cancelDec 4
All the "memory is cheap" developers can truly shut the fuck up now.
Show threadWoozle HypertwinDec 5

@cancel Wait, did something happen? My news intake is erratic...

(Update: I have now been informed about the LLM-driven demand for RAM, and Crucial in particular closing their consumer division.)

Show threadInfrapink (he/his/him)Dec 5
@woozle @cancel I am also confused.
Show threadkoorogiDec 5

@Infrapink @woozle @cancel the "AI" bubble has inflated RAM prices, and Micron is exiting the consumer RAM market to chase those AI dollars instead.

https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/ai-data-centers-ram-expensive

AI Data Centers Are Making RAM Crushingly Expensive, Which Is Going to Skyrocket the Cost of Laptops, Tablets, and Gaming PCs

On top of devouring energy, water, and graphics cards, the AI industry is now swallowing the world's supply of precious RAM.

Futurism
Show threadVictoria🏳️‍⚧️Dec 5
@koorogi @Infrapink @woozle @cancel first it was GPUs and now this
Show threadVictoria🏳️‍⚧️Dec 5
@koorogi @Infrapink @woozle @cancel i genuinely find it amazing how badly hypes hurt actual people. You wanted to upgrade your machine? "Haha fuck you, pay more"
Show threadWoozle HypertwinDec 5

@tragivictoria @koorogi @Infrapink @cancel

In compensation, there will probably be a lot of really cheap high-end hardware hitting ebay when the bubble finally pops... (...assuming it doesn't take civilization down with it 🧐).

[plea for AI bubble to pop before destroying civilization, please sir may we still have some civilization left when you're all done, sir... 🧎‍♀️🙏]

Show threadInfrapink (he/his/him)Dec 5

@woozle @tragivictoria @koorogi @cancel

Unlikely. I'd love if that were to happen, but the way companies work, they're more likely to just chuck their old computers in a dump.

Show threadWoozle Hypertwin

@Infrapink @tragivictoria @koorogi @cancel

Hopefully there will be a thriving dumpster-dive initiative...

Dec 5 at 5:47pmWeb
Show threadpubliusDec 7

@woozle @Infrapink @tragivictoria @koorogi @cancel

Unfortunately they shred the entire server.

This has been going on for years. All the big data center operators get their machines at a special low price in exchange for shredding them after three years. It's a huge contributor to the poorly-documented "embodied energy" use of the industry.

Show threadWoozle HypertwinDec 7

@publius @Infrapink @tragivictoria @koorogi @cancel

Okay, add that to the list of things that need to be illegal after the revolution.

Show threadInfrapink (he/his/him)Dec 7

@publius @woozle @tragivictoria @koorogi @cancel

~Capitalism is SO efficient!~

Show threadWoozle HypertwinDec 7

@Infrapink @publius @tragivictoria @koorogi @cancel

Efficient at extracting wealth from the rest of us (and burying it in a pit), yup. 

Show threadpubliusDec 8

@woozle @Infrapink @tragivictoria @koorogi @cancel

It's worth observing that even the radical market economists only claim that the market economy is the most efficient possible (by a completely circular definition of efficiency). Much as they might like to, they cannot claim this about capitalism, which inherently and inevitably involves what they call "market non-idealities", that is, violations of the basic assumptions of free enterprise.

Show threadWoozle HypertwinDec 8

@publius @Infrapink @tragivictoria @koorogi @cancel

Yah -- I've had "discussions" with a few capitalists, especially back in the day on G+, and... it's an awful lot like a religion.