a person to write code implies a reduced demand for people who write it.
In reality, bringing the cost down may unlock new use cases, so the number of actual coders might increase.
> Only people who never worked in a software company could believe that.
Unfortunately these are many of the same people who make company-wide hiring decisions. They’re getting their sentiment from some guy 15 years younger who also never wrote any code, who heard a sound bite on a business podcast 6 months ago.
Synthetic diamonds and natural diamonds are not the same product for jewelery. The price of natural diamonds has not decreased much as a function of synthetic diamonds being cheaper to make.
> People might think that the amount of code that needs to be written is fixed
Only people who never worked in a software company could believe that.
You don’t even have to unlock new use cases. Our backlogs are all full of old ideas.