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@bryce @JustinMac84 @pluralistic @iFixit True - computers don’t fall off a cliff like they used to. An M1 Macbook is still plenty fast for 99% of people today.
I just revived a 2017 Lenovo X1 Carbon a few weeks ago with Linux. Runs like a dream and I got everything working on it - even the 4g modem!
@pluralistic @iFixit and it’s not even that computer repair was enshittified here - it’s that the sphere of AI enshittification influence has enveloped PC repair and destroyed its margins in a matter of months.
@bryce @JustinMac84 @pluralistic @iFixit if it is that temporary, most folks can just hold out. We already regularly give advice to “not buy a new laptop right now, wait 6 months until the new model comes out”
But if it lasts any longer than 6-12 months…
@pluralistic @iFixit It just KILLS me that repairable, modular manufacturers are getting punished here, because they can be more easily stripped for their most valuable parts and then discarded.
@JustinMac84 @pluralistic @iFixit It is entirely speculative, so no. If the AI demand disappears in the next few months, we’d probably see the prices drop back towards normal (I hope?)
The enshittification of computer repair is happening.
AI has amazingly managed to make repairable computers practically worthless.
The increase in memory and storage pricing is destroying the second-hand market for computing hardware and this makes me sad. I watched a video from someone that runs a repair shop, and this is what's happening:
The memory/storage alone is worth more than the rest of the computer, so people are stripping them out to sell separately.
The second hand market is now flooded with computers that have no memory or storage. Buying new memory or storage to put in these used computers is now more expensive than buying a new computer.
So we now suddenly have a giant e-waste problem PLUS a giant problem for repair shops that want to stay in business.
In the video, he was basically saying that they have to pivot to the only computers that folks aren't stripping RAM and storage out of - computers that have those things soldered on. The irony here is that repair shops now have to ignore the most repairable computers and focus on the least repairable computers instead.
@mattblaze just as disappointing as cyber attacks
“Hey, call this phone number and get them to give you a password”