---
title: "When Being a Developer Ruins the Internet for You"
author: "Lax Mariappan"
date: "2025-10-24"
categories: ["Blogging"]
excerpt: "A few years ago, I heard Kamal Haasan talk about watching films. He said something that stayed with me. He cannot enjoy movies the way most people do. When he sits in a theatre, his brain starts analyzing. How did the actor deliver that line? What’s the lighting setup? How did they pull off that […]"
canonical_url: "https://laxmariappan.com/when-being-a-developer-ruins-the-internet-for-you/"
---

# When Being a Developer Ruins the Internet for You

A few years ago, I heard Kamal Haasan talk about watching films. He said something that stayed with me.

He cannot enjoy movies the way most people do. When he sits in a theatre, his brain starts analyzing. How did the actor deliver that line? What’s the lighting setup? How did they pull off that scene?

The magic disappears. The technical mind takes over.

I realized something recently. The same thing happens to me with websites.

I open an app. I visit a site. And instead of just using it, my brain starts asking questions. How did they build this navigation? What framework powers this? Why does this button feel so smooth? What’s happening behind the scenes?

It’s like I’ve lost the ability to be a regular user.

There’s a cost to knowing how things work. You stop seeing the surface. You start seeing the structure beneath it. The seams. The decisions. The trade-offs.

Sometimes I miss just clicking around without thinking. Without dissecting. Without wondering if I could have done it better.

I don’t know if this makes me a better developer. But it definitely makes me a different kind of user.

Does this happen to you too? Or is it just me overthinking pixels and APIs?

Let’s find joy in seeing how things are built and in simply enjoying them as they are.