Discussion
There is a technology which is so expensive to operate that *just by existing*, it has made things like RAM and hard drives unaffordable to me and the humans I know, because the expensive technology's operational demands are so high they had to buy RAM and hard drives *until there weren't anymore RAM or hard drives*.
*A technology with this property is not, and was never going to be, a "democratizing" technology*.
@mcc it's an enclosure technology. Enclosing humanity's common knowledge and creativity.
@mcc Firstly, AI can fuck right off.
Secondly, don't blame AI because the SSD and DRAM fabs are insanely greedy and signed long-term advance deals with AI and datacenter companies that fucked up pricing for everyone else.
The obvious solution to rich customers fucking over everyone else is to limit delivery sizes, as is demonstrated in this scene from Blade Runner... The fab vendors have less spine than a noodle vendor.
"it has made things like RAM and hard drives unaffordable to me and the humans I know"
Wow, you weren't around when hobbyists were paying $200 for 64k of ram. We were poor, but determined to get a handle on this new technology.
At the turn of the century, 1 TB of storage space was 4 x $250 hard drives. Now, 24 TB is under a grand. If you have a use for it, you'll buy it. It f you don't have a use for it, it's kind of something not worth complaining about.
Computers are still cheap - we just went through a period in time where they were throw-away cheap. Same happened with cell phones - people bought new ones because they wanted new ones, not because their old one was broken.
I'm not happy with the current ramaggedon, but that will change after AI collapses. In the meantime, we either make do with what we've got or upgrade where necessary for our needs, not our "wants." Same as it's always been for some of us.
@barbra what an amazingly stupid perspective.
How is a historical perspective, that puts things into perspective, stupid?
It's not like we HAVE to always upgrade to the newest just because it's new. Cell phones are the best example. They don't wear out after 3 years, and the latest "feature", which I have zero use for, is "AI" .
Same as I have no use for folding screens.
If you NEED another drive, or more ram, you'll buy it. If you don't NEED it, you'll make do until the AI scam collapses and manufacturers rediscover the consumer market.
And of course there's China. By next year their ordinary ram will be both good enough and cheap enough for consumers. That will help revive their consumer motherboard and power supply manufacturers.
And that will help retailers around the world (except the US, which will block them).
2029, things are either back to normal wrt hardware or we're in a world-wide depression. I can wait a couple of years for my next upgrade. So can most people.
I won't buy it, because I don't have the money. Nobody can magically manifest money, even if they really need it. Unless you're suggesting the problem here is I'm not willing to work hard enough for the techbros that they give me enough money?
You're right that hobbyists made do in the 70's and 80's, but that doesn't mean we aren't currently in a world-wide depression. People are suffering today, more than they ever did in the 70's, thanks to the worldwide neoliberal coup. That computers were more expensive back then does not diminish this suffering.
...well OK there's less pollution at least, but otherwise things have been going to hell in Russia, S. America, the Middle East, and Africa. And the USA, as much as USAers want to pretend they're privileged.
1. A computer is a luxury. Not a necessity. Unlike food, water, and shelter.
2. Spending much of your time playing Minecraft is something much of the world doesn't have the luxury to do. They have to work to live.
3. Since you spend much of your time playing Minecraft, you obviously have a computer, food, water, and shelter. So the price of new equipment is irrelevant, since you don't need new equipment.
Nice guilt tripping, but as it turns out it's possible for two things to be sad, even if there are starving children in Africa who would be grateful for the table scraps my lord and master worked and slaved to get for me.
Incidentally I don't spend much of my time playing Minecraft. All I can do is watch other people play it. Not that that matters.
That was my point. It doesn't matter because YOU ALREADY HAVE A COMPUTER! So YOU don't need a new one, so any price increase doesn't affect you.
Same as it doesn't affect most people. Because they aren't in the market for a new computer. It's a "nice to have", but until it no longer does the job they aren't affected.
Same as most phones last 8-10 years now, so no need for a new one every 2 years. The current shortage doesn't matter to them because they don't NEED a new one.
There's no longer a retail ram shortage, at least not in Canada. My retailer has pretty much everything in stock - just walk in the store, bring LOTS of money, and you're good to go.
So hobbyists are going to pony up the bucks.
Same with video cards - though the latest and greatest are insanely priced. Over $7 grand. But as soon as they receive a new shipment, they're sold. Because gamers will buy them to support their hobby.
And after the AI bubble bursts, there will be more supply at lower prices.
But if it's not your hobby, it doesn't matter how expensive it is, because you don't need it.
You don't need it, so you have no reason to complain about the high price of it.
Same as if you don't own a horse, you have no reason to complain about stable boarding and veterinary fees.
So why do they get to buy all the bloody computers they want, and I have to sit here hoping my potato doesn't expire? Why can't more people have computers? Why are you defending the ones taking that power away from them? You act like it's just going back to being a hobby, but the technology hasn't somehow regressed. These costs are not unavoidable due to expensive equipment: we already figured out how to make it cheap. These costs are theft, plain and simple. And you're helping.
And why the hell can't I have a horse? I love horses!
"Democratizing" seems to imply it brings some sort of power to everyone, more or less equally, "democratically". Is there a word for a technology which brings power exclusively to people who can afford high financial demands, and brings more power to you the more you are able to pay for it? Yes, there's a word for that. The word is "classist"
@mcc them: “democratizing”
me: [puts on the “they live” glasses]
them: “monopolizing”
"Oh", but maybe you are thinking at some level. "You're talking about the cost to *operate* the technology. The cost to *use* the technology is generally free, because a bunch of centibillionaires are using *their* money to let everyone else use it at free or subsidized price".
Oh worm. Hey so why do you suppose they are doing that
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