It's almost impossible to avoid. Almost every single day, I get a video about someone, or a group of people, who have decided to make their own version of a very popular app. I get the motivation, and I even get the fact that this was inevitable, but there are open questions nobody seems to answer.
To be fair, I know the cloned apps, if we can call them that, are not entirely ready for mainstream use. The Adobe clones, as far as I know, are still buggy, and thus can't really replace the real deal yet. But that said, I'm sure it's a matter of time before they get good enough, or before another clone built with a stronger model takes the spotlight.
I'm well aware that the shift from owning your software to these big companies renting it to you is probably at the core of it all. We've heard it before: you will own nothing and be happy. And thus, the red flag has been very visible to us all. But it's hard to imagine a future without the economic weight of some of these companies.
A question I'd like to get a satisfactory answer to is this one: Who will maintain the code?
As someone who participates in open source and has done so for years, I'm very much aware of the challenges of code maintenance. Most open source ideas become abandonware. Not because the ideas were bad, but because people have bills to pay, and voluntary work can only get you so far.
There are exceptions, of course. Linux is the beacon we all look up to, but they're rare. And this is the point: the ratio of failed and abandoned projects to those that are still alive and getting regular security updates is insane when you stop to look at it.
I can imagine a future of bespoke software too. Agentic operating systems that build precisely what you need. But it also means a common language, a standard, has to rise from the chaos. Otherwise, sending a document to someone will be like the story of Babel, a digital confusion with no divine intervention needed.
Applicant: "Let me send you my resume. Do you use Prismoth Office 4K?"
Recruiter: "Never heard of that... does it work on Mac?"
Applicant: "It works on Decepticon Linux-based distros."
Recruiter: "We will be in touch..."
I'll grant I'm being a little facetious, but I think I'm making my point. How does this world look? What standards survive, if any at all? How does cohesion work when everyone is running bespoke solutions?
With all that said, I'm not calling for a stop here. I do think, in the first place, there is no stopping it, and a reset of sorts is long overdue. I also think the game world being shaken up is the best news of 2026, and as a retired gamer, it brings a big smile to my face.
But again, will this mean legacy-type solutions, the franchises, to be clear, will all become a thing of the past?
Or will we finally come together, and someone will release GT6 and then seven, through amazingly coordinated contributions?
Or will the meme survive even the most impressive technological revolutions of our lifetimes?
MenO