I’ll be honest: I got lost.
For the past year, I abandoned my comfort zone. As a veteran Vue 2 developer, I felt the "Fear Of Missing Out" (FOMO) hitting me hard. Everywhere I looked, people were shouting:
"AI will replace you!" > "Learn LLMs or become obsolete!" > "Make passive income with AI-generated videos!"
I have two kids to feed. The anxiety was real.
So, I did what many terrified developers did. I stopped writing code and started chasing the wind. I bought the expensive courses on "AI App Development". I tried to become a "Content Creator" using AI tools to churn out soulless videos. I tried to force myself to love the React ecosystem just because "it has more AI libraries."
I became a "Leek" (a term we use in China for people who get harvested by hype).
After a year of burning cash and time, I looked at my portfolio. I had zero real users, a bunch of "Hello World" AI demos, and a lingering feeling of emptiness. The AI tools improved my efficiency, sure, but they didn't solve the core problem: I wasn't building anything valuable.
The Return to Reality
I had a reality check one late night. I realized that while everyone is trying to build the next ChatGPT wrapper, regular people still struggle with basic things.
I create content, and I work with images daily. I realized that simple tasks like bulk resizing, converting formats, or compressing images without uploading them to a shady server (privacy matters!) are still annoying.
- Photoshop is too expensive and heavy for quick tasks.
- Most online tools are ad-ridden nightmares that steal your data.
So, I made a decision. Stop chasing the hype. Start shipping utility.
From Vue 2 to Nuxt 4
I went back to my roots, but I leveled up. I skipped the legacy Vue 2 patterns I was used to and dove straight into Vue 3 (Composition API) and Nuxt.
It was refreshing. No more fighting with Python environments or prompt engineering. Just pure, clean JavaScript/TypeScript.
I built BulkPicTools.
It’s not an "AI-powered, Blockchain-backed, Metaverse-ready" platform. It’s a boring, useful tool.
- ⚡️ Client-side only: It runs entirely in your browser using WebAssembly and modern JS APIs.
- Privacy-first: Your photos never leave your device. No server uploads.
- Solves a real problem: Bulk processing for creators who value their time.
Why I'm sharing this
I’m writing this for any other developer who feels inadequate because they aren't an "AI Expert" yet.
You don't need to ride every wave. Your engineering skills—whether it's Vue, Rails, or PHP—are still valuable if you use them to solve real problems.
I’m still learning the ropes with the latest Nuxt features, and the journey from "Corporate Employee" to "Indie Hacker" is terrifying. But at least now, I'm building something real again.
If you have feedback on the tool or the Nuxt implementation, I’d love to hear it!
Thanks for reading.