The unadmitted reason this is happening (and the AI bubble besides): Moore's Law *has ended*.

[thad@brontosin.space]

@cstross There's also the "hardware still works fine but software goes planned-obsolescence" route, but Microsoft just did that a few months ago and it'll be awhile before they can get away with doing it again.

[kierkegaanks@beige.party]

@cstross (unless it kills the industry)

[graydon@canada.masto.host]

@cstross I am willing to entertain the "we're going to get rid of consumer computer hardware that isn't rented" scenario.

In the 1970s, there was a thriving market for making, selling, and applying custom/aftermarket car parts. The entire auto industry systematically murdered it by successively moving cars into a space where you couldn't do that. It's not like we don't know a large market can't be expunged.

The incumbents have a strong general incentive to keep people from having options.

[hp@mastodon.tmm.cx]

@cstross Yeah, I recently came to a similar conclusion.

I had replaced the fans in my 4 year old laptop and now it is ... just fine. Like I'm actually no longer even considering replacing it.

Now I did buy a ridiculous laptop 4 years ago, but still.

I wonder how many people could extend the life if their machines by just cleaning out the dust/replacing the fans.

[oblomov@sociale.network]

@cstross @blogdiva I have such large storage, where I keep all my audio and film and game installer backups because fuck streaming.

[bithive@social.tchncs.de]

@cstross /dev/random > randomnes_store_for_later_use.txt

[cstross@wandering.shop]

@Kierkegaanks It probably *will* kill the industry. A lot of smaller VARs will go out of business, bigger ones will see sales stagnate and be forced to put up prices b/c the data center futures bids are ramping prices, then the bubble will burst and we're in Great Depression 2.0. Not much will come through that intact.

[markdennehy@mastodon.ie]

@cstross @blogdiva Tell me you have an oversized porn library without telling me you have an oversized porn library :D

[cstross@wandering.shop]

@markdennehy @blogdiva Actually most of that storage is redundant backup drives :)

[furicle@mastodon.social]

@graydon @cstross that's not fair - there was no attempt to kill aftermarket parts, the aftermarket is thriving.

A poor comparison

[jackwilliambell@rustedneuron.com]

@bithive @cstross

I thought that went into /dev/null?

[mythicnation@mstdn.games]

@hp @cstross As I get older, I realize I want my computer to last more than 5 years minimum, with the pricing sky-rocketing. It seems insane for a computer with a dedicated graphics card.

[jackwilliambell@rustedneuron.com]

@oblomov @cstross @blogdiva

Same. Fuck streaming.

[falken@qoto.org]

@furicle @graydon @cstross indeed. My car is in the shop *right now* having 3rd party parking sensors added.

[markdennehy@mastodon.ie]

@cstross @blogdiva A redundantly backed up porn archive, you say? 😜

[mbpaz@mas.to]

@cstross ...which only works for as long as nobody else can start producing alternative hardware.

And, come on: decades-old DDR3 is barely 5 times slower than modern DDR5. For most practical uses, cheap and somewhat slower than top-end memory would be perfectly fine.

[bithive@social.tchncs.de]

@jackwilliambell @cstross you could just /dev/random > /dev/null

But if we talk TB you might want to switch to a managed service like
https://devnull-as-a-service.com/

[graydon@canada.masto.host]

@furicle @cstross It is not what it was and a whole lot of effort has gone into, e.g. doing things with on board computers to prevent off-brand parts. (Not, in autos, as much as in heavy machinery including farm machinery.) "Right to repair" didn't start with small electronic gadgets.

Or look at the cost of replacing a headlight; lots of effort has gone into making you buy the big assembly and not either a standard headlight or replacing a bulb.

[drchaos@sauropods.win]

@cstross @blogdiva Sell it and retire with a huge pile of cash?

[cstross@wandering.shop]

@graydon @furicle This goes back a long way, though. I remember being appalled in 1991 when the windscreen wiper on my car packed up and discovering it needed a sealed assembly with motor, gearing, and two arms to fix it—it wasn't designed to be repairable. (I shared a house with a car kitbasher, though, so he got it working again: opened it up and replaced the stripped plastic gear.)